I had a tough choice this week that I wussed out of. I was down to four covers for the three medals and, once again, I decided to have there be a tie. Oh well…
Last week we did not have any variants in our medalists. This week, there are two of the four covers.
Also-Rans: Narco #1, Avengers #36, Batman #7, Moonstar #1, The Twilight Zone #5, Bloodland #2,
Bronze Medalist
(TIE)
Disney Villains: Gaston #1
Cover art by Milena Ciccarello
Variant Cover C
I loved this cover, helping me decide to pick this Dynamite Comics book up. I love how we get Gaston and LeFou running inside the outline of Gaston’s body. The black background makes this standout all the more.
Hello Darkness #19
Cover art by Jenny Frison
Variant Cover B
Another variant that I saw on the shelf and decided to pick it up. I have been enjoying Jenny Frison’s work on the Clean Room Vertigo series that I have been reading on the Daily Read and I think her touch really helps make these horror comic covers effective.
Silver Medalist
Sleep #8
Cover art by Zander Cannon
I have been waiting for the finale of this series for quite awhile now and I was excited to see the book come out this week. The covers of Sleep have been consistently excellent and this one is no exception. The black and white background with the blood red running down creates an exceptional contrast for the cover and really makes me want to see what the finale has in store for me.
Gold Medalist
Nectar #1
Cover art by Chris Shehan
Another new hot book has a beautiful cover featuring butterflies. How does that fit into the story? I am very curious about this book. The orange color of the butterflies and the title jump off the page, especially with that big white moon behind them.
I love this issue. We get a couple of major face offs and sets our two main protagonists on a course for each other.
Astrid video called into the board meeting, revealing that she was very much alive. The confrontation with Mr. Wenuka was like the worst Zoom call ever. Astrid sure showed that even on a mountain top, she had everything under control. I loved how she dealt with Todd, who was the assassin who attempted to kill her on the mountain. She treated him way better than I expected.
Meanwhile, inside the Clean Room, Chloe embraced her ability to control the Clean Room and to show Spark his past… something Spark did not want to see. There were some horrible scenes with Spark possessing a little girl and the tragedy around it. Chloe seemed to be in control as much as Astrid was during the video conference. Killian was shocked since she only knew of one person, Astrid, who could activate the Clean Room.
Both of the assassins, Todd and Duncan, were shown to have been hypnotized and the people around them forgave them quickly. I like that very much. It also seems as if Spark may have taken a step back from the evil that it had looked to reclaim last issue.
Astrid’s brother’s baby was discovered by Astrid’s people. They told her the baby was normal. Of course, Astrid is able to see things differently as the last shot shows the baby with the monstrous head.
Every issue has a twist that I did not see coming. I love how this series feels like a roller coaster that is just flying without me knowing where it was going.
What a fabulously emotional and powerful episode. The first three episodes were strong, but this episode of Paradise was tremendous. It was surprising, engaging, emotional. I found myself tearing up at a specific spot in the episode.
One of my favorite things was that as Xavier and Annie were on their way to Atlanta, they came across some people in another wagon. If The Walking Dead and The Last of Us have taught us one thing, it is that the real monsters in any sort of post-apocalyptic world are other humans. Annie begged Xavier not to look at these people, just to ignore them, and not speak to them. Xavier greeted them anyhow.
Later, Annie goes into labor, and Xavier ran for help from them. I swear I have seen this scene before on one of the aforementioned dramas. However, Xavier returned with a group of these people who went right into helping with the situation. I loved the fact that this show led with the message that not everyone has become monsters. There are good people still around.
The show did a juxtaposition between two births: Annie’s baby birth, and the first birth of a baby in the Colorado bunker (it was great to see James Marsden, once again). I was so on edge the whole time expecting something to happen to one of the babies, and they both survived. I was so happy.
Then, the show threw a twist that fit right with those other shows. Annie died from the birth. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a major shock. This was where I was nearly crying. The scene where the horse would not leave her graveside was so great.
Excellent episode. Next week looks like the story will be taking off, big time.
So, what I wrote about last issue is a touch different now.
It appeared that Spark is not dead. The electricity that was sent through him last issue did not turn him into a pile of ashes. That is what I thought happened, but we see Spark this issue, still alive, still in the Clean Room and being tortured for information. The panel where Spark spoke for Chloe Clim Clam, begging for her to help him, made me worry that Spark is going to resent her for leaving him.
In fact, Chloe knows Spark is alive and I wonder why she left him in the first place. We see her investigating Mueller holdings, and she called Astrid all kinds of nasty names, but why did she leave in the first place?
We return to the scene several days later and Astrid has left the Clean Room and gone to a mountain retreat. Killian sent Capone to retrieve Astrid, but Astrid does not seem to be planning on coming back. Suddenly, there is some feeling for Astrid, a character who I called cold and sent straight t team bad guy last issue. I had some pity for her as she dealt with the idea that her brother shot her through the heart. I am such a manipulated mark.
We also have a new pair of horrendous individuals to fill that villain role. Wenuka and Pete are Jesus-loving corporate businessmen who are looking for a takeover of Astrid Mueller’s followers. We met them earlier, but this issue, we discover that they are darker than we imagined. They had their own “Dark Room,” which made me think it was similar to the Clean Room, and they seem to be ready to torture a poor couple. Weirdos.
I was sure of how I felt about these characters after issue #9 and then #10 flipped it over again. I love that this series is able to play with my emotions. I just hope Spark does not turn angry after his suffering, blaming Chloe.
Up to Issue #8 in the Daily Read of Clean Room by Gail Simone. It is truly epic so far. I really am enjoying that Vertigo series from 2016.
I bought the first appearance of Mockingbird in Marvel Team-Up #95. I am down to six more of the volume 1 run of Marvel Team-Up to complete my collection. That’s fun.
Comic of the Week:
Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral #1
What a massive list of Comic Book writing royalty working on this book. #1 is listed as written by Joe Kelly, Al Ewing & Charles Soule. That is three pretty solid writers for this series. Then the whole thing is drawn by Jesus Saiz. The book started off strong as Symbie (Peter’s little symbiote friend) gnawing of Johnny Storm’s head. I almost fell over. I will say that one thing could ruin it all and that would be a romantic pairing of Mary Jane and Flash Thompson. NO THANK YOU, PLEASE!
Books this week:
Is Ted Okay? #1. Written, drawn and cover art by Dave Chisholm (Silver Medalist). The runner of for Comic of the Week this week is Is Ted Ok? #1 from Mad Cave. It was a very intriguing and interesting idea that I am excited to see expand even more. What is up with Ted and why are we needing to keep an eye on him? Ted is isolated and antisocial, and Sarah, who has been assigned to watch him, starts to wish there was something she could do to help him. It’s complex and different and those are always welcomed.
Murder Drones #1. Written by Wyatt Kennedy and illustrated by Jo Mi-Gyeong. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. I was surprised to see this book in my pull list, because I did not think I had it on my list. I had planned on picking #1 up so I was happy I had it. I noticed that I was missing Murder Podcast #5, so I assume the wrong “Murder” book got pulled. As for moving ahead, this one will not be on my pull list. I did not enjoy Murder Drones much at all.
Murder Podcast #5. Written by Jeremy Haun and illustrated by Mike Tisserand. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun. Unlike the Drones, Murder Podcast is a great story that has that ongoing mystery that is easily filling this story. There are so many brutal kills (some of which were hilarious) that it engages the reader. The issue ended with some military intervention that seemed important (?).
Bat-Man: Second Knight #3. Written by Dan Jurgens and art and cover art by Mike Perkins. The noir style Batman Elseworlds story comes to an exciting close as Batman and Superman learn how to work together and to stop the poisonous fear gas of the Scarecrow. The Black Label book was a lot of fun and reminded me some of Spider-Man Noir.
Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera #1. Written by Tyler Boss and art and cover art by Martin Simmonds. I also grabbed the die-cut cover by Andrea Milana. The next installment of Image Comics reboots of the Universal Monsters is up and it is Phantom of the Opera. The well-known saga of the man with the scarred face but beautiful voice. I have enjoyed all of these Universal Monster books and I am looking forward to more Phantom of the Opera.
Iron Man #2. “Under Pressure” Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. Tony Stark is trying to figure out what Madame Masque is up to… that is, when she is not sharing his bed. Ooooh Tony. Also, who would guess that Iron Man would have to fight side by side with MODOK?
The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery#1. Written by Chris Condon and art and cover art by Jacob Phillips. This is the newest Vertigo book from DC and this is the standout one for me so far. The other two were fine, but this noir detective thriller is the one I am most interested in. I have been a fan of Chris Condon over the years with That Texas Blood, The Enfield Gang and News from the Fallout, so his name on this helps to sell the book even more.
Detective Comics #1106. “The Courage that Kills” Finale. Written by Tom Taylor and art and cover art by Mikel Janin. The virus storyline comes to a close this issue as Batman is able to find the antidote to save the day from the Lion.
Infernal Hulk #4. “Alone” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art and cover art by Nic Klein. How many Hulks are too many Hulks? Well, when you are banished into the Hulkscape, that answer may not be an easy one
The Punisher #1. Written by Benjamin Percy with are by Jose Luis Soares. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. Picking up right after the end of Punisher: Red Band, Frank Castle is back and out for vengeance. His rogues gallery got a return too as Jigsaw made another return from the dead. I also picked up a virgin variant cover by John Tyler Christopher..
Spider-Man & Wolverine #10. “Reunions and Partings” Written by Marc Guggenheim and penciled by Gerardo Sandoval. Cover art was done by Kaare Andrews. This brought the team-up series to a close this week. I have enjoyed this second half of the series more than I did the first arc and it is fun to see these two characters matched up.
Mortal Thor #7. “The Accelerationist” Written by Al Ewing and art by Pasqual Terry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. The world around Sigurd Jarlson is just getting crazier. Mister Hyde is after him. People are starting to realize that he is pretty decent with a hammer. Then, that he may have a connection that they can exploit. Sigurd has some trouble coming.
Red Book #4. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Michael Avon Oeming (Gold Medalist). UFO stories out of China continue to affect the world and the way the US looks to the skies. This is the final issue of this volume of this UFO book, where Tynion IV provides us with some real world incidents and how they may be conceived. I have enjoyed these Blue/Red Book series and I will look forward to the next one in the future.
Disney Villains: Ursula #1. Written by Sherri L. Smith and art by Gabriele Bagnoli. Cover art was done by Mirka Andolfo. I grabbed this one off the shelf for the heck of it. Dynamite Comics has surprised me before with some characters that I did not think would interest me only to be enthralled by their series. Honestly, picking up Ursula #1 was just the collector in me. Let me tell you, I thought this was a great book and a fascinating story of Ursula and her missing sister. Damned if Dynamite didn’t do it again.
Maid Cafe #1. “Welcome Home, Master: Chapter One” Written by Aimee DeLong & Kazue Watanabe and adapted & illustrated by Remy “Eisu” Mikhtar. Cover art by Mark Spears. This one surprised me too, but not in the positive way. I thought this was another Mark Spears book like Monsters or Monsters and the Wolf, but it was more of a manga type, black and white book with a killer maid. Honestly, I passed on reading it so it may be more entertaining than I thought, but it did not appeal to me at first glance. There are fun trading cards inside the polybagged book.
Save Now #3. Written by Matt Kinot and art and cover art by Tomas Giorello. There is a lot of pain and anguish in this time travel series. There is a lot of loss too. Saver sticks around with Jan for awhile, watching the young girl grow into a young woman. Is his time traveling over? This is the penultimate issue of this series.
Wrestle Heist #3. Written, drawn and cover art by Kyle Starks. Our team of pro wrestlers, both active and retired, get together for Thanksgiving dinner to continue to discuss their plan on stealing from the evil promoter Buddy Hansen ( who looks a lot like Paul Heyman). Little do they know that there is a traitor in their midst. As a pro wrestling fan, there are a lot of insider things in this book that make me giddy. It is fun connecting these characters to the real life versions out there.
Absolute Wonder Woman #17. “Season of the Witch” Part 2 of 5. Written by Kelly Thompson and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. Diana is able to free Zatanna from the control that was forcing her to take Diana’s magic and then she winds up facing a crew of her villains including Absolute Cheetah and Absolute Giganta.
Hyde Street #10. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Francis Portela. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. Sisters Hood are the newest pair arriving in Hyde Street. I do not think they are tied to the Sisterhood series we just got as they seem to be fortune tellers. Hyde Street has a lot of fun, weird horror going on.
Final Boss #4. “Stage Four: Forgotten Desert” Written by Tyler Kirkham with art by Tyler Kirkham and David Miller. Cover art was done by Tyler Kirkham (Bronze Medalist). The battles rage on as the tournament continues. The video game-like comic continues to have fun moments throughout.
Other books this week: Void Rivals #27, New History of the DC Universe: Dakota Incident #1, Nights #18, The Author Immortal #5, Be Not Afraid #5, Alice Forever After #2, Power Fantasy #16, Absolute Martian Manhunter #9, Liquidator #4, Return to Sleepy Hallow #4, Conan the Barbarian #29, and 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun #3.
Quick Hits: The Ultimates universe’s story is coming to a close as we get The Ultimates #21 this week with more Luke Cage. Escape #6 dropped the last issue of the series for a while. There will be a break for this series by Rick Remender, but it is not finished. Wiccan: Witches’ Road #3 is back with more magical shenanigans in the Marvel Universe. Wiccan’s mother, Wanda is still at it in the new Sorcerer Supreme #3 book. Rogue is after the truth from her past in Rogue #2. Cable and the members of X-Force are here in Inglorious X-Force #2 as they continue to try and prevent the future murder of Kamala Khan. The second series comes to a close with the new Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #7. Lots of DC heroes/Titans action. I grabbed two covers of the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One (Facsimile Edition) that came out this week. The first cover is one of the most iconic covers of all time. More boobs and sexual chicanery going down in Voyeur #4 from Ignition Press. Malevolent #2 had me thinking a lot of Leeloo from Fifth Element. The art from Oni Press’s new book Spirit of the Shadows #2 reminded me of Jack Kirby. The story of the heroes out of time came to a brutal end in Justice League Unlimited #16 this week. I was not a huge fan of the start of this group, but I did like what they did with them over the last several issues. Keenspot sent me the Pecos Bill and the Guns of Oz #2 this week. It was a fun book.
Another funny episode of Shrinking dropped on Apple TV + this week.
Maybe the scene of the season so far was Jimmy and Brian singing the song, “The Confrontation” from Les Misérables as they were driving to pick up Paul’s daughter Meg. I had seen Jason Segal do this before with Neil Patrick Harris and it was tremendous. This was every bit as awesome, but I spent much of the time watching Harrison Ford reacting in the back seat. Paul’s comment at the end of their song, “Did you guys make that up?” nearly knocked me out of my chair.
We looked at the relationship between Derrick and Gabby as well as the relationship between Sean and Marisol.
I suppose it is more about the individuals in Gabby and Sean than it is in their relationships. They have wonderful significant others at the moment, but both are dealing with their own issues to overcome.
The episode ended with the surprising kiss between Meg and Jimmy, although, to be honest, it did not seem to be a surprise kiss to me. I saw some flickers between them, at least with Meg, earlier this year, that made me think that there might be something here.
Jimmy is struggling to move on, clearly. He wanted one uncomplicated kiss to help kick him into the next level, but, of course, that is not from Meg, who is like a sister to him and is the daughter of his best friend and mentor Paul. Maybe it was me, but it felt like Paul was pushing for Meg and Jimmy to go get the files together. Was he playing matchmaker? That does not seem like Paul, but that is how I took those scenes.
Shrinking continues to be one of the most entertaining shows of TV, with the best dialogue you will find anywhere. This talented cast never fails to fill the show with laughs as well as true feels.
What a fascinating episode of His & Hers this week. It feels like this is one of those TV show that none of the characters are meant to be liked by the audience. Jack slept with the victim, Rachel, on the night of her murder, in his truck. Anna revealed info about the murder victim on TV claiming “It’s my job.” Rachel herself is being shown as a cruel individual whose husband is a piece of crap.
We met Clyde Duffie, Rachel’s husband, and it was revealed that he knew about Rachel’s extra-marital affairs. They had an apparent agreement since Clyde had heart problems. Clyde knows more than he is letting on though and he had some kind of connection to Rachel’s friend, Helen Wang. It did seem as if Rachel and Hellen were blackmailing Clyde.
Jack discovered Rachel’s phone in his truck. That was because it rang when Clyde was calling the phone to try and run out the battery- after Jack had told him to not call the phone nay more. There is something ont he phone that Clyde did not want people to see.
Of course, there turned out to be things on the phone that Jack did not want people to see as well… including some dirty pics on a text thread. Jack was having trouble unlocking the phone so he went to the morgue to use the face of Rachel to open the phone.
He deleted the text thread which won’t remove that totally from the phone. He as a detective should know that.
He also found, in a text conversation, that Helen knew of the affair Jack was having with Rachel.
Other details we learned:
The cameraman that Anna slept with last episode is the husband of her rival at the TV station who had taken the anchor job from her. Felt very purposeful
We got a flashback to when Anna told jack she was pregnant. This was back before the world made them such a-holes.
My favorite line of the episode was when Jack told Anna to stay out of the way or he would arrest her. Anna asked on what charge and Jack responded, “For being an asshole.” LOL.
Helen had been ignoring Jack’s calls all episode, but she wound up calling the Sheriff’s Department and asking to speak to the Sheriff, not Jack specifically. Is she revealing Jack’s connection?
Anna’s mother Alice is a sweetheart. She seems like the one person untainted by the world, even though she has been struggling with her mental health.
We learn that Anna’s year long disappearance had to do with a baby that she lost, probably the same one we saw her telling Jack about. I think we had inferred this already, but this confirmed it.
Anna gets called back to the station in Atlanta. Her rival Lexy has not shown up and they need Anna to fill in on the broadcast last minute. How much did this have to do with the cameraman/Anna?
Jack got his niece Meg to give him a DNA sample, which he then turned in as his own to prevent any identification from the body.
At this point, I think any of these people could be the killer. They all have motives. I wonder if we have met the killer yet? Could it turn out to be someone unexpected like Alice? She has been having trouble wandering recently. I hope it is not Alice, cause that would feel too soap opera-y.
I am fully engaged in the mystery at this point and I am looking forward to seeing next week’s Sunday Morning Sidewalk.
I’m so very tired right now. I went back to work after being sick for three days and it was a long afternoon. Thankfully, the classes were pretty good today. Still, my eyes are drooping.
Good number of covers this week. There was a battle for the Bronze this week, and last year’s champion came up short. In fact, both of the last champions in cover artist of the year wound up in the Also Rans this week.
No variants in the medalists this week. That is becoming more uncommon every week.
Also Rans: Maid Cafe #1, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One (facsimile edition) Cover A, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One (facsimile edition) Cover D, The Punisher #1 (Virgin Cover F), Phantom of the Opera #1 (Die Cut Cover I), Justice League Unlimited #16, Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral #1, The Mortal Thor #7, The Power Fantasy #16, and Murder Podcast # 5.
Bronze Medalist
Final Boss #4
Cover art by Tyler Kirkman
The cover with the fire creature in the background is all contained in the title of the book. While it may not be the most original idea I have ever seen, it is executed beautifully.
Silver Medalist
Is Ted Ok? #1
Cover art by Dave Chisholm
More fire this week with this new Mad Cave book having someone consumed by fire. Is this something like the Human Torch or something more sinister. Is that Ted? I like how “Ted’s” eyes are rolled back in his skull.
Gold Medalist
Red Book #4
Cover art by Michael Avon Oeming
The James Tynion IV book about UFOs in Communist countries takes the gold medal this week with the fun star design and the UFO at the center. The whole week has a red theme to it as we got fire on the other two and the red coloring on thisone.
I got a chunk of episodes from season three watched tonight as I continue to try and fight my way through this cold that is kicking my butt.
“Parting Shot”
Starting off with the end of Bobbi and Hunter. They were originally written off the show to star in their own spin off Marvel’s Most Wanted, but it never got past the planning stages. It was a shame because I really liked these two…even though, technically, Bobbi Morse was not Mockingbird in the MCU. They were awesome members of the team and the story that wrote them out was strong.
The bar scene with the “Spy’s Goodbye” was one of the best scenes of the series.
“Watchdogs”
We get a little background on Mack as we are introduced to his brother and discover the lies that he has been telling him about his career. The Watchdogs are a new hate group formed to go after Inhumans… very much “mutant-esque.” In fact, they could easily have been the Friends of Humanity from the X-Men group.
“Spacetime”
We get an Inhuman who can glimpse into the future and show another person whom he touched the future. As with all futures, you only get a glimpse and so it is difficult to understand exactly what the images mean.
The team discovered that Ward is back during this episode, which really threw their plans out the window. Of course, it is not Grant Ward, but the Hydra “god” from the other planet, but with the face he showed, the buttons were drastically pushed.
“Paradise Lost”
This gives us a background episode for Malick as we see how he betrayed his brother in the traveler contest.
This led to Ward, or Hive- as he would become known, killing Malick’s daughter as a sacrifice. It also led to the Agents of Shield (non-Inhumans) to be captured.
“The Team”
Because of the team being captured, Daisy called in the Secret Warriors to help. Unfortunately, it also turned out to be a huge mistake, as we discover that Hive is able to mind control Inhumans. The mission of the Secret Warriors to rescue everyone is now in question as Malick indicated that Hive may have compromised that team.
The paranoia is rampant and led to a lot of mistrust to be spread. Turned out it was Daisy herself who was turned by Hive, and she and Lincoln left the base together as Daisy was ripping it down with the others inside.
This is a great stretch of the series, but my memory is that I was ready to be done with Ward. There are still several episodes of the season to go.
What an unexpected surprise. As I was going to Disney + this morning, there is was. An ad at the top of the page for Paradise season two, the first three episodes dropping together.
Paradise was a Hulu series from last year that was unexpected as well. Starring Courtney B. Vance and James Marsden, Paradise was a sci-fi series that was remarkably compelling and brilliantly set up. It was a sci-fi/apocalyptic show, a murder mystery and a thrilling political drama.
If I had known Paradise season two was scheduled for release in February, I had forgotten it. Three episodes, each about an hour long, starting off the second season was just was the doctor had ordered for a sick day at home.
“Graceland”
Of course, I had not expected the first episode to start off in Graceland, of all places. We get some details that told us how the end of the world came about. Supervolcano explosion, bringing cloud of dust across the planet. I am not sure I knew this detail from season one, but it made a lot of sense.
We are introduced to a new character named Annie, who was hired as a tour guide at Graceland, thanks to her knowledge of Elvis Presley.
We passed time, several years, with Annie while she survived at Graceland. We saw the other security guard at Graceland, who injured her leg on the first day, slowly die over the next two months. It left Annie alone.
That is… until a group of armed men arrived. However, they did not seem to be the typical armed men in this type of a setting. They were friendly, named after TV characters, and befriended Annie. Especially Link, whom Annie drew closer to during the time they all were at Graceland.
It did seem that this group had a hidden plan. They wanted to find the underground bunker in Colorado and kill Alex. They had told us that they were shutting down nuclear power plants, but I wonder how much of that is a cover story.
Annie refused to go with them and wound up heading out on her own, where she found a crashed airplane and an unconscious Xavier.
“Mayday”
The second episode went back to telling the story of Xavier and how he wound up unconscious on that ground. It also showed us how he and his wife met the first time.
The flashback took us to a time where Xavier had injured his knee and was in the hospital. He was placed in the same room with Teri, who had a surgery, a side effect of which made her blind. They bonded during the time when she was getting her sight back.
Xavier and Annie’s meeting was shown and Annie took him back to Graceland.
“Another Day in Paradise”
Then episode three focused in on the show’s main antagonist, Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond, and her recovery from the gunshot of last season and the further development of assassin Jane Driscoll. Jane is a terrible person and, in the course of this hour, assassinated the new President of the US and framed Agent Robinson for the job.
Billy Pace showed back up in a flashback working for Sinatra. He was told to get the rights to the company owned by a man named Miller. Miller refuses and there is an emotional standoff at his home, beside the bed of his comatose wife, Alex. Is this the same Alex from before? Miller gives his wife a lethal dose of something, and as she died, he asked one favor of Billy… don’t harm the boy from his class that was such a genius and who he felt like a father to. Billy kills Miller and ends up leaving the boy alone.
The boy turned out to be a younger Link.
Wheels are turning here.
Man there are a lot of things happening in this show and I am so pleased that it is back.
Clean Room #2 is the next book in the Daily Read and it added to the wonders of the first issue dramatically. Gail Simone’s imagination is truly expansive and provided some dark moments of terror. I wonder how much books like this helped us into the current time of comics where we get a ton of horror books from Ice Cream Man to Hello Darkness.
The second issue started off with another cold open that I did not expect. It was a rough one with a man bent into a pretzel. I did not tie it together until I started looking at this post, but the man who had been killed in the first couple of pages of issue #2 was the same man, Mikey, that Chloe found in the alleyway and who tried to convince her to not pursue the Clean Room. He was afraid of Astrid Mueller and he desperately tried to talk Chloe into just leaving it be. Chloe couldn’t do it and went ahead to meet Mueller.
Did this lead directly to the death of this man? When did that happen? Mikey said that he had been in the Clean Room and he described it, in no uncertain ways, as being horrific. He compared Mueller to Satan and prayed for Chloe as she left him to move forward.
The meeting between Chloe and Astrid Mueller was odd. Mueller seemed to be trying to push it aside and leave. However, when Chloe tossed out some questions about the Clean Room, everything took a turn.
Makes one think that this was what Mueller wanted in the first place.
The whole Dwight stuff was weird and somewhat disturbing. It confused me for a bit since it seemed as if he wound up getting his comeuppance, but was that meant to be what Mueller wanted?
After two issues, I am extremely intrigued with what happens next.
These Jenny Frison covers remind me of the variant covers for Hello Darkness.
Welcome to the Daily Read. This is going to be a new semi-regular column at EYG where we take a comic series and we read an issue a day, every day until we finish the run. Much like the DailyView where we watch a movie a day, this will be reading a comic.
I was inspired to do this by a series that I picked up on eBay this past week. I had been interested in the latest rebirth of DC Comics’ Vertigo line. These new books are intriguing and I will be picking them up. Meanwhile, I was on Blue Sky recently and Gail Simone (or someone who was responding to her) brought up a series called Clean Room. I had never heard of it before so I went to eBay and found the whole 18-issue series. It had debuted in December 2015 and I decided to order it.
I have been a huge fan of Gail Simone’s work on the Uncanny X-Men recently, and I have been looking into other work that she had done in comics. I was able to meet her at the SiouxCon this past September and get her to sign some books. I purchased a comic script she had written for Savage Wolverine #19, which was so cool.
So I wanted to read this series, but I have a busy schedule and it is difficult to make time for things. That is… unless I am doing a column about it. This led to me creating the Daily Read in order to make sure that I carve out the time needed to read the series.
I read issue one this afternoon and I was fully engaged with it. It started out with a frightening scene with a little girl and an angry man driving a truck. For a moment, I thought this book was starting out with something truly tragic, but the little girl survived only to ask a creepy question: “Mama, why is Papa’s face made of snakes?”
We then meet Chloe, who is on a mission to discover what she could about Astrid Mueller. Mueller had written a self-help book that led to Chloe’s husband’s death (I am not sure if it was explicitly said, but it certainly implied that he had taken his own life).
Chloe’s path in just this first issue was rough as she seemingly tried to drown herself, only to be rescued. She decided on her path to find out why Philip, her husband, died.
Meanwhile, we do not meet Astrid Mueller until the final page, but the book does a great job of setting this woman up as something horrendous, even comparing her to Satan. The story does a sensational job of creating an aura around this character before we see her walk into the scene.
After reading the first issue, I confirmed that I wanted to do this Daily Read on EYG. I have decided that this series is very much worth the time that I will need to commit to read it and write about it. I love it when a series is clever and creative and makes me think about what is going on, and, so far, Clean Room has succeeded in that.
I will be reading an issue a day for the next 17 days and posting my thoughts about it.
Welcome to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Happy Valentine’s Day. Happy Presidents’ Day. It is a fun stretch of the month for me as my birthday is also coming up this week.
I am beginning a new feature for the EYG Comic Cavalcade this week. It is:
The Comic of the Week:
Every week, I will pick one book that is the best book of the week and talk about it officially. In the past, I have mentioned when a book might be my favorite of the week, but I never officially dubbed it so. From now on, I will pick my personal favorite each week and give a bit of a summary of it. For the first Comic of the Week, I have:
The Comic of the Week
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1
Coincidentally, this is also our Gold Medal winning book for Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Geoff Shaw, Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1 gives us a new look at Wade Wilson after something tragic has happened to Ellie. We do not know exactly what it is, but it has turned Wade suicidal and he spends the issue trying to find a way to kill himself, even though his healing factor, which has been fully recharged, prevents him from killing himself. It was a great read and I am intrigued with the new ideas with Deadpool.
Books this week:
The Nobody Graphic Novel: Written, illustrated & cover art by Jeff Lemire. This is a new graphic novel version of a Jeff Lemire graphic novel that has been long out-of-print. It is a reimagining of the classic tale of the Invisible Man in the Jeff Lemire style. From Dark Horse, I really enjoyed this book. It shows how creative you can be even with a story that has been told many times. Image just finished the Invisible Man Universal Monsters mini-series and this feels like a wonderful companion to that story. I love Jeff Lemire too.
Just Brutal #1. Written by Dennis Hopeless with illustrations and cover art by Brahm Revel. This might have been a runner up for the Comic of the Week. It is a new book from Ignition Press, which has been on a real hot streak recently. The thing I liked the best was the manner in which the comic was narrated. It had characters in the story telling the readers what was happening, in a very break the fourth wall style. I enjoyed this one a lot.
Bleeding Hearts #1. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Stipan Morian. This is the official first new book from the resurgent Vertigo line from DC Comics. This features thinking zombies. If I am being honest, I was a little let down by this issue. I had anticipated this more and it was only okay. I plan on continuing to pick it up so I do hope it will improve.
Spider-Man: Noir #5. Written by Erik Larsen and art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Simone Di Meo. The latest version of the Spider-Man Noir series came to a conclusion this week with Peter getting his powers back and kicking some Nazi butt. We saw the first trailer for the Amazon Prime series Spider-Noir starring Nicolas Cage this week, so this could be a hot pick up.
Black Cat #7. “VII: Symbiosis” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Gleb Melnikov. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. Black Cat and Mary Jane reunite and Mary Jane has a secret to share with her. It is a symbiotic secret. Black Cat and the new Venom team up hoping to find their way into the Negative Zone.
Cyclops #1. “Seeing Red” Part 1. Written by Alex Paknadel with art by Rogê Antonio. Cover art was done by Federico Vicentini & Marcio Menyz. Scott Summers gets his own solo series and he finds himself in serious trouble in the Northern Rockies in British Columbia and his visor is damaged. What is Scott going to do?
Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #5. Written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Pepe Perez. Cover art was done by Mark Bagley & Dean White. Spider-Man’s story from his early days comes to an end in this issue as he makes a decision about which woman he wants to pursue… only to have that choice ripped away from him.
Barbarian Behind Bards #1. Written by Elliott Kalan and art by Andrea Mutti. Cover art was done by Francesco Tomaselli. This alliterative book was the surprise book of the week. I did not expect to like this book, but I have been a big fan of Mad Cave over the last year or so. I picked up the issue because of Mad Cave and I really enjoyed the strange tale of a barbarian in present day, dealing with the court system. Give me more of this.
The Digger #1. Written by T.S. Luther with art and cover art by Sam Gudilin. This was one of the most original new series of the week. From Invader Comics, The Digger #1 is like a darker version of Indiana Jones, told from the POV of the Boy. The Boy knows he needs money to help his sick grandma, and he meets up with the man with the devil’s eyes. I love the layout of this book as it is very different style than what I am used to in comics.
Star Wars: Jar Jar #1. “The Unseen” Written by Ahmed Best & Marc Guggenheim with art by Kieran McKeown & Laura Braga. I know it is Jar Jar Binks. I, along with everyone in my generation, hated this character in the Star Wars prequels. I found it silly that he was getting his own one shot Marvel Comics book. I picked it up because I just had to see what it was going to be like. It was like that car wreck that you can’t take your eyes off it. I am ashamed of myself.
DC KO #4. “Trial By Absolute” Written by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson with art by Javi Fernandez & Xermanico. Cover art was done by Javi Fernandez (Bronze Medalist). I also picked up a versus cover by Dan Mora (Bronze Medalist). It was not going to take too long to have crossovers with the Absolute characters… and here it is. Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman and Absolute Wonder Woman are here into the battle. And it looks like we have a tournament winner. One more issue of DC KO left.
The Thing on our Doorstep #1. Written by Simon Birks and art and cover art by Willi Roberts. A new Image Comics book adapting a Lovecraft story that takes place inside the Arkham Sanitorium. Daniel Upton and Edward Derby were best friends for ever, until Daniel shoots Edward dead in the sanitorium. Daniel swears he did not do it, despite holding the smoking gun. Creepy.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1. “Agency” Part One. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by E.M. Gist. Marc Spector is back once again in a new series from Marvel. I swear Moon Knight has a new series every year and a half or so. They all seem to be written by Jed MacKay, so I wonder why they can’t all just be the same series. Once again, Marc is facing some mental problems, but, to the rescue, Zodiac????
Space Ghost #8. Written by David Pepose with art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. Space Ghost faces one of his most dangerous villains ever- The Antimatter Man. However, the Antimatter Man has an unexpected connection to Jace and Jan.
Planet She-Hulk #4. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was done by Emilio Laiso & Sonia Oback. She-Hulk has to fight her recent lover Jack of Hearts on Sakar. This was a solid book that had a shocking final page that I just did not see coming. I enjoyed the relationship between Jenn and jack in the previous She-Hulk series, and I am glad it is being revisited here.
The Center Holds #1. Written by Larry Hama and illustrated by M.D. “Doc” Bright. Cover art was done by M.D. Bright & Joe Quinones. This new superhero project started at Boom! Studios with a sad note. Artist Mark Bright had passed away in 2024 and, after seeking approval from the Bright family, this book is moving forward. Boom is donating part of the proceeds for this book to the Hero Initiative, a charity helping comic creators that are in need.
Geiger #21. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art was done by Gary Frank. Geiger and the Northerner are together trying to deal with the fact that the Northerner had been pulled out of his time around the Civil War to the time after the Unknown War. This still feels like a big crossover event is in the cards.
Rocketfellers #12. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art and cover art by Francis Manapul. The Rocketfeller family is trying to come to grips with the tragic events of last issue, where Roland was killed in an explosion. Raina is still here, but she did not remember anything.
Crownsville #4. Written by Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. The mysteries and the uncertainties of the haunted Crownsville are coming to a head in this penultimate issue of the horror series from Oni Press. This is another book with a great and original layout that helps build a tone unlike most comics on the market today.
Gargoyles & Darkwing Duck #2. Written by Greg Weisman and art by Ciro Cangialosi. Cover art was done by Tad Stones. I did not think I was going to be collecting this book, and yet, here I am with issue two in my collection and enjoying the story. It is a fun pairing between Darkwing and the Gargoyles, specifically Goliath. Dynamite Comics has been dynamite in making these unlikely characters engaging in their books.
The Phantom #5. Written by Ray Fawkes with art by Russell Olson. Cover art was done by Freddie Williams. This newest arc of the Phantom is closed with this issue. I did like this book, but I wish it wouldn’t be over so soon. It seems as if there is another Phantom series coming soon, and I just do not know why this has to be a new number one.
Absolute Wonder Woman Annual #1. “Cursing and Cursed.” Written by Kelly Thompson and art and cover art by Mattia De Iulis. Diana heads to see Athena in an attempt to help break the curse on Medusa and her sisters.
Hank Howard: Pizza Detective- “The Two Hollywoods” #2. Written by Robert Venditti and art by David Lapham. Cover art was done by Andrea Sorrentino (Silver Medalist). Hank Howard is back in his conclusion to the two-issue series with a noir detective and pizza. What a perfect mix. The black and white crime story gives us a beautiful blend of violence and pizza.
Other books this week: Blood & Thunder #10, Mary Sue #4, Sherlock Holmes-The Dark Detective: Knights of Frankenstein #5, Immortal Legend Batman #6, Gigante #1, The fall of Ultraman #1, and John le Carré’s The Circus: Losing Control #2.
Quick Hits: Tom Taylor’s DC book, C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #6 concluded the story, though it is wide open for a potential continuation. I prefer to see an ending that gives a more concrete finish with a slighter hint of a return. Violence and vengeance remains the par for the course in Dark Horse’s Devil on my Shoulder #3. I grabbed another reprint of an Absolute Batman cover, this one being Absolute Batman #15, with a foil cover. I am telling you that DC is not slacking on taking advantage of these Absolute books. I guess you strike when the iron is hot. I hear they are reprinting the entire line coming soon. Wild. James Tynion IV’s future techpocalypse series is back with w0rldtr33 #18. You really have to pay attention to that book to follow along. Alien vs. Captain America #4 came to a shocking end with Cap back in the ice, but he is not alone. Godzilla actually appears in Godzilla Escape the Dead Zone #6. I swear this is the King of Monster’s first appearance in this book outside of flashbacks or storytelling. It is also the final book, but it does not wrap the story up. It heads immediately into another book which I do not think I will be buying. Ultimate X-Men #24 brings that story to an end too, as the Ultimate universe is ending soon. I have appreciated Peach Momoko’s vision of the Ultimate X-Men even if I did not love the book. I liked the difference of it. Transformers #29 features another battel between Optimus Prime and Megatron. Apparently, Han Solo does not find the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: Han Solo-The Hunt for the Falcon #5, which is another book that ends this week. The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft #4, on the other hand, is the penultimate book of this series (I believe). I did not expect for Miss Fury’s head to have been ripped off her shoulders in Die!Namite #5. Surprised for sure. A one shot from the Hello Darkness world came out this week called Good Bones & Other Sordid Tales #1.
The Seven Dials three part series wrapped up here on the Sunday Morning Sidewalk with the final episode “The Finger Points” where we solve the mystery of what was going down.
Last week, it turned out that I was right about the guy at the end of the episode being involved and not dead. As the investigation progressed, it became clear that Jimmy was up to his ears with this case.
I also was not surprised about the “big bad” behind everything being Bundle’s mother, Lady Caterham. Once they had mentioned that there was someone behind everything, there were only so many possible characters that we had been introduced to that could work. It was a sad and emotional resolution for Bundle and I felt really bad for her. I needed more Helena Bonham Carter in the series though.
What did catch me off guard was the reveal that the Seven Dials were a good guy organization led by Superintendent Battle and that they offered Bundle a position on the team. I liked that ending which left things very much open ended for potential expansion of the property.
I thought this was a quick watch and, although it could have been expanded to make the mystery more than what it was, I did enjoy the flow of the show. Martin Freeman was excellent in this episode and I really liked how he allowed Bundle to be involved without letting his hidden agenda out.
Mia McKenna-Bruce was great in the lead role and was very easy to root for as the mystery unfurled.
Next week, we are staying on Netflix for another series. It has been one of the most successful recent series on the platform. His & Hers starred Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson and was a limited series that ran for six episodes.
Today I took a personal day from school so I was able to spend NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at my two stores. Started the morning at In This Issue in Bettendorf and spent the afternoon at Comic World and Games in Dubuque. Always fun spending time with others who appreciate the hobby.
Even more so, I got to do some reading, and I got all my new books on the same day so I do not have to wait to chose the cover of the week until Thursday night.
Also-Rans: The Thing on the Doorstep #1, Space Ghost #8, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1, Absolute Batman #15 (Second printing-foil), The Digger #1, and Bleeding Hearts #1 (foil virgin).
Bronze Medalist
DC KO #4
Variant cover G/Bracket Cover
Cover art by Dan Mora
This one reminded me of the Godzilla vs. Marvel Universe covers that I really liked from last year as they set this up like a fight poster, the match-up of the tournament front and center. I like how this builds this tournament up with the images of those that remain.
Silver Medalist
Hank Howard Pizza Detective: The Two Hollywoods #2
Cover art by Andrea Sorrentino
I love the shades of purple across this cover for Bad Idea’s new book. It has a compelling imagery across it as well, with the black standing out beautifully among the purples.
Gold Medalist
Wade Wilson: Deadpool #1
Cover art by Geoff Shaw
There were some outstanding covers for the new Deadpool series, and the cover A is right up there with some of the best of them. Something has made Wade Wilson want to end his life, which is a difficult thing for him to accomplish. The look of Wade on this cover gives that feel of hopelessness and all-consuming anger despite not seeing his actual face. The cover does a great job of telling you what this new arc is all about.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 