Few movies cause a flood of tears like Coco does. The scene near the end when Miguel sings “Remember Me” to his Grandma Coco is the most beautiful scene and, absolutely, falls into the category of Pixar moment (right up there with Bing Bong’s “Take her to the moon for me” line in Inside Out). Coco won two Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature Movie and Best Song.
Voice cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Edward James Olmos, Alfonso Arau, Selene Luna, Dyana Ortellí, Herbert Sigüenza, Jaime Camil, Sofía Espinosa, Luis Valdez, Carla Medina, Polo Rojas, Montse Hernandez, Lombardo Boyar, Octavio Solis, Gabriel Iglesias, Cheech Marin, Blanca Araceli, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Salvador Reyes, and John Ratzenberger.
This is the biggest week pf the year. I have a ton of books that made the first cut for cover of the week. It was a huge challenge to narrow it down to just three, but I have dedicated myself to not having any more ties for the calendar year of 2026.
All three of the medalists have white backgrounds, which is a weakness of mine.
This is huge Also-Ran category this week. A couple of them just barely fell short of the medal round.
Also-Ran: D’Orc #6, Fall of the House of Slaughter #3, Something Epic #13 (Cover B, C), Fantastic Four #14, What If…? Jessica Jones #1, X-Men #33, Mister Nemo #1, Mark Spears Monsters #11 (Cover A, B, D), Of the Earth #3, Space Ghost Annual #1, Minotaur #1, Absolute Green Arrow #3, Arcadia #6, Horror Comics #1, Kingdom of Earth #1, and Assorted Crisis Events #9 (Cover C).
Bronze Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #11
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Mark Spears
Last year’s Cover Artist of the Year is back with another awesome shark cover. There was a foil cover of a shark for cover B, but this one stood out more for me. The blue color working against the white background really helped this shark to pop off the cover and the water skier in her yellow bikini… well, she is in for trouble. This is a great cover and having it in the Bronze medal tells you what this week was like.
Silver Medalist
Avengers Armageddon #2
Cover art by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio
This one started off down the list of the books this week, but with each swipe past it, it picked up momentum until it finally placed itself as the silver medalist. The face off with Iron Man and Red Hulk inside the cloak of David Colton really is striking. Then, the white background with the slight strip of red beside the title is very attractive. When I first separated out the first round of books, this one was not my choice, but it just got better each time I looked at it.
Gold Medalist
Captain America #13
Variant Cover- Marvel Dimensions
Cover art by Alex Ross
The Marvel Dimensions covers have been awesome, but this black and white cover from Cap #13 is heads and shoulders above some of the others that I have seen. It is a stunning piece of art that I saw on the stands and, despite already having a butt load of books that I was buying today, I had to have it.
It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. We are all the way up to #211. Wow.
This week, I went to In This Issue on Thursday to kill some time before heading over to Cinemark and, one of the things I grabbed there was, Amazing Spider-Man #107. It was a splurge, but it was something I wanted. I also grabbed a variant cover of ASM #573 featuring Steven Colbert swinging around holding Spidey. I am continuing to work on getting the ASM series. I am down to three issues missing from Vol. 2.
When I picked up Starhenge: Book Two last week, I realized that this series was needing me to read a previous series. So I ordered Book One: The Dragon and the Boar off eBay. I have not gotten around to reading them yet, but it is on the list for this summer. Hopefully, I can read them before the next issue of Book Two comes out.
Comic of the Week
Operation: Iron Coffin #1
Dracula killing Nazis? How awesome is that. There is actually more to this than just that simple premise. Dracula is in a bargain for his life. He made a deal with the devil to return to earth to kill all of the vampires that he sired in exchange for his own resurrection. Of course, the Devil is never a straight shooter, as he pulled an Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) trick and gave Dracula back his empathy.
The first issue was filled with some awesome material and the cover art led to this issue winning a bronze medal this week.
Books this Week:
Black Cat #12. “Between a Glock and a Hard Place” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Josemaria Casanovas. The team-up/fight between Felicia and the Punisher has been extremely entertaining. Even if the way they brought them into the same orbit was odd, the results have been spectacular. G. Willow Wilson, who wrote so many classic Ms. Marvel issues, has a great grasp on Felicia Hardy and her life as the Black Cat.
White Boat #3. Written by Scott Snyder with art and cover art by Francesco Francavilla. I had picked up the first two issues of White Boat together about a year and a half ago. I remembering being extremely enthusiastic about the two issues of the DSTLRY book. Then, it never came out. It was finally released this past Wednesday and I barely remembered anything about it. I sure hope that if DSTLRY is putting out series again, that they are not taking months and months between release.
Fury of Firestorm #4. “The Fury- Part 4” Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Rafael Latorre. Cover art was done by Rafael Latorre and Marcelo Maiolo. I also grabbed a variant cover by Mark Spears as well. Truth is coming out as Firehawk confronted Professor Stein over his morally questionable hand in the creation of Firestorm and herself. The Fury of Firestorm has been an excellent book so far and I am looking forward to the finale coming soon.
Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #1. Written by Jude Ellison with art and cover art by Fran Galan. I grabbed a variant cover by Dave Johnson (Silver Medalist). With a DC Studios movie coming out in October, Clayface gets his own mini-series. The book focuses on identity and looked at who this Clayface actually is. The issue includes some body horror, which is something that the upcoming film will be rumored to include.
Daredevil #4. “Tomorrow’s Devil-Part 4” Written by Stephanie Phillips with art and cover art by Lee Garbett. Stephanie Phillips has been kicking butt in this new run on Daredevil. Daredevil faces off with The Owl to get info on the new threat, Omen. I laughed out loud when DD mentioned the name Omen, and The Owl said “You named him?”
Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy #1. Written by Tyler Boss with art by Dylan Burnett. Cover A art was done by Dylan Burnett. Cover B art was done by Tyler Boss and Cover F art was done by Javier Pulido (Gold Medalist). The first spin off of the classic limited series Exquisite Corpses finds the stands this week with an origin story of Rascal Randy.
Wolverine #23. “Power Grab” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine faces off with the Taskmaster, who now has Wolvie’s healing factor. Who is behind the power switch? We find out this issue. Can Logan switch his power back before it is too late?
Uncanny X-Men #31. “The Devil I Know” Written by Gail Simone with art by Jim Towe & David Baldeon. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. This is the continuation of the story arc “Mars Needs Mutants.” We get a bunch of the Brood arriving to mess up a student dance. The Outliers remain some of my favorite new characters in all of Marvel.
Bleeding Hearts #6. Written by Deniz Camp with art and cover art by Stipan Morian. I also picked up Cover B with art by Ariel Olivetti. Big events happening in the zombie hunt as Poke and Mush have their big one-on-one conversation and Poke revealed to him that he has a beating heart. Mush did not take it well. This was the end of the first arc of this book, but there are plenty more stories to tell with these characters as Poke is reunited with Rabbit.
Witness Point #1. Written by Heath Corson with art and cover art by Soo Lee. I thought this was written by Nathan Fillion, but it seemed as if he was part of the creators for the book. A murder in a small town normally would not draw the attention of the FBI, but, what if, this was a murder that took place in a small town where a bunch of witness protection witnesses are being housed? That might make a huge change. This is an intriguing Dark Horse book.
Transformers #34. Written by Robert Kirkman with art by Jason Howard. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. The Combaticons launch an assault on the Autobots while Optimus is having a face-to-face discussion about the future with General Flagg. Flagg also gets into a fight with Doctor Henri Arkeville.
Absolute Catwoman #2. “The Yarn- Chapter Two” Written by Scott Snyder & Che Grayson. Art and cover art was done by Bengal. Catwoman sets up an auction to try and trap the thieves who stole from her. It brings her back into contact with her old crew, The Calicos.
Showdown #2. Written by Dave Wielgosz and illustrated by Tadd Galusha. Cover art was done by Steve Lieber & Dillon Shook. This issue follows Harvey Harlowe as he wades through the horrible state of his life. He was blamed for the death of Trish’s little brother and we get to see how he prepared for his showdown with Trish.
Zorro’s Legacy #1. “Dead or Alive” Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Aaron Lopresti. Cover art was done by Aaron Lopresti & Walter Pereyra. It is present day and the mantel of Zorro has been picked up by Donny De La Vega, a relative of the original Zorro. However, when Donny was badly injured in a battle, his nephew David, who had been training with him and insisting Donny use more up to date weaponry, stepped into the role as a new Zorro for the new world. This gives us a darker, more vengeful Zorro than we have ever seen before.
Baby Garfield #4. “Baby Garfield’s First Bath” written by Ben Clayton and art by Olivia Amoah and “Baby Garfield’s First Road Trip” written by Annie Nishida and art by Kay Davault. Cover art was done by Agnes Esposito. This is the final issue of the four part Baby Garfield series from Boom! that I never would have guessed that I would have enjoyed. But I did enjoy it quite a bit.
Ben 10 #3. “Man of Action” Written by Joe Casey with art and cover art by Robert Carey. The US Army is chasing Ben in his different form and, meanwhile, another alien is landing on the earth in the form of Crab, who is an alien bounty hunter. Things look difficult for Ben and his family.
Altered States: Warlords #2. Written by David Avallone with art by Mariano Benitez-Chapo. Cover art was done by Joseph Michael Linsner. I also picked up the cover D with cosplay by Jacqueline Goehner. While it seemed as if Red Sonja was a goner, John Carter has arrived on Mars. He has a plan on how to rescue Red Sonja.
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #3. “What Am I Missing?” Written by Mariko Tamaki and art by Amancay Nahuelpan. Cover art was done by Karl Kerschl. This issue splits the story into two, with a flashback to Batgirl, Nightwing, Batwoman and Huntress on a mission and the current timeline with Barbara undercover in a prison. Things have gone very poorly for Barbara in the present.
The Rocketeer: Infiltrator #1. Written by Gabriel Hardman with art by Dean Kotz. Cover B art was done by Dave Stevens. I picked this book up off the shelf the other day. I have always enjoyed the character of Rocketeer, but I have not picked up many of his comics over the years. With this one at a number one, I grabbed it to see what it was like. I liked what I saw as we got some Rocketeer under cover at a Nazi movie set.
From Parts Unknown #3. Written by Adriano Ariganello with art and cover art by Daniel Caval. Whoa! Pro wrestling vampires are not an original thought, but they are the only ones that are real. And who saw the end of this issue coming? Not me. I have found this wrestling/horror amalgam book from Pesto Comics extremely fun and engaging.
Seven Wives #2. Written by Zoe Tunnell with art by Tesslyn Bergin-Dicoi. Cover art was done by Keyla Valerio. The murder of Matthew Dunn remains unsolved as Detectives Aguilar and Halwell are trying to figure out what has happened, and how did Dunn’s seven wives play into the case.
Dispatched #1. Written by B. Clay Moore and illustrated by Daniel Gete. Cover art was done by Daniel Gete & Lee Loughridge. Morgan Powers is living under a government-issued alias and he is now a delivery driver. However, his next delivery has more trouble than anticipated. Dispatched has a distinct Die Hard vibe and I was into the first issue. Daniel is a unlikely hero and he struggled with PTSD from his past.
Absolute Batman #22. “The Crooked House” Written by Scott Snyder with art by Werther Dell’Edera. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. Cover C art was done by Brett Bean. Batman and Harley are forced to work together to try and avoid the Robins, who were in pursuit of them. Oh, and the Scarecrow is here too.
Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #3. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated by Ronan Cliquet. Cover art was done by Declan Shalvey. Tyler Rake is back, heading into what seems like an impossible situation in an attempt to free an individual. Tyler Rake was hiding out, hoping just to live his life, when the government arrived, forcing him back into action.
The Twilight Zone #9. “A Day in the Day in the Life” Written, art and cover art by Juni Ba. This issue of the anthology series was not my favorite one. The art and design of the book is spectacular, but I just could not get into the story.
Vampyrates! #1. Written by Fred Van Lente and illustrated by Luca Pizzari. Cover art was done by Luca Pizzari & Adam Guzowski. I also picked up the Luca Pizzari unlimited virgin cover that supposedly glows-in-the-dark. Vampires and pirates! I mean… am I at the center of that Venn diagram, or what? This was a wild first issue and it sure sets up for a fun run at Boom! Studios.
Speed Racer #10. Written by David Pepose and art by Davide Tinto. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. Speed is out of his mind from the V-gas. He is angry and out of control and he is heading into a race through the center of a volcano. Is this the end for Speed Racer, or should all of the other racers look out for themselves?
Circuit Breaker: Adversary of the Daleks #1. Written by Dulce M. Montoya & Dan Watters with art by Roberta Ingranata. Cover art was done by Jay Anacleto. I don’t know where this version of the Doctor came from but she is not any type of Doctor we have seen before. She is bad tempered and snippy. She seems to not care for anyone or anything. Plus, she does not remember much of her Time Lord past. She does not even know the Daleks.
Other Books this Week: Blood & Thunder #15, The Seasons #11, Jeff The Land Shark: Superstar #1, It’s Symbie #1, Fantastic Four: First Foes- Shalla Bal #1, X-Men ’97 Season 2 #2, Did You Hear About Mimi Green? #2, and Strength and Ash #2
Quick Hits: Wanda continues to be a kick ass Sorceress Supreme in Sorcerer Supreme #8. She is off in search of the Extinction King and she is being accompanied by the Sorcerer Supreme of the Quantum Realm. Will sparks fly for the magicians? Bad Idea dropped a one shot called Dingoliath #1 which focused upon a giant monster. This was an easy read as much of the story was told visually. Star Crossed #1 is the new series from Dark Horse written by Mark Millar. The universe’s two best thieves are being pursued by everyone after a brazen robbery. I picked up MASK #2, even though I got a preview copy of this very issue in a blind bag last month. I grabbed a book called Calexit: Say Goodbye to Hollywood #1 but it had the inside cover saying that there were several previous issues that were before. I’m not sure yet if I am going to find these on eBay or just go with this book. Innards #2 shows us the terrors of deep-Earth mining and give us some insight into Boo Wright. I was excited to see Aladdin #1 from Dynamite, but I was not into this book. These Disney Dynamite books are strange. The books that I do not think I will care about grab my interest and those that I feel like are hit for me are not. The team up in Conan & Dragonero #3 continues as they fight a dragon. Just Brutal #4 sets our kids up to face their destiny… but are they ready? W0rldtr33 #21 keeps building intrigue as I am never quite sure what is going on. Hank Howard: Pizza Detective- The Inside Job #1 is a one-shot book from Bad Idea that has several Hank Howard short stories. The, the black and white reprints of Daniel Warren Johnson’s wrestling book Do A Power Bomb! #1 came out this week.
June is nearing the end, and here is the newest EYG Comic Cavalcade!
Thanks to Todd for bringing me a whole bunch of What If Vol. 2 issues. I do love the What If series and I am pleased to have them.
Comic of the Week
Narco #4
I believe this book has really begun to hit its stride as Marcus has realized that he is really being framed for murder, and he has started to figure out what is happening. Marcus is one of the most original and unlikely lead character that you are going to see in a comic.
The B cover is one of the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week, taking the Gold Medal for its Hitchcock homage cover.
Books This Week:
Ultimate Endgame #5. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Terry & Rachel Dotson and Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. The finale issue of this series and the entire Ultimate Universe came through this week. I had some problems with this ending. The Ultimate Endgame started out with such fire and it has petered out so badly. Then, I was surprised how this book ended… it was such a happy ending that it did not feel right.
Ultimate Universe Finale #1. So this is a wrap up for all of the separate characters of the Ultimate Universe, seeing where they were left at the end of Endgame. Again, this just did not feel right. I kind of wish that the end of the Ultimate Universe would have been kept secret and the end would just catch everyone off guard.
Nectar #4. Written by Jeremy Robinson and art by Annapaola Martello and Francesco Francini. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan. Nectar finished up with a fiery end as Pastor Grant rampaged across the island. I loved the series and it sounded as if the butterflies are returning at some point in the future. Until then, this will have to serve for now.
Wolverine #22. “Doctor’s Orders” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine’s healing factor is messed up again, but it seems as if someone has stolen it from Logan… and has given it to Taskmaster.
Venom #259. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank Martin. I have been picking up the Venom book during the crossover with Spider-Man, but I am not sure how I feel about the new Venom (with Mary Jane) and whether I wanted to keep picking it up. I wasn’t going to buy this, but I broke down. I am still not sure if I care about the Queen in Black which is coming soon.
Captain America #12. “Hell’s Angel” Part 1. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Valerio Schiti. Cover art was done by by Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Captain America is in Hell and he is teaming up with Doctor Doom to try and stop Mephisto. Then, the last panel saw the return of the Red Skull. Zdarsky’s run on Cap has been excellent so far and the Hell story is very compelling.
Doomquest #2. Written by Ryan North and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. Doctor Doom is stuck in a loop on the Titanic. This was a lot of fun and one of the more original ways to use Doom. Ryan North continues to be one of the best writers working Marvel today.
The Twilight Zone #8. “Hollywoodland” Written, illustrated and cover art by Gabriel Hardman. This is a great issue. The Twilight Zone comic has been sensational every issue and each story feels like a story that you would have seen on the original TV show.
Feral #24. “Chapter 24: Breakout” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was done by Trish Forstner & Allen Passalaqua (Silver Medalist). The cats and the dogs are running around the pound as the doctors are trying to cure the rabies disease. Feral continues to be one of the best books around.
Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolfman #1. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Leomacs & Pip Martin. The latest Universal Monsters book is Wolfman and I love the first issue as they begin to set up the Wolfman. It seemed as if they are setting up a legacy.
Corpse Knight #3. Written by Michael Chaves with art by Matthew Roberts. Cover art was done by Matthew Roberts & Rico Renzi. Foy is poisoned and her undead father has to save her. Corpse Knight is a solid fantasy book from Image.
White Sky #4. Written by William Harms and art and cover art by JP Mavinga. Violet and Walter have arrived in San Francisco only to see that it is destroyed. There are a lot of scenes with white. This has been a solid book so far, but it does feel like it needs to start progressing soon.
Justice League Unlimited #20. “Escape from Power Planet: Part One” Written by Mark Waid and art was done by Dan Mora & Fico Ossio. Cover art was done by Dan Mora. The title of this was “Escape from Power Planet” but we only spend a few pages on Power Planet with Metamorpho, Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl. Most of the issue is spent battling a Brainiac on the Watchtower with Luthor causing trouble.
A Quiet Place: Storm Warning #4. Written by Phil Hester with Pencils and cover art by Ryan Kelly. This movie based series has been really good. It seems that Lonnie has finally proved to the other citizens of the town that these aliens are really dangerous and that they have to do what they can to protect themselves. This has worked well in the IDW series.
Hornsby & Halo #14. Creators are Peter Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Cover art was done by Peter Snejbjerg. The second part of the Unbelievables crossover sees the Trillion Dollar Kid, aka Tommy Townsend III has come to Warwick in search of other Unbelievables, specifically Zach and Rose. They team up to find out if Tommy’s parents are in Heaven or hell.
Detective Comics #1110. “Flight Part Four” Written by Tom Taylor with pencils and cover art by Mikel Janin. Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary are out to try and help a young girl, the daughter of a former teammate of theirs, Prion. Oh, and the young girl is a trained assassin.
The Infernal Hulk #8. “Beasts of the Sanguine Tree” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Adam Gorham. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. I also grabbed the Alex Ross variant. Bruce Banner is back with the Avengers, but he has bad news. Their idea to take on the Infernal Hulk with the original Hulk won’t work because Banner says he is now immune to Gamma rays. What is going to happen next? Whatever it is, it is with the help of Brother Voodoo.
Spider-Versity #3. Written by Jordan Morris & Joe Kelly with art by Rafael Perez & Granados. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Dean White. Norman runs the Spiders through a practice session based on the Ringmaster, and, lo and behold, someone using the powers of the Ringmaster showed up. Suspicious.
X-Men #32. “Anomaly” Part 2. Written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Tony S. Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The X-Men’s science team is forced to deal with gravity anomalies while being targeted by Department H. So they decide to unleash Magneto. Hm… sounds like a recipe for chaos to me.
Flash #34. “The Speed Was Power, the Speed Was Joy- Part IV” Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Gavin Guidry. Cover art was done by Gavin Guidry & Adriano Lucas. Flash goes to Mr. Terrific to try and figure out about his “flashes of insight.” They seem to lead him to Gorilla Grodd.
The Eye Collector #1. Written by Jonathan Ball with art and cover art by G.M.B. Chomichuk. A weird and wild new horror comic from Image, we get a strange ancient being that has their curiosity over earth reignited by wishes made by the Apollo 10 crew. This is a bizarre book. I’m curious about it as well.
Void Rivals #31. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Conor Hughes. Cover art was done by Lorenzo De Felici. This Void Rivals issue is a stand alone book featuring the character of Skuxxoid. In the letter page, it says that Skuxxoid tied Megatron as the Energon character with the most standalone issues. This book as a feel like Saga. And I am excited about the debut next issue in the Energon Universe of Rom.
Absolute Superman #20. “Up, Up and…” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Superman teams up with Hawkman and Steel in an attempt to defeat the Absolute Black Adam/Shazam. There seemed to be a special amalgam going down in the last panel that looked absolutely awesome.
Absolute Wonder Woman #21. “Friends & Neighbors Part 1 of 2” Written by Kelly Thompson with art by Dillon Snook. The cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. Diana heads back to the Underworld in search of Circe and her mother. Then, Barbara Minerva has to make a decision about the powers of Cheetah.
Hidden Springs #2. Written by Rob Williams and art and cover by Nil Vendrell. The giant baby Kaiju is being pursued by the military and the group of elderly retirees are forced to try and save the kaiju. Hidden Springs has been a fun book so far and you would not expect some of the things that are going on. Teh protagonists are fun and unlikely heroes.
Escape #8. Written by Rick Remender with art by Daniel Acuna. I got cover B which was done by Cary Nord. Milton finds himself in a real bad place as he has signaled the air raid of the town, but the family that he has been staying with feels betrayed. Escape is a tense comic with fuzzy animals.
Is Ted Ok? #5. Written, drawn and cover art by Dave Chisholm. This issue is full of exposition, but it gives us the background and history behind Ted. There are flashbacks, revelations and truths flying all over the book, setting up next issue’s finale.
Generation X-23 #5. “A Numbers Game” Part 5. Written by Jody Hauser with art by Marco Renna. Cover art was done by Partha Pratim Sarkar & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Laura and Gabby get the X-numbers out of Faculty 23 and they are apparently teaming up. However, there are a couple of wild cards in the mix.
Gotham Academy: First Year #5. “Chapter 5: We’ve Been Here Before.” Written by Brenden Fletcher with art by Marco Ferrari. Variant cover b Annie Wu. Olive gets trapped in a loop while searching for her mother. The whole issue was very dreamlike and I was not sure what exactly was happening. Batman is here so I am sure everything is gonna be ok, right?
Barbarian Behind Bars #5. Written by Elliott Kalan with art and cover art by Andrea Mutti. What a horrible way to end this series. There is an absolutely wicked cliffhanger at the end of the story that left me unhappy about what I just spent five issues reading. I do not know if there is more of this book coming down the line or if the old “THE END?” thing was just a mean trick. It definitely tainted the final issue.
Terrorbytes #7. Written by Joseph Sieracki and art and cover art by Maxi Dall’o. The story of Donald Drummer and his life is very compelling in this issue. I am not sure what happened in the end, but I was engaged throughout this anthology book.
Bludwire #1. Written by Paul Allor and art by Ermitis Blanco. Cover art was done by Victor Ibanez. Ace and Zora are two sex bots who go on the run from their corporate owners. This is an interesting new comic from Mad Cave.
Other Books This Week: Moonstar #4, Honor and Curse: Eternal #4, Red Roots #3, American Caper #8, In Your Skin #3, Planet Atmos: Exordium #3, and Conan the Barbarian #32.
Quick Hits: Kevin Smith’s Bizarro Year None #2 came out this week. I heard Smith promote this book on Fatman Beyond. It is an intriguing issue. The Hab #3 from Bad Idea is the Bronze Medalist this week in the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. We get even more fun from the wild book from Titan Comics called Rafael Garcia: Henchman #4. Racer X #8 came to a close with this character, who I suspect will still appear in Speed Racer’s book. Punisher is the focus of Reborn Ultimate Impact #2 as he faces off against some of the new villains/heroes??? created by the boxes Miles lost. I’m not sure how I feel about this book right now. We go into the past once again as the X-Men: Outback #1 came out. I must say that I liked this roster of X-Men, especially with Longshot and Dazzler involved. Mind MGMT: New & Improved #1 by matt Kindt came out this week. I picked up a blind bag for this issue as well… I am a sucker for blind bags… and I got a 3D variant of the book. 51 #4 from Mad Cave released this week as we have some alien tech that gives people super powers. Exploit #4 finished up as they were able to reveal all the details behind Kincade’s crooked schemes, and then sent him to Estonia. The video game-like comic Final Boss #7 came back with a new issue this week after a short break. Pretty Hate Machine #3 was extremely intense this week as there are some brutality going down. Speaking of brutal, The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery#5 saw Ezra in a blimp, trying to avoid Nazis. It gave me Last Crusade vibes. Alice Forever After #4 from Boom! Studios asks the question about Alice’s mental health.
Big week. This is also a major record breaking week of the EYG Favorite Comic Book Covers of the Week. We have a tie for each of the three medalists this week! WOW! And that is even excluding a couple of amazing books that only can crack the Also-Rans
Also-Rans: Absolute Catwoman #1 (foil cover F), The Nice House by the Sea #10 (B Cover), Bad Thoughts #1, Mark Spears Monsters #0 (A Cover), Tarzan Beyond #1, Mark Spears Monsters #0 (C Cover), Mark Spears Monsters #0 (Cover B), Muppets Noir #4 (Cover B), and D’Orc #5.
Bronze Medalist (TIE)
Space Ghost #12
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Michael Cho
This cool cover of Space Ghost #12 featuring Space Ghost with the black background. It is a beautiful piece of art that I picked up off the newsstand today.
Fury of Firestorm #3
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Dustin Nguyen
Another beautiful cover of Firestorm. The image of Firestorm is so simple and just spectacularly lovely. The colors are perfect and it really stands out as a wonderful cover.
Silver Medalist
Mask #1
Variant Cover (Gold Foil Blind bag)
Cover art by Andres Juarez
Pulled this out of a blind bag and I was so excited about the gold foil book. The image is simple, but the overall look of the cover is sensational.
Transformers #33
Variant Cover F
Cover art by Tom Reilly & Adriano Lucas
This is a celebration issue of the anniversary of the Energon Universe books at Image. This one has a bunch of Transformers and GI Joe upon it. It is such a fun and chaotic cover.
Gold Medalist
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2
Variant Cover C
Cover art by Matteo Scalera
I love this variant cover of Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2 with Barbara Gordon in her orange prison outfit along with all the other prisoners. * The animals, the animals Trap, trap, trap ’til the cage is full The cage is full, stay awake In the dark, count mistakes The light was off but now it’s on Searching underground for a bit of sun The sun is out, the day is new And everyone is waiting, waiting on you
Orange is the New Black
The Fall of the House of Slaughter #2
Variant Cover H Virgin
Cover art by Sam Wolfe Connelly
What a gorgeous virgin cover. I love the black and white cover with the imagery that makes me wonder what is going on here.
Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Take the time to remember those who you have lost and those who have meant something to you.
There was a rush of great new #1 issues this week across all of the companies. They were all cool stories and original concepts.
Comic of the Week
Absolute Green Arrow #1
I admit that this may not have been my favorite new book of the week, but I do think taking into consideration that this is the hottest book out there right now should be part of the decision. And this is the hottest book out this week, by far.
Of course, it is also an excellent new addition to the Absolute line of books in DC Comics. The re-imagining of Green Arrow is creative and original, showing a great deal of imagination. This is currently a six issue mini series, but I could see it expanding, especially if it remains as successful as it has been.
Books this week:
Of The Earth #1. “Road/Kill” Written by Chris Condon & Andrew Ehrich with art and cover art by Charlie Adlard. Tabitha ‘Tabby’ Black returned to her quiet hometown of Solitude, Texas and the comfort of her gramma’s home. There is something going on with the oil fields, something horrifying. This was probably my personal favorite book for the week. It is another winner from Image Comics.
Zorro #1. “Dark Age Part One” Written by Howard Chaykin with art and cover art by Jorge Fornes. I also picked up the variant cover C by Juan Ferreyra. The legendary warrior Zorro returns to the action, taking on the forces of Napoleon. Published by Alien Books, the new Zorro book is off to a great start.
Seven Wives #1. Written by Zoe Tunnell with art by V Gagnon. Cover art was done by Mirka Andolfo. The new IDW Crime mini series arrived this week with a murder mystery of a cult leader, with his seven wives as the main suspects. This was a cool first issue and I am excited to see where it goes.
Odin #1. Written by Marguerite Bennett & James Tynion IV with art by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Alex Eckman-Lawn. Any time you see the name James Tynion IV attached to a project, the chances of it being awesome would be high. Odin certain falls into that category. It is a creepy horror story with some truly disturbing moments. This one looks great.
Babylon Cove #1. Written by Rafer Roberts and art and cover A art by Joe Eisma. Another horror based book, this time from Mad Cave. Heather has to return to her home town to attend the funeral of her father, but, as so many small towns are, this one is filled with shocks and supernatural problems.
Reborn Ultimate Impact #1. Written by Chris Condon with art by Stefano Caselli. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. Miles Morales returned from the Ultimates universe with a bunch of “origin boxes.” These are boxes that can give someone super powers. Unfortunately, the Spot has other ideas for these boxes. The boxes are released and the superpowers find a series of new people.
Kill Switch #1. Written by Sophia Banks & Don Handfield with illustrations by Gabo Ibarra. Cover art was done by Erwin Arroza & Gabo Ibarra. It is Los Angeles 2067 and someone is jumping into the bodies of a series of individuals, finding code words, and then jumping out. The problem is the only way to jump out of the body is to do it at the moment of death. This is a great sci-fi start to an intriguing concept that I want to see play out. This is from Thunder Comics which is published by Amp.
Narco #3. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Dave Stewart. I also picked up cover B by Daniel Hillyard & Dave Stewart (Gold Medalist). Marcus continues to be in trouble as he tries to figure out what happened to his girlfriend Jess. He decided to prove that he did not murder her, but things just do not want to go his way. This book has been one of my favorites of the month so far.
Amazing Spider-Man #29. Written by Joe Kelly with art by guest artist Pete Woods. Cover art was done by Mark Bagley & Marte Gracia. Peter is out on an apology tour, as well as trying to find the proof that he actually does have a mystery cousin. Meanwhile a new danger starts to spread across the city. This featured the birth of Spore.
Jessica Jones: Alias-Red Band #3. Written by Sam Humphries with art by Geraldo Borges. Cover art was done by David Mack. Jessica Jones and Typhoid Mary continue their on-again-off-again partnership, but you should probably wonder if teaming up with someone named Typhoid Mary is a wise choice. This was the weakest of this series so far, so I hope the rest picks it back up.
X-Men: United #3. “The Loneliest Ghost” Written by Eve L. Ewing with art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. The X-Men and Captain America are in search for Maurice Canfield, a previous super soldier test subject, but they found someone else instead.
Fantastic Four #11. “Future’s Foundation” Written by Ryan North with pencils by Pat Boutin. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. Ben Grimm has been feeling dumb, especially in comparison to the others in the FF. Ben’s troubles leads to him coming up with the concept for the new Future Foundation. I enjoyed this Thing-centric issue as we get another side besides the “It’s Clobberin’ Time” side to Ben Grimm.
Nectar #3. Written by Jeremy Robinson with art by Annapaola Martello & Francesco Francini. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan. The plague continues to spread and Amos and Lillian are trying to prevent it from spreading off the island. Unfortunately, Pastor Grant has a more religious manner of looking at it… send the infected to God… with a shotgun to the head. Nectar picked up the pace even more this issue.
Nightwing #138. “The Forest” Written by Dan Watters with pencils by Denys Cowan. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Nightwing is having a crisis of faith after the highway crash and the witch of Bludhaven escaped him. With Barbara Gordon in prison, he called Starfire for support.
Venom #238. Written by Al Ewing with art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank Martin. Peter and Mary Jane start to clear the air after Paul’s funeral. It apparently is what MJ needed as she and the symbiote bonded in a new way. Now Venom has long red hair. I am not sure how I feel about this either. I was never a fan of Jackpot, but this is taking it another step. I probably am done picking up Venom, which I only started buying because of the Death Spiral storyline.
Rocketfellers #0. Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art and cover art by Francis Manapul. This #0 issue for Rocketfellers is part of the prelude for the crossover story “The Unbelievables” that is coming up from Ghost Machine. It will be including Halo and Hornsby as well as some new characters. This takes us back when the family first arrived in the past.
Imperial Guardians #3. Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art was done by Sean Izaakse & Nolan Woodard. The Imperial Guardians are trying to “rescue” a scientist/inventor who came up with an algorithm that is in real demand. They have to face off with the Shi’ar for him. I have to say that I really have enjoyed this comic so far. Some of the characters have not been my favorites over the years, but they all seem to work well together.
Neighborhood Watch #2. Written by Sarah Gailey and illustrated and cover art by Haining. Is she Jill? Is she Cassie? Why is this woman living a dual life? This mystery continues to be fire as Bianca and Val try to deduce the reasoning behind their friend’s big lie… and who tried to kill her.
Absolute Flash #15. “…Of Things to Come” Written by Jeff Lemire with art and cover art by Nick Robles. Future Wally comes back in using the speed force (or something like it) to warn himself as a young hero that he must give up the search for his father… or a terrible future is bound to happen. Young Wally does not listen. The Absolute Flash has been a consistently good read, mainly because the writing from Jeff Lemire has been spot on.
Rafael Garcia: Henchman #3. Written by Peter Murrieta & D.E. Schrader with art by Ben Herrera. Cover art was done by Gustaffo Vargas. This has been a hoot of a series so far, and this issue included a centerfold of Rafael in speedos. Rafael’s crew had to run into the super heroes of the time, the Justice Battalion. Very funny.
Other Books this Week: Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #4, Inglorious X-Force #5, American Caper #7 (Bronze Medalist), Sai Dimensional Rivals #5, Moonstar #3, Deadly Hands of K’un-Lun #4, and Escape from Skull Island #4.
Quick Hits: Everyone Loves a Jewel Thief #2 came out this week with a cover B that earned a silver medal. Rogue #5 came to an end, though I am not sure it was a satisfying ending for a series that I had been enjoying. Wanda, Wiccan and Somnus have to battle Nightmare inside Billy’s head in Sorcerer Supreme #6. How do they beat him? How about waking everybody up at once? Novel idea. I wonder if they are ever changing the name to Sorceress Supreme? The Punisher #4 is showing Frank Castle as a serious psycho in my opinion. He has very little empathy for anyone right now. Course, when going after Jigsaw, maybe empathy gets in the way. G.I. Joe #22 introduces a man named Crystal Ball, who has his own plans for Energon. Dead Teenagers #3 sees some more death and our crew hoping to avoid it this time. Murder Podcast #7 from Ignition Press keeps building the suspense for the finale next issue. Smile: For the Camera #3 was very solid this week as we focus in on these sad models and their horrible boss. Meanwhile, they keep dying from the smile curse. I am really rooting for Ivy. End of Life #4 from the Vertigo imprint has a hero that I think is anything but. Barbarians Behind Bars #4 sees our main barbarian finally able to communicate with his lawyer. And then, Racer X #7 sees Racer X win a race. I know, shocking right?
I think part of the fact that I have been having trouble getting this out on the weekend is that I have so many books each week. I remember the days when I only picked up Marvel Comics. Now, I get all kinds of companies across the comic landscape.
The huge variety is awesome, but does take some time to read. School has just a couple of weeks total before I am out on summer vacation, so the timing of the EYG Comic Cavalcade should switch up soon.
Comic of the Week
The Olympus Saga: Megalith #1
I had several potential choices this week for Comic of the Week, but I decided to go with this new Bad Idea book called The Olympus Saga: Megalith #1.
It was a cool idea. A giant megalith appeared in the middle of the city, causing destruction and danger and a group of first responders and military people try to figure out what is going on before everything is lost. I did not see the ending of this issue coming. I was thinking that this felt very cinematic, which was a way I used to describe Survive (a book last year that I loved). This is a great start and one of my favorite reads of the week.
Books this week:
Amazing Spider-Man/Venom- Death Spiral: Body Count #1. Written by Charles Soule with art by Kev Walker. Cover art was done by CAFU I(Silver Medalist). This is the wrap up of the Death Spiral storyline as we get the origin of Torment. We also get what seemed to be a brand new Torment… eventually, at least.
The Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1. “Key to the Kingdom” Written by Dan Slott with art by Marcus Tu. Marcos Martin & Muntsa Vicente did the Tell-Tale Pages art. Cover art was done by Phil Jimenez & Alex Sinclair. I also picked up the variable cover F by Patrick Gleason. We are back in the Brand New Day timeline for a new story with Spidey and Mister Negative.
Black Cat #10. “Big If True” Written by G. Willow WIlson with art by Gleb Melnikov. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Edgar Delgado. I also picked up the B cover by Peach Momoko (Gold Medalist). Black Cat and Jonah Jameson meet up in the Negative Zone. Yeah, that sounds weird, I know.
Showdown #1. “The Two Killers of Michael Sullivan.” Written by Dave Wielgosz and illustrated by Tadd Galusha. Cover art by Steve Lieber & Dillon Snook. Trish has returned to her hometown with a mission. She blamed Harvey for the death of her brother. So when she returned from college, she had planned on killing him. However, some things are in the way. This was an interesting new book by Ignition Press.
D’Orc #4. “Trust Your Gut” Written, drawn and cover art by Brett Bean. D’Orc continues to be a lot of fun every issue. In this one, we see D’Orc and his friends take on a three headed dog. I find this book to be extremely enjoyable and funny.
Wolverine #20. “The Savage Champions” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine wrapped up the Adamantine storyline with his massive battle with the creature. Wolverine still has not had his claws back yet on his one hand. I wonder if they are leading to this being his new status quo for the current Marvel Universe.
Something is Killing the Children #47. “All Her Monsters” Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. We are back with Jessica and Cecilia Slaughter dealing with the after effects of the Valmont Mountain Lodge incident. It was nice to get this book back after a bit of a lay off.
Innards #1. “Chapter 1: As Below, So Within.” Written by Rob Guillory with art and cover art by Sam Lotfi. This new book by Ignition Press dealing with a future world, post-nuclear attack. They are looking to mine the only energy mineral remaining- Lucifium, and you can only reach it by teleportation. This was a fun new book. Ignition Press has been doing quality work lately too.
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1. “What Am I Doing Here?” Written by Mariko Tamaki and art by Amancay Nahuelpan. Cover art was done by Karl Kerschl. I have been looking forward to this new book as Barbara Gordon is on her was to the Big House. This was a great first issue and I considered it as the Comic of the Week.
Geiger #23. Creators are Geoff Johns & Gary Frank. This was a heartbreaker of an issue as Geiger finds his family for just a few moments, only to get pulled away from them. It was so sad. It looks as if Geiger is finding himself in World War II with Junkyard Joe.
Conan & Dragonero #1. “The Shadow of the Dragon” Written by Stefano Vietti & Luca Enoch with art by Lorenzo Nuti. Cover art was done by Roberto De La Torre. This new series is fabulous. It looked like Conan is back to his time traveling ways. I really liked this book and seeing these two together.
Uncanny X-Men #28. “And It Shall Come to Pass.” Written by Gail Simone with art by Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Edgar Delgado. The weird storyline continues with the fake New Mutants (?) and the reveal of the identity of Inmate X. I have loved Gail Simone’s run on this book and every month I look forward to it.
Captain America #11. “Doom’s Shadow” Part 6. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Valero Schiti. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr. I also picked up the Variant Cover C by Chip Zdarsky (Bronze Medalist). Red Hulk faces off with Cap on Latverian grounds and it sure does not seem to go well for Cap.
The Fury of Firestorm #2. “The Fury Part 2” Written by Jeff Lemire and art was done by Rafael De Latorre. Rafael De Latorre & Marcelo Maiolo did the cover art. I really enjoyed this issue too. The background story between Ronnie and Stein was welcomed and the mystery of what is happening with Firestorm is fascinating. This has been one of my favorite new DC books so far.
Hidden Springs #1. Written by Rob Williams and art and cover art by Nil Vendrell. A group of old people on a trip to the woods come across a crash from space… and a gigantic monster. This was a Monsterverse story crossed with LOST and the X-Files. I enjoyed this new Dark Horse book.
The Mortal Thor #10. “Come at the King” Written by Al Ewing with art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. Sigurd Jarlson has had enough and he walked straight into the Roxxon building looking to put this to an end. He had to face the Grey Gargoyle… and took care of him. He walked right into the Minotaur. Great issue.
Transformers #32. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Jason Howard. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. We go this issue back to Cybertron to watch the battle being led by our new Elita Prime. There are a bunch of new Decepticons involved in the war on Cybertron.
Absolute Batman #20. “The Straw Man” Written by Scott Snyder with art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. I was able to pick up Variant Cover C by Fabrizio De Tommaso. We get the appearance by the Robins as they are preparing to take on Batman.
Department of Truth #37. Written by James Tynion IV with art by Ben Templesmith. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. Dinosaurs? True Believer Charity and her church believe that humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time, and they believe that dinosaurs may still exist. And look to Hunky to answer that question.
Iron Man #5. “Advanced Iron Man” Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Carmen Carnero with Jan Bazaldua. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. Adam Ware killed the Fixer. Ware is with the AIM organization, right at the head.
Voyeur #5. Written by Leah Williams and illustrated by David Baldeón. Cover art was done by Victor Ibanez. Voyeur #5 was a lot of fun and a lot of nudity. I thought this was considerably better than it should have been. This was the final issue of this short series and I am sad to see it go. This issue also has one of the more fun covers of the week.
Bleeding Hearts #4. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Stipan Morian. Have you ever seen a zombie having a tea party? Not only at a tea party, but having a damn great time? It sure seems that Poke is struggling with his own mind and his own perspective on who or what he is. But hey, who wouldn’t love Rabbit? One of the more original zombie stories you are going to read.
Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #2. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated by Ronan Cliquet. Cover art was done by Declan Shalvey. The second issue of this Tyler Rake series from Ignition Press is great. This has been a surprisingly solid book so far as we get some action from Tyler Rake.
Other Books This Week: The Thing on the Doorstep #4, Hello Darkness #21, Blood & Thunder #13, Absolute Martian Manhunter #11, Ghost Pepper #11, Archie’s Movie Mania #1, Arcadia #5, Malevolent #4, and Terrorbytes #6.
Quick Hits: Tigress Island #3 came out this week. Things are getting real serious for these girls. The relationship between Illyana and Colossus are on display through this new Magik and Colossus #4, the penultimate issue of this series. W0rldtr33 #20 continues to be one of the more in-depth stories dealing with technology you will find. Doctor Strange is able to return to earth from Asgard in Doctor Strange #6, but it is temporary. I love how Clea and Wanda, who are guest starring, do not remember Thor, but Stephen does since he was in Asgard at the time. Clea believes Stephen is lying about the “Norse myth” stuff. LOL. Space Ghost #11 is the penultimate issue of season two. Things have been tough for Space Ghost. War Wolf #5 sees Thomas Bruin in some real trouble, but, again, we are not sure what the truth about what happened actually was. Ultimate Endgame #4 saw the death of another of our favorites as Captain Britain chopped off the head of Captain America. Dead By Daylight #2 could use some more hillbilly. Archie x The Army of Darkness #4 sees Archie and Ash trying to stop the Deadites. Joe Palmer’s Destination Kill #1 was a new #1 from Oni Press. I was not a big fan of this issue. Finally, Just Brutal #3 sees a real tragic event at the end of the book. It took a turn and the book may have taken a different path.
I went downtown today to see an art exhibit opening at the Maquoketa Art Experience. This would not typically be something that would attract my attention. However, one of the main topics of the exhibit really appealed to my geeky side.
I also knew the artists of the works. James Tenney is the school resource officer for the school district where I work and we have a connection with our love of geek culture. Tenney was a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I wore my TMNT shirt in his honor. The first he said to me today, after thanking me for coming, was “great shirt!” He then proudly showed me his TMNT socks, his Spider-Man tie and his Star Trek tie pin.
Officer Tenney has worked at the Maquoketa school for several years now. My friend Darin directed him towards me when he first started because of the similarity of our fandom. Darin had told me that Tenney was an artist, but I had no idea at what level he was.
Just the other day, we were both outside with a group of kids at the middle school and Officer Tenney called me over. There was a student of mine there with him. He asked me if she had been behaving herself lately, and when I said that she had been much better lately, Tenney pulled out a small box where he kept the small sketch pad and he sketched her a quick drawing of Batman. She was excited over the drawing, the doodle took about a minute or so to finish. I know he has done this for many other students, quickly sketching characters such as Wolverine, Spider-Man or such. He uses it as a great way to build that rapport with kids who are excited about the small treasure he provided them with.
It was that day that Officer Tenney told me about his opening on Sunday at the Maquoketa Art Experience from 2-4 and invited me to come on down and see his art.
What is cool is that he was sharing the exhibit with his youngest daughter, MJ. They told a sweet story about how their art studios at their home were right next to each other. MJ’s work was less superhero-like and more of the dragon/anime work.
Water color was the answer James gave me as his favorite medium to work in, but he had several other examples of other styles including oils, ballpoint pen and computer graphic.
James told me a story at a comic con where he had his work being displayed of an older gentleman who came over to him and, in referencing his work, pointed out the strong jawlines he had on display and then the man told James that his work was like “Jack Kirby’s work.” Even today, you could see how that comment lit James up. There is not much more of a compliment you can give to a comic art fan than to compare him to the “King.”
There was a wide variety of subjects on the walls and tables of the Maquoketa Art Experience. There were pictures of Spider-Man, Venom, Hobgoblin, Loki, Godzilla, Thor (as a baby), Ghost Rider, Transformers, Turtles, Daffy Duck, Gambit, Slimer from Ghostbusters, Joe Fixit, as well as many others.
The exhibit will be up for the months of May and June at the Maquoketa Art Exhibit. It is an impressive display featuring some of the great characters of the 20th/21st Century. Superheroes are the present day mythology and it is awesome that there are people who love them enough to keep the energy going.
You should stop down and see the full collection if you have some time over the next couple of months.
Some images from the show:
One of his favorite pieces, James told me he spent many MCU moviescreating this artwork.
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.
It has been a cold weekend here in Iowa. I was finishing up reading my pile of books this week.
Books this week:
Exquisite Corpses #9. Written by Tyler Boss with James Tynion IV and art by Valentine De Landro with Michael Walsh. Cover art was done by Michael Walsh. I got variant cover B by Valentine De Landro as well. Exquisite Corpses continues to be one of the best books on the market. There are only four more of this series coming so things are ratcheting up.
Bloodland #1. Written by B. Clay Moore and art and cover art by Mack Chater. A new Ignition Press book featuring the collapse of America and vampires. Yes, there has been a lot of vampire books over the last few years, but this one felt very original and different. Ignition Press has been solid over the last six months or so and this feels like another winner.
Fantastic Four #7. “All Mankind’s Concern” Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The FF are off earth to respond to a call from Galactus, but they expect an alien invasion. Their kids form a team, with some help from other heroes. Mad Thinker has an idea about this all.
Inglorious X-Factor#1. “A Force to Be Expected” Written by Tim Seeley and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Cover art was done by R.B. Silva & David Curiel. Cable is back and he is recruiting a team of X-Factor once again. He pulls in Archangel, Boom Boom and Hellervine, which make a potent group of mutants. What is the true story here? And why is Domino ready to shoot Cable in the head?
Spider-Man ’94 #5. “Chapter Five: Resurrection” Written by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. The mini-series that continued from the end of the 1994 animated series comes to an end with a final battle with Morlun and Kaine.
Wiccan: Witches’ Road #2. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Down, down, down the road…. Wiccan has to fight a dragon on the Witches’ Road… but not just any dragon… but Fin Fang Foom!
X-Men #24. “Three Thousand” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Tony Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony Daniel, Mark Morales, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The group known as 3K takes center stage as the Hank McCoy who actually went into the future, returned to the present with all the details of the Age of Revelation and the formula for the Mutant Virus.
Everything Dead & Dying #5. Written by Tate Brombal and art and cover art by Jacob Phillips. This Image book is one of the better books Image has put out recently as the final issue brings some powerfully sad moments. One of the most creative uses of zombies in any comic recently appeared in this book.
The Mortal Thor #6. “Hide and Seek” Written by Al Ewing and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Bronze Medalist). Sigmund has to face off with The Cobra, showing off his skills with the hammer once again. There are a few people questioning what is going on with this guy.
The New Avengers #9. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover B art was done by Karen S. Darboe. Can we trust the Black Widow? That is what Bucky is trying to figure out, but it sure seems like the question he should ask is ‘Can he trust Carnage?’
The Beauty #3. Written by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley with art by Emanuela Lupacchino. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun. Who is the Boogeyman? How does he fit into the world where everyone wants to catch the latest STD, which turns you beautiful? This feels as if something bad is about to happen.
Captain America #6. “Doom’s Shadow” Part 1. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti and Frank Martin. I also picked up the foil version by Ivan Tao (Gold Medalist). Cap is approached by Nick Fury Jr. with an offer that Cap is not too keen on accepting. He also is trying to have a date with Sharon.
Rogue #1. Written by Erica Schultz with art by Luigi Zagaria. David Nakayama did the cover art. Rogue is here with her solo comic under the Shadow of Tomorrow banner. Though it is a solo book, she has Gambit appear as well as some of the other X-Men from her Louisiana team. She heads off to find Mystique and Destiny, and is shocked by what she finds.
Amazing Spider-Man #20. Written by Joe Kelly with pencils by John Romita Jr., Paco Diaz & Todd Nauck. Cover art is done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Dean White. I picked up another variant cover by Lee Bermejo (Silver Medalist). Norman Osborn continues to struggle in his replacement of Peter. Aunt May wants to talk to Norman. Ooh…
Nightwing #134. “The Game” Written by Dan Watters with art by V. Ken Marion. Cover art was done by Dexter Soy. Nightwing and Zanni face off in the Fifth Dimension where their effects dramatically cause destruction in Bludhaven. What can Nightwing do?
Assorted Crisis Events #8. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. One of the best books of the week. I love this creativity of this story, with our comic fourth wall breaking. Even the design of the book’s format is something that I have rarely seen, certainly not in the details of the format.
Redcoat #16. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Bryan Hitch. Cover art was done by Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson. Another book I loved this week. Albert has found Simon with a problem. Benedict Arnold is back. And… oh he is BACK! Great set up for the new arc. I am anxious to see how this moves on.
Gunpowder Prophets #4. Written by Justin Jordan and art and cover art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Huck and Harley are on the path of finding America, who has been taken. This is a fun series with two of the most violent characters you’ll ever get.
Planet She-Hulk #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was done by Aaron Kuder & Sonia Oback. More outer space adventures by She-Hulk. There was a mention of She-Hulk in space in another book, which makes me happier. The cosmic continuity has bothered me and so I hope this is an answer.
X-Men of Apocalypse #2. Written by Jeph Loeb and art and cover art by Simone Di Meo. Alternate universal X-Men versus each other. Oh… and there is Phoenix too. This is an interesting book for what is is. Not sure if it means anything.
Cul-De-Sac #6. Written by Mike Carey with art and cover art by Jonathan Wayshak. This Bad Idea book wrapped up with this issue. It is another vampire book that has a lot of creativity and originality behind it. I have enjoyed the characters of Cul-De-Sac vey much.
Other books this week: Power Fantasy #15, Death to Pachuco #4, Psylocke Ninja #1, Ghost Pepper #7, Good as Dead #5, Nights #17, Ultimate Black Panther #24, and Star Wars #9.
Quick Hits: Cap has to face off with a surprise monster during WWII in Alien vs. Captain America #3. Flash Gordon is in a lot of trouble in Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #2. I was missing The Last Starship #3 so I picked it up off eBay, and then The Last Starship #4 came out this week. I mentioned earlier how strong Ignition Press has been. Murder Podcast #4 is another example. Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3 provides more excellent sci-fi action. Terrorbytes #4 is an excellent sci-fi story this week with Mr. Brace. More trouble between Daredevil & Punisher #3. Can’t we all just get along? Spidey and Wolvie are still jumping around the multiverse in Spider-Man & Wolverine #9. There is some great crime action in American Caper #3. Mad Cave has been dropping a bunch of Speed Racer content over the last several months and the new one-shot Speed Racer: Tales from the Road #1. Green Lantern: Galactic Slam #1 brings Kyle Raynor into the world of cosmic wrestling. Finally, we got the time travel action of Liquidator #3.
I hope everyone is having a great MLK Day. I know not everyone is off work today, but my school is still off, so this has given me a chance to get this finished after yet another busy weekend.
I have been picking up a bunch of Marvel Team-Ups recently. The ones I got this week include #5, 6, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 55,57, 64, 66, 68,72, 73 and 86.
Books this week:
Uncanny X-Men #22. “No Clean Hands” Written b y Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. Mutina is back and wanting to join the X-Men. Yes, it may not be the most heroic reason and it sure seemed as if Wolverine and Nightcrawler have a different mind about that.
Where Does the Rainbow End? #1. Written by Francesca Perillo and art and cover art by Stefano Cardoselli. New book from Mad Cave. A new futuristic story involving robots and humans and how they now interact with one another.
Like a Bell in the Month of May #1. Written by Dustin Victor and art by Metro Catpiss. This was a book I picked up at In This Issue in Bettendorf. The owner of the shop told me that this was a couple of local creators who did this book. I thought it was cool so I picked it up. It is a weird story. It felt as if there was a page missing or something. I am still happy to have picked it up.
Avengers #34. “Heroes” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by Russell Dauterman & Rachelle Rosenberg. I also picked up variant covers by Leonardo Romero and one by CAFU. This is Legacy number 800 for the Avengers. However, this issue felt a little lesser than I expected. It felt more like one of those clip show episodes of a TV show that reviewed previous episodes.
The Ultimates #20. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Phil Noto. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio. We get a bunch of the new Ultimate Vision and Nick Fury as we are moving toward the end of the Ultimates Universe.
Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #4. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Pere Perez. Cover art by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. There is a scene in this book that I absolutely loved and felt vintage Spider-Man. When Spidey finds Evangeline sitting on a construction site, what follows is perfection.
Dungeons of Doom #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson & Benjamin Percy with art by Justin Mason, Robert Gill, Carlos Magno, George Jeanty & Karl Story. The aftermath of the death of Doctor Doom rages on in the Marvel Universe and we get a bunch of people looking to take advantage of the situation.
DC KO #3. “No Mercy” Written by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson with art by Javi Fernandez and Xermánico. Cover art was done by Javi Fernandez & Alejandro Sanchez. It is tag team time as the remaining competitors get to choose a defeated champion as their partner… and no one chose Batman.
Black Cat #6. “Night Court” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. Black Cat needs help so she goes in search of Daredevil so he could help her find…. Matt Murdock? She needs him to help defend her in the court of vampires.
Geiger #20. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art was done by Gary Frank. I also grabbed the Wicked homage cover by Sean Von Gorman (Gold Medalist). The Northerner is here and looking for help from Geiger… and he’s not too anxious to join in.
Doctor Strange #2. Written by Derek Landy and artist is Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art was done by Alex Horley. Doctor Strange and Angela are running around the world of Asgard. I have to say that I was not as into this issue as I expected.
Sai: Dimensional Rivals #1. Storytellers included Peach Momoko, Iban Coello, Stan Sakai with Emi Fuji. Cover art was done by Peach Momoko. Sai is around the dimensions with different artists. Some of the work of this book was fabulous and I especially loved the black and white pages. This is an intriguing book that I am interested in continuing.
Minor Arcana #13. Written, illustrated and cover art by Jeff Lemire. Theresa heads to another fortune teller with some specific questions. The fortune teller is out of C.A.N.O.E. (Clairvoyant Association of Northern Occultists & Esoterics).
Alice Forever After #1. Written and cover art by Dan Panosian and illustrated Dan Panosian (London part) and Giorgio Spalletta (Wonderland part). A new series set in Wonderland with the characters of Alice in Wonderland. Where is the White Rabbit?
Space Ghost #7. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. Space Ghost takes on the Anti Matter Man. Can our hero stop him? Doesn’t seem like it.
Crownsville #3. Written by Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. We got ghosts! Crownsville has been a fabulous book so far and the story of this haunted asylum is really creepy.
Axi-Cab #1. Written by Philip Nelson and art and cover art by Cee Raygun. There are two actual stories in this book, first one entitled “The Warden’s Last Ride” and the second one being “In the Air Tonight.” A murderous cab drives around looking for justice or vengeance. Another new horror story that was pretty good.
G.I. Joe #17. Written by Joshua Williamson and art and cover art by Tom Reilly. The Dreadnok War closes with an unlikely alliance between the Dreadnoks and Cobra Commander. Plus, a shocking final page of this story.
Transformers #28. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Man… Megatron is just absolutely brutal in this issue. The last few pages of this issue show how monstrous Megatron can be.
Other Books this week: Knull #1, Good as Dead #4, Logan: Black, White & Blood #1 (Silver Medalist), Luna Snow: World Tour #1, and Blood & Thunder #9.
Quick Hits: So Battleworld #5 finished this series off with a really weird final page. Is it meant to be a tease for another Battleworld series?? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #14 is hopefully my final issue of this series. I have had some books ordered before I wanted to cancel the book so I needed to buy them (store policy). It did have a nice cover. The penultimate issue of this series is Die!Namite: Blood Red #4. Still fun with the group of female comic stars. C.O.R.T: Children of the Round Table #5 brings our heroes into more training and prepping them of the final issue. Things are getting strange with The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft #3. I picked up Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #2 off eBay since I missed it when it was out. Silver medalist cover this week went to Wonder Woman: Black and Gold 2026 Special #1. Finally, this week we got It Killed Everyone But Me #5, which I actually have not had a chance to read yet.
Yesterday saw the final week in our competition for the Best Comic Book Cover Art for 2025. I give out three (sometime 4) medals a week: Gold, Silver and Bronze, and we keep track. A Gold Medalist receives three points, Silver receives two points and a Bronze garners one point. The tallies are taken.
Best Comic Cover Artist of the Year
Previous Winners: Alex Ross (2024)
In this post, I will also be giving out medals for the Best Covers of the Year. I will give medals for the Best Primary Cover (Cover A) and medals for Best Variant Cover. I will then give out a Platinum Metal for the Best Cover of the year, choosing between the two Gold Medalists.
Kicking off with the Best Comic Cover Artist…
Last year Alex Ross ended up with 14 points as the winner. This year, it is a little different.
Bronze Medalist
Szymon Kudranski
Kudranski had one major series this year, No Man’s Land. He received all ten of his points from that series. He got three Gold Medals and one Bronze.
Silver Medalist
Jorge Fornes
Jorge Fornes had more different covers this year than Szymon Kudranski. He had two Gold Medals, two Silver Medals and two Bronze Medals for a total of 12 points. He did art for Exquisite Corpses, Ordained, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nightwing, and House of Slaughter.
Gold Medalist
Mark Spears
We were just a few months into the new year and it was apparent who was going to win this award for 2025. Mark Spears wound up with a staggering eleven Gold Medals, eight Silver Medals and eight Bronze Medals for a total of 57 points, blowing away all the competition. He was very prolific with his cover art this year. He not only had his own two series from Keenspot, Mark Spears Monsters and Monsters and the Wolf, but he did covers for Shazam, Return of the Living Dead, Space Ghost, Green Hornet/Miss Fury, Vampirella, DC’s Absolutes #1 (Trinity reprints), The Atom Project, Silverhawks, Gargoyles: Demona, Vampirella: Armageddon, Thundercats, and Harley Quinn X Elvira. There was one week this year where he received all three medals in the week, becoming the first artist to do so in the three years we have done this. His Blind Bag releases for Monsters and the Wolf and Mark Spears Monsters #8 are massive hits. He is the clear winner of this competition and the EYG Comic Cover Artist of the Year.
Comic Cover Medal Winners
Regular Cover (A Cover)
Bronze Medalist
Uncanny X-Men #17
Cover art by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson
The debut of Mutina was big, but this cover really made it an issue that everyone had to have. Release date: July 9th.
Silver Medalist
Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1
Cover art by Steve McNiven
Such a beautiful cover with the old man Murdock in from of the image of Daredevil in the back. The graveyard behind him giving that extra level of metaphor. Add the white background and this is a definite winner. Release April 2nd.
Gold Medalist
No Man’s Land #1
Cover art by Szymon Kudranski
Our Bronze Medalist for cover artist of the year got his first gold medal for this cover. The creepiness of the eyeball with the reflection in the pupil is fabulous. And the red blotch against the grey color is excellent. Release Date: September 17.
Variant Cover of the Year
Bronze Medalist
Something is Killing the Children #45
Cover art by Stefano Simeone
This virgin cover had the golden foil teeth on Erica’s mask and it is stunning. This was most recent of the medalist having been released on December 3.
Silver Medalist
Feral #13
Cover art by Tony Fleecs & Trish Forstner
Feral has had some great horror movie inspired variant covers this year, but none as epic as this one, an homage to Friday the 13th. Release Date: May 28th.
Gold Medalist
Mark Spears Monsters #3
Cover Art by Mark Spears
This was my favorite variant cover immediately when I saw it in Previews. It cost a lot of money, but I had to have it. It was a metal variant and had this amazing image of Jaws on the cover. Release date: January 29.
Platinum Metal Winner for 2025
Favorite Comic Cover of the Year (Platinum Medalist)
Previous Winners: Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #2 (2024)
Mark Spears Monsters #3 (Metal Variant)
Next week’s covers will be an extra for 2025, and the new competition begins the week after. Congrats to all our metal winners for 2025!
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.
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.
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.