Agents of Shield S1 E11, E12, E13, E14

Spoilers

“The Magical Place”

“Seeds”

“T.R.A.C.K.S.”

“T.A.H.I.T.I”

This block of four episodes went into deep details about Tahiti, a magical place… or at least, what it truly was.

The information Coulson was able to ascertain about the mysterious magical place showed him some of the horrors that he went through to bring him back from the dead. He learned that he was dead for several days, not several seconds as it had been told to him. We saw the horror-scape imagery of them working on Coulson’s brain, implanting memories to help him forget the time of his resurrection. That image was truly horrific.

We are introduced to John Garrett, played by the awesome Bill Paxton, whom will become a major issue later this season. Garrett was Ward’s former SO and he came to the Bus to take control of the prisoner, Ian Quinn. Coulson did not want to give him up because he had shot Skye twice, leaving her for dead.

The whole Skye gamut was rough as the team tried to find T.A.H.I.T.I. and hope to find a way to save a dying Skye.

Several tense moments. Several of these episodes, especially T.R.A.C.K.S., played with POV and would go back to different groups of the agents, showing what they saw during the same time frame. It was a clever episode that ended with Skye getting shot.

We learned that the drugs that were created to save Coulson (and eventually Skye) came from the dead body of a Kree, hooked up to a machine inside T.A.H.I.T.I.

I’m still finding more and more times where Ward’s actual Hydra roots came in conflict with what he did. I do not remember much about these episodes, but the questions about him actually being Hydra is absolutely not being hinted at yet.

The team is bonding all the more with every episode. Next episode will be the one to feature Lady Sif, as we saw Lorelei arrive in the post credit scene of episode 14.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #185

January 1

Happy New Year! On the most recent NEW COMIC BOOK DAY, there was a small number of books. DC Comics did not put out anything at all and Image only had a handful of books. That made the day a little lesser.

There were a couple of MAJOR events this week though that led to me picking up a variety of covers.

I traded some of the duplicates of the Mark Spears Monsters #8 with a few of the others at Comic World. I have 29 separate covers of that book as of right now.

X-Men: Age of Revelation-Finale #1. Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman with Netho Diaz. Cover art is done by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia. I also picked up Cover C with art by Marcus Martin (Gold Medalist). The last three months have been dominated by this X-Men future story and it was brought to an end with this issue. It left off with a mystery as the Beast whose mind had been believed to have been brought into the future with Cyclops was not the Hank McCoy that we knew. This mutant story was interesting and looks to still be threatening our regular Marvel Universe.

The Lucky Devil #6. Written by Charles Soule with art and cover by Ryan Browne. After quite a break for this series, Lucky Devils are back to cause more trouble for the humans that they are whispering to from their shoulders. The art in this book continues to be one of the best of all independent books.

Ultimate Endgame #1. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. I picked up a blind bag of this book where I got a cover by CAFU. I also grabbed the foil by Derek Chew and a Spider-Man/Wolverine variant by Dan Panosian. The story of the return of the Master and the downfall of the Ultimate Universe begins in this issue with some major things that happen.

The Ultimates #19. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. The story focuses on the Ultimate Wasp and Ultimate Hank Pym and their background. It also brings us the debut of the Vision, who promptly rips the brain out of Nick Fury (who I believe is a LMD).

Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #5. Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira, Daniel Picciotto, and Brent Peeples. Cover art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Matt Milla. We get Iron Man suits for Wolverine and Spider-Man in order to stop the Predators. Too bad Kraven doesn’t get one. This series comes to a close.. for now.

Marvel Zombies: Red Band #4. Written by Ethan S. Parker & Griffin Sheridan with art by Jan Bazaldua. Cover art was done by Greg Land and Rachelle Rosenberg. Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Ultron and Doc Ock meet up with the New Avengers… and Spidey is guilted into revealing his identity to everyone. Meanwhile, zombie Reed Richards gets his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet. SNAP.

The Punisher: Red Band #4. Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Julius Ohta. Variant cover art was done by Kaare Andrews. Punisher is on his way to Tombstone, and is leaving a path of blood and brains along the way. One of the better uses of the Red Band polybag is this Punisher book.

Harley Quinn x Elvira #1. This came in a Mystery Variant Blind Bag from Dynamite. I picked up one where I got a cover by Amanda Connor (Bronze Medalist) and another where it was the cover from the #1 by Mark Spears (thanks Todd). Blind Bags are just a lot of fun… unless you get the same basic cover out of nearly every bag (sorry Todd).

Feral #19. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was done by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner. I also picked up the horror homage cover B done by Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner & Allen Passalaqua (Silver Medalist). Feral continues to be one of the best books every month. The drama inside the Pet Store is coming to a head as Elsie heads out of the store on her own.

Sorcerer Supreme #1. Written by Steve Orlando with art by Bernard Chang. Cover art was done by Leirix. Stephen Strange is gone. Doom is dead (for now). That leaves earth without a Sorcerer Supreme. Not for long… Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch takes the mantel for herself, the hell with anyone else. The Vishanti may have something to say about that.

The Undead Iron Fist #4. Written by Jason Loo and art by Fran Galan. Cover art was done by Whilce Portacio & Alex Sinclair. Danny Rand completed his mission and returned to his death… although it sounded as if he might be called back to the real world again in the future. This series ended with this issue. I did enjoy this book and I wish it would have had a longer shelf life.

Tin Can Society #9. Written by Peter Warren with art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. This Image book put out its final issue as well with this one. I have to say that this series felt like it kind of sputtered to the end, though part of that could have been the release schedule for it. I have to say that I was less excited for this finale than I was for the series in the first half of the books.

Other Books this Week: The World to Come #5, Escape #5, Lost Fantasy #6, Marian Heretic #3, and Mary Sue #3.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #184

December 28

We are up to the final Comic Cavalcade of 2025. The next NEW COMIC BOOK DAY is New Year’s Eve and, even with a smaller pull list as it looks to be, there is no way to finish it up before the clock strikes midnight.

2025 has been a great year for comics. With this last week’s load of books, I passed 20,000 comics in my personal collection. That was a cool thing. It was just a few years ago that my collection was in such a mess that I had no idea how many comics I had. Now, after several years of work, my books are all bagged, boarded, boxed, and counted. Sure, there are books where I am unsure where they are still, but it is certainly progress.

I received my order of Mark Spears Monsters #8 this week. I picked up 24 blind bags from Keenspot and I wound up with 19 new covers. I only had 5 duplicates, which I am considering a huge success. I also got three foil covers and three glow-in-the-dark covers in the blind bags. I am pleased with the delivery, even if it felt as if the package was never going to get here.

Books this week:

Sleep #7. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. The penultimate issue of Sleep came out this week and it continues to be one of the best, most creative books on the market. I am anxious to see what surprises we are going to have in store for us in the finale next month.

Red Book #3. Written by James Tynion IV with art and cover art by Michael Avon Oeming. More UFO stories from the Soviet Union and, setting up, China for next month. Tynion IV writes this as if it is the truth and that it is out there.

The Will of Doom #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by CAFU. Cover art was done by Jonas Scharf & Alex Guimarães. Dr. Doom is gone (yeah, right) but the Doombots are causing trouble. One issue with the Doombots is that they always believed that they were the true Doom. This one-shot feels important as Chip Zdarsky is heading toward the big event next summer. How will this fit into that?

Orla #5. Written by John Lees with art by Sally Cantirino. Cover art was done by Sally Cantirino & Dearbhla Kelly. Orla was a fun book that seems to believe in true love, even over that desire to murder and eat your lover. This is the final issue of this Mad Cave series.

DC KO: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1. Written by Scott Snyder & Joshua Williamson with pencils by Dustin Nguyen & Giuseppe Camuncoli. Cover art was done by Jorge Corona & Sarah Stern. I also picked up cover C by Guillem March (Gold Medalist). This was the most interesting of the first round match-ups in the KO tournament because of the history between Red Hood and Joker. Many of the other match-ups did not have much background to them, but this one was firing on all cylinders.

Gunpowder Profits #3. Written by Justin Jordan with art and cover art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Marley and Huck got in trouble for their murder of the motorcycle gang last issue, but it seemed as if the gang was not going to let death stop them. Just an excuse for Marley to be even more violent. Meanwhile, America has been snatched away.

Sisterhood #5. Written by Maytal Zchut and art by Leila Leiz. Cover art was done by Leila Leiz with Alex Sinclair. The final issue of this Hyde Street story sees the weird end to the friendship as one person is arrested for the crime. Was it the right person though?

Rocketfellers #11. Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art and cover art done by Francis Manapul. The Rocketfellers have been running through time to avoid Raina Rocketfeller, Roland’s sister. However, Raina has caught up with the family which lead to, apparently, a tragic result. I did not see this coming.

Justice League Unlimited #14. Written by Mark Waid with art and cover art by Dan Mora. The Terrific Ten storyline continues as yet another of the out-of-time heroes bites the big one here. That means that they are down to six.

Absolute Superman #14. “Son of Nowhere, Nothing and No One” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Big finale between Superman and Ra’s Al Ghul. The last panel brings the character a little closer to his true look. Thanks Ma.

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #6. “What’s the Point of a Corgi?” Written by Tom King with art and cover art by Belen Ortega. With the time travel shenanigans going on in this series, we now have Trinity gain a chance to meet her father, Steve Trevor. Admittedly, it is only via the clay molding manner which does not sound nearly as fun.

Justice League Red #5. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Clayton Henry. Cover art is done by Clayton Henry & Arif Prianto. Black Adam is throwing shade to Red Tornado. Is the mind behind the Justice League Red actually plotting against them? As I am not as much of an aficionado of DC, am I supposed to know who the Crimson Cloud is?

Tama #5. Written by Adam Schlagman & Doug Pasko with art by Daniel HDR. Cover art was done by Ashley Witter. Tama continues his brutal path of killing people. Can the video game creature be shut down before it becomes the ultimate monster? Spoiler: Answer is no.

Detective Comics #1104. “The Courage That Kills Part Four” Written by Tom Taylor with art and cover art by Mikel Janin. Batman is in a race against time as he has now become symptomatic with the virus that he has been fighting against. How does the Scarecrow fit into this?

Amazing Spider-Man #18. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. I also picked up the variant cover by Simone Di Meo, featuring Mary Jane. Norman Osborn and J. Jonah Jameson sit down to talk about their connection to Peter Parker.

Spider-Man ’94 #4. Written by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. Spidey and Kraven take on the powerful Morlun. Somehow, it sure looked like Morlun turned into Swamp Thing on the final page. Marvel should watch out for copyright lawsuits.

X-Vengers #3. Written by Jason Loo with pencils by Sergio Davila. Cover art was done by Mike McKone & Morry Hollowell. The X-Vengers X-ssembled! Or something like that. This is another of the Age of Revelation books that was fun, but felt unneeded. It just gave a flavor to the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Cloak or Dagger #3. Written by Justina Ireland with art done by Lorenzo Tammetta & Edoardo Audino. Cover art was done by Mike McKone & Rachelle Rosenberg. This was another fun book as we get a chance to see Cloak and Dagger’s daughter kick some butt during the Age of Revelation.

Undeadpool #3. Written by Tim Seeley with art by Carlos Magno. Cover art was done by E.M. Gist. I liked this book at first, but I am not sure if I enjoyed its conclusion during the Age of Revelation. Deadpool got himself got it appeared. Still lots of death X Years Later.

1776 #2. “Our Sacred Honor” Written by J. Michael Straczynski with pencils by Sean Damien Hill. Pete Woods did the art for the cover. Okay, Spidey and Cap together with the revolutionary war soldiers is a hoot. I love their little hats. Clea vs. Morgan Le Fey is a bigtime throwdown.

No Man’s Land #4. Written, drawn and cover art by Szymon Kudranski (Silver Medalist). This awesome story of a murder mystery that could lead to major troubles between the US and the USSR comes to a close. While the mystery is not a great one (considering we did not really have a list of suspects), the resolution is epic. The scene with the showdown was amazing and I actually had my jaw drop with the presentation of it. I loved this four-issue series.

Hello Darkness #17. Variant cover art was done by Jenny Frison (Bronze Medalist). Another strong issue with multiple horror stories. There is always a great deal of variety in this Boom! Studios book.

Absolute Wonder Woman #15. “The Mark of Hecate” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. After over a year of publications, the Absolute Universe has finally crossed over. In this book, we get the first ever team-up between Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Batman. The story will continue in the next Absolute Batman book.

Other books this week: Masterminds #3, Godzilla Escapes the Dead Zone #5, Blink and You’ll Miss It #4, Titans #30, Absolute Martian Manhunter #7, Fire and Ice; Nekron #1, Event Horizon: Dark Descent #4, Gray Lady #1, Immortal Legend Batman #5, Return to Sleepy Hollow #2, and Red Vector #5.

Quick Hits: Final Boss #2 is back with more hand to hand fighting in the style of the classic video games. In the spirit of the awesome blind bag trend, I picked up an Image Christmas Blind Bag that was supposed to guarantee me a incentive comic of one of Images books. I got the 1:25 version of Assorted Crisis Events #5, which was a cool cover. Hornsby & Halo #13 featured a battle with an angel and devil in search of our heroes. The crime comic called American Caper from Dark Horse is, once again, a very enjoyable book. Dynamite put out The Lion King #2 as Simba was on the case of a missing elephant baby. The Marvel Winter Break Special #1 follows up the Marvel Swimsuit special from earlier this year. Still silly, but some fun art. Expatriate X-Men #3 was my least favorite of the Age of Revelation books this week. Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #6 sees our heroes and the big titan monsters in bad shape. Is that supposed to be a monster version of Cheetah? The Quintesson War has begun in the pages of Void Rivals #25. Ignition Press comics gave us Voyeur #3 this week as we get even more adult comic action. I received Hero Hiro #2 from Keenspot this week along with the Monsters book. While this is a little young, I do like the story that they are telling. Finally, it is Star Wars #8 as Luke is doing his best Spidey under the rubble routine.

Merry X-Mas from EYG

Merry Christmas to all out there from EYG.

It’s not Christmas for me until I watch Muppet Christmas Carol. Of all the Christmas traditions, this is the one that I look forward to the most.

Among the dozens of adaptations, this is my ABSOLUTE favorite version of A Christmas Carol.

Michael Caine is the perfect Ebenezer Scrooge. He accomplished this feat by playing this completely straight. He played Scrooge, as he said, “like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company” and not dancing, singing Muppets. Line delivery was spot on and the facial expressions brought Scrooge to life.

Another reason he is great in this film is that we see Scrooge’s humanity right off the bat. As soon as the Marley Brothers (preformed by Statler and Waldorf) showed up, you could see Scrooge begin to change. I have never liked the versions of Scrooge that feels as if he does not change until he sees his tombstone in the future. That feels insincere. Michael Caine’s work is just fantastic.

The movie is also a surprisingly accurate translation of Charles Dickins’ work. Many lines are exactly as they appear in the novel. I mean, of course, there are plenty of changes and adjustments to the film. It is narrated by a rat and a … whatever… in Gonzo the Great and Rizzo the Rat.

The design of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come are brilliant. The Ghost of Christmas Past is just a child Muppet, but it is, arguably, the creepiest of the three. This Muppet had the perfect touch of the uncanny valley to make her frightening. I love the Ghost of Christmas Present. He always reminded me of Santa Claus. Yet to Come is the classic Grim Reaper version and looked remarkable. The Jim Henson Company was at its best with this puppetry.

I am not ashamed to say that the scene where Kermit and Miss Piggy talk about the death of Tiny Tim breaks me every time I watch it. There is just something about Kermit and Miss Piggy grieving that is just unnatural.

There are some great songs in the film. The “Scrooge” anthem that started the film off is fabulous as is the “One Sleep ’til Christmas” sung by Kermit. Above all of them though, my favorite is the song sung by the Ghost of Christmas Present called “”It Feels Like Christmas.”

I am grateful that I can watch this at any time on Disney +.

Pluribus S1 E9

Spoilers

“La Chica o El Mundo”

It really feels as if Pluribus has only just started its season. It’s hard to believe that the show is already up to its first season finale already, but that is the case. Apple TV + dropped the finale a couple of days early (before Christmas).

And what a finale this was. In some ways, it was smaller, quieter than I might have expected. But then again…

There was an A-Bomb!

Carol and Manousos come face to face in this episode and some of the early scenes between these two were truly hilarious. I loved the use of the umbrella to block out the chance of the drones spying on them, reading their lips.

The mistrust between Carol and Manousos was on display as they tried to communicate via cell phone translation programs. There was some high comedy with that translation program as well. When the phone was in the sewer, but still translating, well, that was the height of funny.

Carol seemed to believe that Manousos had taken it too far with his “experimentation” on the Others. Carol’s close relationship with Zosia was coloring her perspective and she joined Zosia on another isolation attempt. This time, however, it seemed clear that Manousos was not going to fold like Carol did. He seemed like a type of guy who does not mind some isolation.

Carol never really understood the relationship she shared with Zosia. Carol looked at it like it was a typical, normal relationship, but that was not the case. Carol looked to be in denial about a lot of what was going down. When Carol learned that The Others had her frozen eggs (that Carol and Helen had decided to harvest years ago) and that they could change that into stem cells, the same stem cells the Others needed to turn Carol into another member of the hivemind, things crashed around her. Carol had Zosia return her to her home and decided to join with Manousos after all.

And the atomic bomb reveal at the end was insane. Maybe it was not literally an A-bomb… though Carol had asked about it earlier in the season…

Pluribus’s first season was sensational. I know the series has been renewed for a second season. I hope we do not have to wait three years to get the next episodes.

The Secrets We Bury

The Secrets We Bury is a documentary streaming on HBO Max recently dealing with the disappearance of George Carroll.

According to IMDB, “In the early 1960s, George Carroll walked out on his family, leaving his wife, Dorothy, and their four children behind. Decades later, the Carroll siblings are still left haunted by what happened to their father. Seeking much-needed closure for himself and his family, ‘The Secrets We Bury’ follows Mike Carroll as he unravels the mystery of his father’s disappearance and uncovers a story much darker and more complex than his family could have imagined. Told through extensive sit-down interviews with the Carroll siblings and layered with intimate archival footage of the Carroll family spanning decades of their lives, the documentary offers a sensitive look into one family’s journey to find closure. Part mystery and part family drama, ‘The Secrets We Bury’ raises important questions about whose stories we choose to believe, and why.”

This was a slow burn of a documentary that had a wild story involving abuse, disappearances, psychics and murder.

There are beats in this doc that are difficult to believe, making one think that there is a part of this story that is not being told to us accurately. In particular, the psychic who, apparently, was able to direct Mike where to look for his father.

The documentary spent a bunch of time in this story telling us how Mike’s mother could not have been involved with this cover up, how that she believed the story that she told them, about George abandoning them. I think this is the biggest error of the doc. There is no way that I don’t believe that she had, at the very least, the knowledge of what had happened to George, if not participated in it. They did a lot to try and make it seem like she was an innocent, even going as far as to showing us a reading by the psychic where the mother supposedly said as much. Nope. I don’t buy that at all.

This was a intriguing case that will never truly be solved. It was a mysterious and thrilling story.

3.75 stars

EYG Comic Cavalcade #183

December 21

Hey all. I am on Winter Break so I am into the relaxation mode. EYG is involved in the Year in Review, finishing up the movies for the year, waiting for Stranger Things Part 2, starting on The Pitt on HBO, among other things. That may sound busy, but it is busy with things that I love.

Comics are a big part of the break as well. We just gave out the Comic Cover Artist of the Year. To no one’s surprise, it was Mark Spears. He also won the Platinum Medal for the Overall Cover of the Year with the metal variant of Mark Spears Monster #3 with the giant shark on it. Love it.

Books this week:

Avengers #33. “Twilight” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by CAFU & David Curiel. We get some background on the origin of the Impossible City. This was the Legacy number #799, making next issue a major anniversary.

Radioactive Spider-Man #3. Written by Joe Kelly and pencils by Kev Walker. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Morry Hollowell. The Age of Revelation arc with Peter Parker comes to an end. Peter survived, which is weird since so many of the characters in this timeline have bit the big one. Aunt May did not make it though.

Survive #4. Written by Robert Venditti with art by Doug Braithwaite. Arturo Lozzi & Laura Martin did cover art. Survive continues to an awesome read. I mentioned last time that this book has a cinematic feel, and this issue kept that up. I really enjoy this Bad Idea book.

Exquisite Corpses #8. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with James Tynion IV and art by Adam Gorham with Michael Walsh. Cover art by Michael Walsh. I also picked up Cover D by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). This continues to be one of the best books of the month.

Mark Spears Monsters #8. “All That Remains.” Written, Art and cover art by Mark Spears. This is the blind bag issue and I got two of them. The first one I picked up was a foil variant, which was a 1:666 (Gold Medalist). These Monsters books are more than just cover. The story has been a lot of fun.

Mortal Thor #5. “Thy Soul to Take” Written by Al Ewing and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. I also picked up Knullified variant by Netho Diaz (Bronze Medalist). We get a new variation of Odin, talking to a new variation of Loki, talking about Sigmund.

Wrestle Heist #1. Written, drawn and cover art by Kyle Starks. This new Image comic is an intriguing new book with some professional wrestlers. We are following the heel character Sterling Steele, who is preparing to leave the company. That turned out to be a problematic decision.

Nightwing #133. “A Thing That Should Not Be” Written by Dan Watters with art by V. Ken Marion. Cover art by Dustin Nguyen, Elizabeth Torque, with Sabine Rich. The Martian Manhunter comes to Bludhaven to help Nightwing to head into the 5th dimension. Will Dick be able to come back.

Black Cat #5. “Hero to Zero” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Gleb Melnikov. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. Felicia is arrested. Bailed out by Mary Jane Watson. Confronts Tombstone. All in a busy day. Black Cat has been a good read so far.

Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #5. Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art was done by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran. I have enjoyed this series. However, this final issue was not the best of the series. I was disappointed with the ending… especially with the asterisk at the THE END.

Space Ghost #6. Written by David Pepose with art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done Francesco Mattina. What happens when Space Ghost gets turned into a space vampire? I did not know that there was even such a thing. Jan and Jace show their importance once again.

Daredevil & Punisher #2. “The Broken Machine.” Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Tommaso Bianchi and Gabriel Guzman. Cover art was done by Skan. This book has a great example of the different sides of crime fighting between Daredevil and Punisher.

Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #3. Written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Pepe Perez. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg. Spidey fights the monster version of Evangeline as she tried to find the mystic book that turned her.

X-Men: Book of Revelation #3. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Netho Diaz, JP Mayer, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. Elbecca makes her move on Revelation only to find that she may not have been as secretive as she thought.

Omega Kids #3. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Rod Reis. We see that Quentin Quire is still a bad ass. The Omega Kids had a lot of potential, and Quentin was impressed with their abilities.. just before he killed them all. Age of Revelation claimed more victims.

Strange Tales #3. Written by Jeremy Whitley with art by Bayleigh Underwood. Cover art was done by Bayleigh Underwood & Jim Campbell. The Hulk is on a rampage, controlled by the Enchantress.

Sam & Twitch Case Files #20. Written by Thomas Healy with art by Von Randal. Marco Failla did the cover art. The previous case that has been haunting Sam is underway. I have enjoyed this duo over the last couple of years.

Everything Dead & Dying #4. Written by Tate Brombal with artwork by Jacob Phillips. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips & Tongi Zonjic. The normal people are going all in against the zombies in the small town. However, a certain little girl is on her way back to her daddy.

The Last Wolverine #3. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Edgar Salazar. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo and Matthew Wilson. More death in the Age of Revelation. Leonard sacrifices himself to save Logan. This book obviously is vital to the overall story as Logan is back and ready to contribute.

G.I. Joe #16. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art was done by Tom Reilly. Cobra Commander makes his present known in the Dreadnok War. Duke and the Joes are back and are ready to join in.

Hector Plasm: Hunt for Bigfoot #3. Written by Benito Cereno with art and cover art by Derek Hunter. This short series finished with this issue. The truth about the bigfoot comes out in the issue. This was a fun little series.

Cul-De-Sac #5. “You’re Not the Hunter Anymore.” Written by Mike Carey with art and cover art by Jonathan Wayshak. The Bad Idea book is feeling like it is wrapping up. Everything all started to come together.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #15. “The Haunting of the Wrecker” Finale. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Domenico Carbone. Davide Paratore did the cover art. Moon Knight wrapped up the Wrecker story. Then, someone kidnapped him. This leads into the next version of the Moon Knight series, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1 coming in January.

Absolute Flash #10. “Rogues’ Revenge” Part Two. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Nick Robles. The Rogues are still out there as Wally tries to find out what is going on. Was that Barry Allan at the end of the book? Something weird is going on.

Liquidator #2. Written by Peter Milligan with art and cover art by Piotr Kowalski. Barry Dyer is feeling down, down enough that he might be suicidal. Instead, he was recruited as a Liquidator, and time travel action ensued.

High Strangeness #3. “Book Three: 1983” Written by Christopher Cantwell & Daniel Noah with illustration by Valeria Burzo. Cover art was done by Valeria Burzo & Francesco Segala. The anthology series has another solid story.

Endeavour #2. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Marc Laming and Tony Shasheen. Marc Laming did the cover art. I like this DSTLRY book quite a bit as we see more with the kids left alive on the ship. This is a great story.

Space Scouts #2. Written by Matt Kindt with art and cover art by David Rubin. The new Dark Horse oversized book is a good time. We start seeing the truth behind the whole Space Scout competition.

Bat-Man: Second Knight #2. Written by Dan Jurgens with art and cover art by Mike Perkins. The Bat-Man and Superman are together as the Scarecrow is causing some trouble. I love this Elseworld story setting our heroes in the World War II time frame.

Other books this week: They’re All Terrible Deluxe Edition #1, Harley Quinn x Elvira #3, Yuletide #3, Ghost Pepper #6, Ancestral Recall #5, The power Fantasy #14, Conan the Barbarian #27, No Place #2, 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #2, and Rivals: Ignite #1.

Quick Bits: This week’s quick bits kick off with Planet She-Hulk #2 as Jen continues along with trying to run Sakaar. Rogue Storm #3 was my least favorite third issue of the Age of Revelation. I am still unsure where the timeline for Black Panther: Intergalactic #1 falls. Korvac is causing trouble in Battleworld #4, BUT Spidey and Bucky find a new group of heroes. Crystar was there too! Sonja Reborn #4 has a cool picture cover. Alien vs. Captain America #2 sees the Howling Commandos get f-ed up badly. Racer X #4 once again is the same story as in Speed Racer, just from a different perspective. Terrorbytes #3 gives a prison story that was very interesting. W0rldtr33#17 focuses on the internet maybe coming back. DC KO Harley Quinn vs. Zatanna#1 sees a cool fight between these two. Harley dies, but clearly she is not dead. Not sure I have been a fan of these individual fight books so far. The Author Immortal #3 has not been my favorite book so far, but it is original. Die!Namite: Blood Red #3 has Red Sonja joining up with Vampirella and Miss Fury. It has been a fun book.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #48

Spoilers

This week for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, we start a two episode documentary on HBO Max about Billy Joel called Billy Joel: And So It Goes. This is truly a first for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk because the first episode is almost 2 and a half hours long. Next week’s is about the same. We have never had an episode for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk as long as this was.

Honestly, I love Billy Joel, but, when the show first came out on HBO Max, the runtime of the documentary was something that put me off. However, the timing of this worked out perfectly as The Haunting of Hill House ended last week, and the next series would start over Christmas break from school. I have two weeks off from teaching and so anything that I did not get to watch on a Sunday because of the length of the documentary could easily be watched during the week. It was perfect.

I watched Part 1 today, and the doc was fascinating. It reveled a ton of details that I was unaware of pertaining to Billy Joel. The early career depression that led him to attempt suicide a couple of times was truly unexpected.

Many rock documentaries do not feature some of the worst times of the performer. They may gloss over things that they do not want to explore. I did not get that feeling about Billy Joel: And So It Goes. The cliché phrase “warts and all” seems to fit as the first episode talked about Billy’s drinking, his depression and suicide attempts, his attitude toward the record companies, just to mention a few. All of this came together to show us a cool portrait of this musician.

There were plenty of talking heads in the film including comments form Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, John Mellencamp, as well as people closer to Billy. His wife/manager Elizabeth Weber was an essential character in the narrative of Billy Joel’s early successes, and she appeared through the entire episode. Of course, we also heard directly from Billy Joel in multiple settings and time periods.

The first episode ended just after the motorcycle accident that Billy survived and the split of his marriage with Elizabeth.

We will finish episode 2 next Sunday.

2025 Year in Review: Comic Cover Art

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 WinnersAlex 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 WinnersSpider-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!

Rob Reiner/Anthony Geary RIP

I was working on the third 2025 Year in Review: In Memoriam Part 3 last night, and I thought to myself that I would only have one In Memoriam left. I thought that it would be fine because what are the chances that there would be any other big stars pass away before the year ended.

Oh my god.

I woke up in the middle of the night and saw on TikTok a horrible story that I never would have believed. Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle had been allegedly killed by their son Nick. I felt crushed by this news. I was a fan of Rob Reiner, especially as a director.

Then, I got home from school and I was on X and I saw tweets that kicked me in the gut. Anthony Geary, who played Luke Spencer on General Hospital for decades, had died.

I could not believe it.

Luke Spencer was one of my favorite characters on TV, period. Not just soap characters… but all characters. He was one of the best actors in Daytime, winning multiple Emmy Awards.

Rob Reiner directed some of my favorite movies of all time. The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, Stand By Me, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Misery, The American President, and When Harry Met Sally.

Luke Spencer, along with his on-screen love Laura, became an icon in television. Their GH wedding was watched by 30 million viewers. They were on the cover of Time Magazine.

The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of all time (well, it is 1B to Endgame’s 1A).

Anthony Geary was a prime reason why General Hospital had been such an influential show for me as a youth. Luke was my idol. As a child, I watched all summer long and had my mom tell me everything on days I was at school.

Two men who were absolute icons for me, both gone within a few hours of each other. Both men some of the most influential actors of my life.

Rest in Peace.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #182

December 14

EYG Comic Cavalcade is here again, with a new banner. I do love making these banners.

Ordained #1. Written by Robert Venditti and art by Trevor Hairsine. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). This was the book I was looking most forward to this week and it did not disappoint. The early characterization was spot on and I loved how the story kicked off.

Ultimate Spider-Man #23. Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Marco Checchetto. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson. The penultimate issue of Ultimate Spider-Man brings Peter into conflict with Kingpin and Mister Negative.

Infernal Hulk #2. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art and cover art by Nic Klein. The new version of the Hulk heads to Atlantis and into conflict with Namor. This new Hulk is still quite violent and deadly.

Amazing Spider-Man #17. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Pepe Larraz. Cover art was done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. We are back in space with Peter and his crew of oddballs. Peter has to face off with one of the underlings of Hellgate. Pete will have to face off with his failure.

The Beauty #2. Written by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley with art by Emanuela Lupacchino. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun & Nick Filardi. The virus known as The Beauty continues to spread around the nation. This has been a really strong start with Ignition Press.

Crownsville #2. Written by Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. Into the asylum we head with ghosts all over the place. This has been another great new book, this one from Oni Press.

C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #4. “Chapter 4” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Daniele Di Nicuolo. Cover art was done by Daniele Di Nicuolo & Rain Beredo. The kids are off to England to get training with their new, possessed weapons.

Unbreakable X-Men #3. “Like Drowning in the Dark.” Written by Gail Simone and art by Mario Santoro with Luciano Vecchio, Tiago Palma, Davide Tinto & RB Silva. The Age of Revelation series comes to a close with the death of Gambit but the return of Rogue. Gail Simone has done osme top notch work with these characters.

Absolute Batman #15. “The Joker.” Written by Scott Snyder with art by Jock. Cover art by Nick Dragotta (Gold Medalist). I picked up the B variant cover with art by Jock. The hottest book of the week is once again Absolute Batman. This week because we get the origin of the Absolute Joker. Huge book.

Assorted Crisis Events #7. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. Another wild story of Tom, who, for some reason, has dead bodies appearing around him… all of them identical to himself. It was a weird story felt like it could be in Ice Cream Man (including a literal ice cream truck).

Sinister’s Six #3. Written by David Marquez and art by Rafael Loureiro. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. We learn who the Venom in this series is and the death of yet another character in this timeline. In this case, Havok. Once again, these extra books feel like a What If …? book.

Nova Centurion #2. “Deep Space Drifter, Pt. 2” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alvaro Lopez & Matteo Della Petit. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg. Rich Ryder’s Nova takes on the powerhouse who is Ravenous.

Iron & Frost #3. Written by Cavan Scott with art by Avairi Coleman. Another tragic end for this series. Emma and Tony, whose relationship was more than anyone thought, both died in the conflict.

Ultimate Wolverine #12. Written by Chris Condon and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art was done by Matteo Della Fonte & David Curiel. Wolverine heads into the Rasputins’ hive to find the… Ultimate Phoenix? What?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13. Written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Freddie E. Williams II. I picked up a couple of the blind bag version of the book. This is the new creative team. I started collecting this because Jason Aaron was so good in issue #1. I was uncertain what I wanted to do with this book now. I was not impressed with this book. It may not be long for my collection.

Geiger #19. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Gary Frank. Ashley Arden is out looking to help children in the lawless land. And the surprising end sees a cameo by Redcoat! I love that as this book was missing Geiger, and yet I did not miss him that much.

Marvel Knights: The Punisher #3. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art and cover art by Dan Panosian. Everett Ross was able to get Frank out from the cartel’s control and had to take time to get Frank off the zombie drug.

New Avengers #7. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Cover art by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. This has some questions about Natasha and what he motives are… or if she is actually Natasha. Is she part of the Killuminati?

Zdarsky Comic News #18. The final issue of this little magazine from Chip Zdarsky. I will miss this fun little, free, magazine. Zdarsky is most likely leaving this because of the huge Marvel stuff he was doing.

Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #1. Written by Dan Dido and art by Alex Sanchez. Marco Santucci did the cover art. Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless, Lothar and the Phantom are together in serious trouble. They are tied up and getting ready to be burned to death. This was fun.

Other books this Week: Death to Pachuco #3, Mad Magazine #47, DC KO: Wonder Woman vs. Lobo #1, The End 2099#1, Blood & Thunder #8, and Darkness #1.

Quick Hits: We have Spider-Man & Wolverine #8 where we got some kind of combo between the two of them. This series has been up and down for me. All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #5 saw Gwen and Flash back in that prison with the symbiote. Good fun here. Man Cave had two books this week here with It Killed Everyone But Me #4 and Look Into My Eyes #5. We got another Mad Cave book Pop Kill #1 which, I believe is a reprint of the original Pop Kill #1, but with a different cover (which get the Bronze Medalist this week). The other Age of Revelation book this week was Longshots #3, which is probably my least favorite of these books. Transformers #27 featured several other Transformers, such as Jetfire, one of my all-time favorite Transformers. More drama from Jeff Lemire in Minor Arcana #12. I enjoyed the Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #4 was one of the better Star Wars books I have read. One more penultimate book with Ultimate Black Panther #23 came out this week. Terminator Metal #3 found some Western jib in the book.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #47

Spoilers

“Silence Lay Steadily”

The latest Sunday Morning Sidewalk show wrapped up this morning with the finale of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix.

Mike Flanigan’s 10-episode horror series was a great series with some complex ideas and original storytelling. The performances of the actors in the show were really great. Admittedly, I had some trouble over the first several episodes figuring out who was who, especially with the flashbacks being so prevalent. However, once that became clearer, the show really took off.

The finale was a beautiful end to the story, which was quite unexpected. There was healing and love through the Crain children and reunions of spirits within Hill House.

I had a definite vibe between Hill House in this series and Murder House from the first season of American Horror Story. In the end, Hill House had a less evil feel than Murder House, or at any time in the previous episodes of this series.

The episode focused around the Red Room and what it truly was… which seemed to be a chameleon type room, being whatever the person needed it to be. That was an intriguing concept.

The ending did reconstruct the idea around Hill House. I did not find it as evil of a location as the Crain children had made it seem. It just felt like a resting place for many ghosts.

Overall, I found this to be a very engaging and enjoyable show, with a few gaps and holes that didn’t keep me from enjoying it.

Next week, the next Sunday Morning Sidewalk will head over to HBO Max for a two-episode documentary on Bill Joel, called Billy Joel: And So it Goes. These two episodes will be the longest single episodes we have done in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, but it feels like a good one to end 2025 with.

Daily Countdown: TV Shows #1

#1

LOST

So we have come to the end of our journey that started on the first day of September. We have reached the number one show of all time according to EYG, and, if you knew me at all, this would have been the least dramatic reveal of a number one ever.

LOST is, far and away, my favorite show ever. I remember the feeling I had when it came to an end: an emptiness in my gut that took several years to fill.

Some claim that LOST had one of the worst endings of any show, and I respectfully disagree. I found the LOST finale to be perfect. It focused on the characters that I had come to love for the previous six seasons.

LOST ran for six seasons on ABC, giving us 121 episodes of awesomeness.

A group of people, who were from all walks of life, boarded Oceanic flight 815 in Sydney, Australia for Los Angeles. That flight did not make it to LAX. Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, the plane came across some major problems and crashed on an island. Almost immeditaely, you learned that this island was unlike anywhere else. As Charlie said…

Guys, where are we?”

The Island was a character all its own, with a mythology and mysteries for the audeicne to chew upon. That was one of the criticisms of the show: they did not reveal the secrets of the Island. Again, I think there were plenty of mysteries revealed. It may not have spoon-fed you the answers you wanted, but if you paid attention, you could make educated answers to everything on the show.

The Island had a polar bear, a smoke monster, a group of Others, healing properties allowing a crippled man to walk again among other things.

The ensemble cast was brillaint. Led by Matthew Fox, the cast included Terry O’Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Jorge Garcia, Josh Halloway, Maggie Grace, Emilie de Raven, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Malcolm David Kelley, Dominic Monaghan, Harold Perrineau, Michael Emerson, Ian Somerhalder, Henry Ian Cusick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cynthia Watros, Elizabeth Mitchell, Nestor Carbonell, Jeff Fahey, Sonya Walger, Sam Anderson, L. Scott Caldwell, Jeremy Davies, Ken Leung, and Rebecca Mader.

Some of these actors will forever be their characters to me. Many have gone on to do other major roles (Evangeline Lilly was Wasp in the MCU, Terry O’ Quinn and Michael Emerson have had plenty of other roles), but my first thought will always be that they are their characters from LOST.

4 8 15 16 23 42

See ya in anothe rlife, brother

You guys got any milk?”

We got to go back!”

The greatest show of all time in the opinion of EYG… LOST.

That wraps up the first Daily Countdown. It was quite the undertaking, but we are far from done. Tomorrow we start the next Daily Countdown. It was actually a harder list to compile than the TV one. Tomorrow we start TV THEME SONGS.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #46

Spoilers

“Screaming Meemies”

I am not sure I was ready for that.

This episode, entitled “Screaming Meemies,” which was a slang term meaning a “heightened sense of panic or anxiety,” showed us the events of the night when Hugh took the kids and left the Hill House in the middle of the night. It was all from the perspective of Olivia, whose entire life had seemingly become a dream that she could not awake from.

I had not expected for the house to have driven her as mad as it did that she would try to awaken the twins (and Luke’s not-so-imaginary friend, Abigail) by having a middle of the night, surprise tea party, with tea laced with rat poison.

Poor little Abigail saved the day, in a sense, by sipping on her poisoned tea before the twins could, and she promptly died.

Much of this had been influenced by the ghost known as Poppy Hill, who showed up at the end of episode 7 to grab adult Luke when he tried to burn the house down. This Poppy was a nasty ghost who was planting the seeds of evil in the mind of the mentally ill Olivia, leading to this act of horror.

With this bit, in the penultimate episode no less, the last thing we need to discover from the past flashbacks, would be what happened when Hugh went back to the Hill House after he dropped his kids off at the motel. I am sure that will be included in the 70+ minute finale in episode 10.

We got to see the truth behind several of the odd things we had seen previously from Olivia, like the screwdriver she held at Hugh’s neck or breaking the mirror on the vanity that Steven had fixed up for her. Everything fit in nicely as we see the descent of Olivia into this house induced madness. We also see her “suicide”, aided by the push of Poppy Hill.

I expect that next week’s big finale will deliver big time, as this show has been truly firing on all cylinders the last four-five episodes.

Daily Countdown #5

#5

Picket Fences

David E. Kelley has had a couple of other shows on this list. Picket Fences is my absolutely favorite one of his oeuvre.

A little town called Rome, Wisconsin was home to all sorts of weirdness. I have been a fan of the genre of show that feature a strange, eccentric town full of bizarre things (from Eerie, Indiana to Twin Peaks). Rome is certainly in the mix.

The family at the center of this weird town is the Brocks, including Sheriff Jimmy Brock and his wife Doctor Jill Brock. Jimmy’s daughter from his first marriage, Kimberly, and Jill’s two sons, Matthew and Zach, were part of the family too.

Much of the action took place inside the Rome Court House, where Judge Henry Bone oversaw the court. One of my favorite characters of all time was the defense attorney for just about anyone… Douglas Wambaugh! “Wambaugh for the Potato man,” “Wambaugh for the steamroller, your honor.” Douglas Wambaugh was as bombastic as humanly possible, played with perfect precision by Emmy Award winning Fyvush Finkel. The combative relationship between Wambaugh and Judge Bone was one of the most original and entertaining relationships on TV.

Picket Fences was also where I was introduced to Don Cheadle, who played D.A. John Littleton. Cheadle went on to a successful movie career, including replacing James Rhodes in the MCU.

Some of the most amazing plot lines happened on Picket Fences, and somehow, they all seemed to have major impact on the Brock family. Any holiday where the Brocks gathered for a dinner was destined to turn into fireworks. Thanksgiving? Hold on to your hat.

Jimmy and Jill loved each other but they were never afraid to throwdown if the story called for it.

Some of the major events in Rome included the capture of the Green Bay Chopper, the arrival of serial killer Cupid, a mayor who was arrested for murdering the guy who carjacked him and then. before going to prison, spontaneously combusted, a woman who flattened her husband with a steamroller and blamed it on PMS, the iconic Dancing Bandit who eventually became Rome’s mayor (not the one that spontaneously combusted), and a town where one of the most dangerous appliances was the human sized icebox.

These are just some of the stories that populated this wonderful town.

Picket Fences ran for four seasons and wound up winning 14 Emmy Awards in that run, including Outstanding Drama Series twice.

Cast members included Tom Skerritt, Kathy Baker, Fyvush Finkel, Ray Walston, Don Cheadle, Holly Marie Combs, Costas Mandylor, Kelly Connell, Zelda Rubenstein, Adam Wylie, Justin Shenkarow, Lauren Holly, Marlee Matlin, Ray Dotrice, Leigh Taylor-Young, Roy Brocksmith, and Robert Cornthwaite.

As Judge Bone would so nimbly put it at the end of a case, “Now get out.”