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EYG Comic Cavalcade #141

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March 2

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

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

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

Books this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EYG Comic Cavalcade #140

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February 22

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

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

Other books this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The White Lotus S2 E1

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Spoilers

“Ciao”

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

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

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

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

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

EYG Comic Cavalcade #137

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February 1

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

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

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

Books this week (minus Marvel):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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January 23

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

This week’s medalists:

Bronze Medalist

Mark Spears Monsters #1 (3rd Printing)

Cover art by Mark Spears

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

Silver Medalist

The Tin Can Society #5

Cover art by Francesco Mobili & Chris Chuckry

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

Gold Medalist

Mystique #4

Cover Art by Declan Shalvey

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

Goosebumps: The Vanishing S1 E1, E2

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Spoilers

“Stay Out of the Basement Part I”

“Stay Out of the Basement Part II”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trey gets eaten too… or transformed… or something.

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

MMS 7th Grade Short Stories

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks to everyone who gives this a chance.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #133

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January 4th

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

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

Books this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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January 3rd

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

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

So… here is the medalists this week…

Bronze Medalist

Absolute Superman #3

Cover art by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola

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

Silver Medalist

Saga #71

Cover art by Fiona Staples

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

Gold Medalist

Miles Morales, Spider-Man #28

Variant Cover C

Cover art by Iban Coello

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

Doctor Who Special 5: Joy to the World

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Spoilers

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 stars

2024 Year in Review: Comic Cover Artist of the Year

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

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

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

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

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

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of December 2

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

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

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

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

Bronze Medalist

Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Detective #2

Cover art by Dave Elsey

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

Silver Medalist

Two-Face #1

Cover art by Baldemar Rivas

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

Gold Medalist

Absolute Superman #2

Cover art by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola

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

EYG Comic Cavalcade #126

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November 28, 2024

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all get as much turkey as you possibly can and spend the day with the people who you care about.

Because of Thanksgiving break, I was able to head up to Comic World yesterday and spend part of the afternoon there. That meant I was able to get a head start on the reading of the books. Thankfully, it was not a massive 40+ book week as it was last week. I was then able to finish the rest of them last night which meant we get a holiday version of the Comic Cavalcade.

I did a new banner for the next stretch of issues. The special one for #125 was cool, but I did this one right after that.

This week’s books:

The Big Burn #2. Written by Joe Henderson and art and cover art by Lee Garbett. I think this might be my current favorite of the DSTLRY books. They come out so inconsistently that it feels as if they are forgotten. Not this one. The idea of pulling off a heist to try and get your soul back after selling it to Satan is such an original idea and I love the characters involved. This is truly a great books so far.

The Missionary #1. Written by Ryan Stegman and art by Jason Howard. Cover B art by Ryan Stegman. Another very strange story with another trip into Hell. I wonder if that is a general theme for DSTLRY moving forward. This was interesting and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

The Rocketfellers#1. Story and words by Peter J. Tomasi and story and art by Francis Manapul. Cover B art by Ivan Reis. A new book from the Ghost Machine imprint at Image, The Rocketfellers was a intriguing time travel type story with a family. There is a huge loss in the very beginning of the book that sets the stakes early. The Ghost Machine books have all been exceptional so far and I think this one could be in the same category.

West Coast Avengers #1. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey (Bronze Medalist). I also picked up the variant issue (featuring Blue Bolt) with cover art by Todd Nauck. I was always a fan of the West Coast Avengers and so I was intrigued by the return of the title, especially with Ultron a member of the team. I’m not sure how that is going to turn out considering the end of the book. The last couple of pages gave me that Thunderbolts #1 vibe.

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #4. “The Eyes of a Monster“. Written, art and cover art by Michael Walsh (Silver Medalist). This is the final issue of this adaptation of Frankenstein. It was a very emotional end for the Monster and the story as a whole. This continued the path of these excellent Universal Monsters books from Image. Sounds as if the next book will be the Mummy.

Amazing Spider-Man #62. “Out of Space.” Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by Ed McGuinness. McGuiness & Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Spidey is being trained by astral plane Doctor Strange in magic to help him in his role as the earth’s new champion against the eight Scions of Cyttorak. Spidey recruited the Black Cat to do give some help, but she and Strange can only do so much.

Incredible Hulk #19. “City of Idols” Part Three. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein & Danny Earles. Cover art was by Nic Klein. This is listed as Legacy number 800 for the Hulk. I am curious what exactly they added in that Legacy number to get to it. Did they count the Hulk issues that were the She-Hulk? How about the Totally Awesome Hulk with Amadeus Cho? Anyway, there is also a group of backup stories including one with She-Hulk and one with Red Hulk.

Hyde Street #2. Creators were Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Ivan Reis did the cover art too (Gold Medalist). Pip “Pranky” Peabody is the focus behind this issue, which has some disturbing moments in it. There is also a lot of fire. This Hyde Street series has been excellent so far, yet another example of the great work under Ghost Machine imprint.

Uncanny X-Men #6. “The Change in Ourselves.” Written by Gail Simone and art by Javier Garrón. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson were the cover artists. The new kids being taken care of by Rogue and the others have to deal with the new arrival, Becca Simon-Pinette and her issues. Oh, and Nightcrawler gets grabbed. Simone has been exceptional in this new X-series so far and I enjoy reading each of them.

Justice League Unlimited #1. Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. I have to say that this concept of the JL Unlimited was interesting to me after I read last week’s Question: All Along the Watchtower #1. It is based clearly on the Justice League animated series where they did the same idea. I am seemingly buying a few more DC books than I have before and this one definitely pushes the right buttons. It is fun not knowing whom may show up in the book.

Black Canary: Best of the Best #1. “Round One.” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Ryan Sook. Speaking of buying more DC books, I like the idea of these lesser characters getting their own limited run. I am enjoying Plastic Man right now, Zatanna was a lot of fun and Black Canary feels like the next best example. Plus, Tom King is the writer and he has done some of my all-time favorite stories (particularly Vision). The whole Black Canary vs. Lady Shiva inside the squared circle is a cool idea.

Iron Man #2. “Move Fast and Break Things.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Yasmine Putri. Tony Stark is in trouble with his company once again as he is desperately trying to prevent a hostile takeover by AIM and ROXXON. Tony does not have access to his array of armor either, having to settle for a pieced together set.

Spider-Boy #13. “Late Entry” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy and Daredevil are on the road trying to catch up with Bullseye and Spider Girl. Who would guess that they would wind up in a special tournament… in Madripoor?

Bad Dreams in the Night. Written and art by Adam Ellis. This was a graphic novel that came out last week, but I just had too many books to pick it up then. I had Todd put it in my box and bought it this week. It is a series of short horror stories by Adam Ellis and they are tremendous. I loved this graphic novel as each of the stories had its own flair to it. It was a variety of tones and stories, and it had some distinctly creepy scenes. After each story, he had a little explanation of where the story came from and some of these were personal. I enjoyed this graphic novel very much.

Absolute Wonder Woman #2. “The Last Amazon Part 2.” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover B variant art was done by Joelle Jones. The absolute DC books continue with Diana meeting up with Steve Trevor and ending up facing off with a giant monster. This was a good book and I am pleased so far with the Absolute DC books.

Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames #2-3. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by John McCrea. Got caught up with this new Dead Eyes series. I do love this character, who does not feel like a traditional hero in any way. In fact, I would go on the record saying that Dead Eyes is anything but. This is very interesting as Dead Eyes returns to mess up his own life.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4. “Grit & a Stick.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Chris Burnham. Cover art by Rafael Albuquerque. Jason Aaron’s run on TMNT has been sensational. This issue, featuring Donatello, is close to the excellence of issue #1. Donatello goes through a bunch of trauma here and it sure seems as he may be losing his own grip on reality. He was speaking to a regular rat as if it were Splinter. These TMNT books from Aaron have been so good.

The Tin Can Society #3. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Mobili and Chris Chuckry did the art on the cover. This has been one of my favorite independent books since it was released. The investigation into Johnny’s death continues as we get some important info in a flashback.

Mystique #2. “Brotherhood.” Written, drawn and cover art by Declan Shalvey. Mystique is out after Avalanche, her former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants partner. Meanwhile, we have a group of SHIELD agents, even two Nick Furys, running around in pursuit of her as well. There are a lot of things going on in this series and it is a fast read.

Dazzler #3. “Tokyo Escape.” Written by Jason Loo and art by Rafael Loureiro. Terry & Rachel Dotson did the cover art. After her last fiasco at her concert, Dazzler’s tour is in trouble. However, Lila Cheney and Dazzler head off for some fun in Tokyo to try and lighten the mood. That does not go well.

Feral #8. “The Cat House.” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was by Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs. Things turn real creepy as Elsie, Gigi and the kittens find Lord, but they are not pleased with the location. “The lady keeps us”… it is literally the crazy cat lady… what a creepy issue this was. Loved it.

Other books this week: Void Rivals #14, Batman-Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #1, Spirits of Vengeance, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #13, and Ultimate Black Panther #10.

The Changeling (1980)

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The October 11 of 13

So The October 13 has been a little lower of quality than I would have preferred this year. However, we came across a good one today. The Changeling, starring George C. Scott, is one of the best haunted house movies I have seen.

The film grabs your attention immediately as it sets up the tragedy for George C. Scott’s character, composer John Russell. His wife and daughter are killed in a tragic accident and this sends him spiraling out of control. Renting a house in Seattle, John goes to hopefully work on his music.

However, once in the house, strange sounds and events started happening, leading John to investigate what had happened in the house’s past.

Honestly, the seance scene was one of the scariest seance scenes I have ever seen. The way that the psychic approached the actual execution of the seance was great. I had never seen a seance handled in this manner before and it really set the stage for the rest of the mystery that would be at the heart of the film.

There is also a horrifying scene with a young boy and a bathtub that I will not go into further description of because it is unsettling.

George C. Scott is a tremendous actor and his very presence in the film give it a credibility that a lot of these haunted house movies lack.

I am happy that this film made the October 13 list this year and I am happy that it has helped put the list back on track.

The X-Files S6 E9

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Spoilers

“S.R. 819”

After a couple of lesser episodes, “S.R. 819” regained the feel of classic episodes of The X-Files, featuring a conspiracy level event.

The show begins with the apparent death of Walter Skinner, setting up the stakes for the episode.

Flashing back to before the ‘death’, we see the events leading up to the current situation and we learn that someone had poisoned Skinner, injecting him with nanobot tech.

Mulder and Scully raced against time to try and save the life of Skinner.

Of course, Mulder and Scully did not solve anything. They circled the truth, but the events were out of their hands. The final shot, of a now compromised Skinner with Krychek of all people was a kick. Especially after Skinner’s ‘deathbed’ confession to Scully that he regretted not being more of an ally to them.

This was a tough episode, but very enjoyable. It had that early X-Files feel to it and advanced the mythology along nicely.