Third season rewatch is underway with the team scattered about and everyone trying to face the possibility that Simmons was killed by being sucked into the monolith. Of course, Fitz never gave up and he was taking risk after even greater risk to prove that Simmons was alive.
I actually did not remember Simmons being brought back from the alien planet so quickly, but I know there is an episode coming up that is dedicated to the time she spent on the alien planet.
I am not 100% sure why May is doing what she is doing at the beginning of the season or why she decided to accompany Hunter on his mission. It has to be more than just the opportunity to kill Ward. However, the scene of May kicking the ass of the three brutes in a backroom of a fight club was awesome.
A new agency was formed by the President to deal with “alien” threats, meaning specifically Inhumans. The ATCU is led by Rosalind Price, and she and Coulson have some interactions.
Lincoln is being pursued by both the ATCU and Shield, and Daisy has her own personal feelings involved. It has been a rough three episodes for poor Lincoln.
Grant Ward recruited the son of Baron Von Strucker, Werner Von Strucker. I remember this character being a big piece over the seasons. Ward’s recruitment of Hydra agents does not seem to have gone very well so far.
We see the first appearance of the Inhuman named Lash. He was quite the powerhouse and a dangerous force.
Simmons struggled to readjust to earth, but she also seemed to want to go back to the planet. I do not remember why so I am curious to the answer.
Good start to the season and Dr. Garner even named dropped “Secret Warriors.”
I was unaware that the first two episodes of Shrinking season three were already out on Apple TV +. When I was on Amazon Prime, I saw Shrinking with a “New Episode” tag on it and I looked to see two episodes were out already. I was excited because I enjoyed the first two seasons very much.
About halfway through the first episode, I realized how sensational the writing of this show is. The characters are so witty, funny, quick. I was laughing throughout the entire show. Everyone is so brilliantly written and developed that I am constantly amazed with the show.
Michael J. Fox appeared in the first episode as, what we would later find out, a delusion that Paul was seeing because of the Parkinson’s Disease. While it is supposed to be a bad thing, it was so awesome to see him and I think he and Harrison Ford worked so well together. Parkinson’s is truly a horrible disease, but it is great to see this show address it straight forward.
Paul and Julie wind up getting married in the first episode and it was just perfect Shrinking storytelling. Everything was so wonderful that even the old curmudgeon Paul seemed to enjoy himself.
There are so many excellent story arcs kicking off here including Jimmy trying to move along into a new relationship with Sofi (played by Cobie Smulders), Paul’s Parkinson’s, Alice’s going to college, Brian’s trouble with the baby mom and so on.
Brett Goldstein came back for episode two and it felt like his story came to a conclusion. He had a nice goodbye with Jimmy and Alice and he shared a powerful scene with Gaby.
This show does such an amazing job of feeling like real life while being unbelievably funny and poignant at the same time. Every actor on the show delivers their lines perfectly and the chemistry of the cast is off the charts. I am so happy Shrinking is back for season three and has officially been renewed for seaosn four on Apple TV +.
Once again, I am very late with this column. Still, with the Genre-ary coming to a close until 2027, I hope I can get this back on a more regular basis.
I have been picking up a lot of back issues recently, both from my two comic shops and off eBay. I am still working on Marvel Team-Up from In This Issue, the Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 books I am missing, and I got a bunch of Sensational She-Hulk during John Byrne’s run.
I need to catch up with putting these books away too. I have a couple of large piles awaiting me to put them in the proper boxes. I need to get this done before the next round of new comics on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY, which is just a couple of days away.
Books this week:
Survive #5. Written by Robert Venditti with art and cover art by Doug Braithwaite. Survive has been one of my favorite books of the last several months. The Bad Idea comic was very cinematic in its storytelling. ZI will say that I think the conclusion was a little short of what it has been so far, but I can understand that I had the bar set really high. This was a wonderful five issue series.
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Francesco Mobili & Marte Gracia. Spider-Man and Rapid team up to try and stop the weirdness of Screwball in this fun pairing.
Iron Man #1. “A New Nightmare” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. There is a brand new arc for Tony Stark, as he is still just pushing the limit. So much so that a new group of Illuminati are looking into what they need to do to keep Tony Stark under control. Good start for the armored Avenger.
Malevolent #1. Written by Justin Jordan with art and cover art by John Bivens. I also picked up the Cover B which may or may not be done by Phil Hester. Either Hester or Jorge Corona. 30 years before, demons were unleashed into the world of humans. However, now humans have created a weapon to kill the demons… if she does not kill the humans first. Interesting new dystopian future story from Image Comics.
Wrestle Heist #2. Written, Drawn and Cover art by Kyle Starks. Is Grave Digger the best wrestler to never win the big one? And who is Ocho Bolo? How does it all work together in this pro wrestling saga? What evil plan does promotor Buddy Hanson have? We know he has one.
Infernal Hulk #3. “Whatever Happened to Bruce Banner?” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with pencils by Kev Walker & Nic Klein. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. We get a look in this issue of where Bruce Banner is and how his life is going. Iron Man and Reed Richards make a cameo appearance looking for help to face the Infernal Hulk.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #42. “Webs of Regret: Conclusion” Written by Cody Ziglar with art by Marco Renna. Cover art was done by Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon. This is the final issue of Miles’s current book as he and Peter take down the Assessor. I enjoyed the banter between the two Spider-Men in this book and I expect that Miles will be back in his own title sooner rather than later.
Spirit of the Shadows #1. Written by Daniel Ziegler & Nick Cagnetti with art and cover art by Nick Cagnetti. Erik Leroux was a musician who loved his music and his love, Katrina. His sudden death sent his soul to a carnival-like Spirit World beyond this world. But death did not end things for Erik. Another intriguing horror series from Oni Press.
Feral #20. Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez. Cover B art was done by Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner & Allen Passalaqua (Bronze Medalist). I do love these horror covers that Feral has been doing the last year plus. It has also been one of the best books on the market consistently every month. The issue is tense and suspenseful and you are never sure what is going to happen next.
Dust to Dust #7. Written by JG Jones & Phil Bram with art and cover art by JG Jones (Gold Medalist). Dust to Dust has not been seen since #6 came out August 2025. I looked that up and, honestly, it felt like it should have been much earlier. It was a pretty good issue considering I was uncertain about what was going on.
Strange Tales #4. “Hela on Earth?!” Written by Jeremy Whitley and art by Bayleigh Underwood & Carola Borelli. Cover art was done by Bayleigh Underwood & Jim Campbell. Hela is here. The young heroes in Strange Tales, including several Runaways, Spider-Gwen and Wiccan & Hulkling wrap up this short series.
Detective Comics #1105. “The Courage That Kills Part Five” Written by Tom Taylor with pencils and cover art by Mikel Janin. Things are going really poorly for Batman, who is infected by Lion’s virus, and realized that the whole thing was a distraction.
Final Boss #3. “Stage 3: The Wharf” Written by Tyler Kirkham with art by Tyler Kirkman with David Miller. Cover art was done by Tyler Kirkham. The video game-like book that reminded me of Street Fighter continued this week with some solid action. This has been a fun book that makes me feel like I am playing a video game.
Absolute Batman #16. “Bat Out of Hell” Written by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta with art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. We continue the team up between Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman as Batman and Wonder Woman head to the Underworld to look for a way to help Bruce’s friend, Waylon. Not sure things worked well.
Drawing Blood #10. Written by David Avallone with art by Ben Bishop and cover art by Kevin Eastman. Another book that is back after quite a long layoff. This book about a comic artist who is trying to deal with his greatest creations being changed for a movie has been pretty solid. I actually felt like I was able to get back into this book easier than some of the others that take the long break.
Punisher: Red Band #5. “Urban Warfare” Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Julius Ohta. Variant cover art was done by Clayton Crain. This red band book came to an end, but it sounded as if this series was being picked up in the next Punisher book coming soon. I am still not sure what the continuity of this book is and I am not sure what that means for the next Punisher #1. I guess we will see.
Marvel Zombies: Red Band #5. Written by Ethan S. Parker & Griffin Sheridan with are by Jan Bazaldua. Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. This was a great version of Spider-Man in the zombie world. I thought this use of Spider-Man was right on spot. Jean Grey was back again as Phoenix.
Justice League Unlimited #15. Written by Mark Waid and art by Dan Mora & Sean Izaakse. Cover art was done by Dan Mora. Mister Terrific and the time misplaced Leaguers have had better days. Batman and Superman do not make it and we find that we have a traitor in the group. JLU has been good during this time of KO, when all the main Leaguers are gone.
Justice League Red #6. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Clayton Henry. Cover art was done by Clayton Henry & Arif Prianto. The drama around the Red Tornado and the Crimson Cloud ended in this issue as the JL Red brought the end to this saga.
Terminator Metal #4. Written by Declan Shalvey & Rory McConville with art by Fabio Gallo. Cover art was done by Declan Shalvey. This was one of the better issues of the Terminator books, going back to the original series. I really enjoyed this issue a lot.
Absolute Flash #11. “The War of the Flashes” Written by Jeff Lemire with art and cover art by Nick Robles. This has a feeling of a big finale happening as Absolute Flash is getting a lot of the story from ghost Barry Allen and is preparing to take on all the problems.
Escape from Skull Island #1. Written by Simon Furman with art by Christopher Jones. Cover art was done by Maria Wolf. The story picked up from Return to Skull Island, a mini series from last year. There is a lot of Kong in this book, but he had seen better days.
Void Rivals #26. Written by Robert Kirkman with art by Andrei Bressan. Cover art was done by Lorenzo De Felici. The Quintesson War Part 2 is underway and we meet the bizarre Quintesson judge, Judge Naven. Once again, the book has broughtDarak andSolila are back together again. Still the best this book gets is when they are together.
Absolute Wonder Woman #16. “Season of the Witch, Part 1 of 5” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. We get the debut of Absolute Zatanna and the Absolute Suicide Squad. Zatanna is taking Diana’s magic powers away from her.
KO: The Kids are all Fight Special #1. Written by Jeremy Adams with art by Travis Mercer. Cover art wa done by Bruno Redondo. This is a one shot that kind of brings together a bunch of the young heroes of the DC universe that are on their way to the Titans series. This was an interesting group of characters and I may give this a chance when they become the new Titans.
Other books this Week: Tales of the Shadowman #2, Astro Quantum #1, The Author Immortal #4, Harley Quinn x Elvira #4, Lost Fantasy #7, Blink and You’ll Miss It #5, DC’s Supergirl: Next Door #1, Conan the Barbarian #28 (Silver Medalist), and Be Not Afraid #5.
Quick Hits: Another good use of Spider-Man is in Marvel’s 1776 #3. I hate it when books use Spidey but do not do him justice or have him do things that are not in his character. This one has done a solid job. A new book from Invader Comics is Do Not Disturb #1. It is a noir-type book dealing with a character that has died and a mystery. It’s pretty good. Save Now #0, the origins of the Save Now characters is strong too. Wanda vs. Agatha Harkness in Sorcerer Supreme #2. More Oz action in No Place #3. The horror anthology book Hello Darkness #18 has some of the most original stories in all of horror comics. A one shot book following up on Bug Wars was released this week with Bug Wars: The Spyder Wytch Special #1. I picked up Sonja Reborn #5 from Dynamite, ID’s Return to Sleepy Hollow #3 and Absolute Martin Manhunter #8.
I arrived at the third season of Sha Na Na with the first four episodes on YouTube and it kicked off with an odd thing. Episode one started with the group singing “Summertime” and then they had a backstage version of Up on the Roof, and I swear I had seen both of these performances on previous episodes. I did not want to take the time to go back and see if I could find them, but it was so odd that I wondered if they had to plug in some older versions of these songs for some reason. Jocko did not have his mustache, which is a key clue.
There was another song that I think they had done: Three Cool Cats. It featured one of the actresses who was the waitress at the diner, who we did not see in any other season three episode.
The season added a new set. One set was Greasers’ Hall, which apparently replaced the diner set. We also got much more Soupy Sales than in previous seasons. The new season episodes kicked off with a comedy bit before the introduction and episode one and two had a bit called “The Sha Na Na Joke Hall of Fame” which seemed like it was going to be a regular bit, only to not have it in episode 3 or 4.
Connie Stevens and Danny and the Juniors did a typical routine, with Stevens singing “Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces” and Danny and the Juniors doing “At the Hop.” The other two guests were Conway Twitty and Ben E. King, who both did medleys of their songs. I liked that and hope more musical guests will follow suit.
Sha Na Na did the theme song for Grease as one of their opening songs on the stage and poor Donny was so lost on the choreography of the dance routine. I felt so bad for him. He was giving it his all, but he was just behind the others so much. Donny is not the best of the backup dancers and this was pretty complicated. He kept just trying to do the grease your hair move.
Of course, Sha Na Na appeared in the movie Grease, playing the band at the dance where John Travolta and Olivia Newton John would win.
Maybe that was why they sold Donny to science in a future episode.
Man, they sure stick Lennie into a lot of dresses.
Lookin ahead, there are a lot of country musicians coming up. I wonder if they had burned through guests from the 1950s and had to move into different genres.
Ignition Press released a comic a few months ago called The Beauty, written by Jeremy Haun. I was unaware that there was a series before this one from Image Comics. I am enjoying the book from Ignition Press so I was intrigued when I heard that Ryan Murphy was adapting it to a FX series. The first three episodes dropped this past week and there will be a weekly drop on Wednesdays after that.
There is a virus that is transmitted sexually. When you get the virus, you become beautiful (in a horribly painful and gross way). Admittedly, there are some people who just explode in a big bloody mess. Not sure the difference at this point.
Evan Peters stars in the show as Cooper Madsen. The show also featured Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos, Ashton Kutcher, and Jeremy Pope.
FBI Agents Cooper and Jordan were investigating the mysterious deaths of several super models, including one that went crazy, killing a bunch of people before she exploded in a bloody splash. Meanwhile, out-of-shape and pathetic young man named Jeremy went to a plastic surgeon with the hope to make himself more attractive. The plastic surgeon worked on him, and it seemed to be successful. Jeremy went to a club where a group of women gave him some attention. However, they were just scamming him for free drinks.
Jeremy, in a rage, went to the surgeon’s office with a gun, killed several staff members, and threatened the doctor. The doctor, however, had another suggestion and hooked him up with a mysterious woman. Jeremy and the woman had sex and Jeremy wound up transforming into a more handsome, in shape person.
This series has a lot of body horror in it, and that is not one one of my favorite types of horror, but I am interested in the series so I will certainly be giving it a chance. I have been disappointed with Ryan Murphy lately (hated American Horror Story: Delicate and Grotesquerie). I did love early AHS and American Crime Story, so he has a hit-or-miss run for me. We’ll see how this goes.
It has been a cold weekend here in Iowa. I was finishing up reading my pile of books this week.
Books this week:
Exquisite Corpses #9. Written by Tyler Boss with James Tynion IV and art by Valentine De Landro with Michael Walsh. Cover art was done by Michael Walsh. I got variant cover B by Valentine De Landro as well. Exquisite Corpses continues to be one of the best books on the market. There are only four more of this series coming so things are ratcheting up.
Bloodland #1. Written by B. Clay Moore and art and cover art by Mack Chater. A new Ignition Press book featuring the collapse of America and vampires. Yes, there has been a lot of vampire books over the last few years, but this one felt very original and different. Ignition Press has been solid over the last six months or so and this feels like another winner.
Fantastic Four #7. “All Mankind’s Concern” Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The FF are off earth to respond to a call from Galactus, but they expect an alien invasion. Their kids form a team, with some help from other heroes. Mad Thinker has an idea about this all.
Inglorious X-Factor#1. “A Force to Be Expected” Written by Tim Seeley and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Cover art was done by R.B. Silva & David Curiel. Cable is back and he is recruiting a team of X-Factor once again. He pulls in Archangel, Boom Boom and Hellervine, which make a potent group of mutants. What is the true story here? And why is Domino ready to shoot Cable in the head?
Spider-Man ’94 #5. “Chapter Five: Resurrection” Written by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. The mini-series that continued from the end of the 1994 animated series comes to an end with a final battle with Morlun and Kaine.
Wiccan: Witches’ Road #2. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Down, down, down the road…. Wiccan has to fight a dragon on the Witches’ Road… but not just any dragon… but Fin Fang Foom!
X-Men #24. “Three Thousand” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Tony Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony Daniel, Mark Morales, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The group known as 3K takes center stage as the Hank McCoy who actually went into the future, returned to the present with all the details of the Age of Revelation and the formula for the Mutant Virus.
Everything Dead & Dying #5. Written by Tate Brombal and art and cover art by Jacob Phillips. This Image book is one of the better books Image has put out recently as the final issue brings some powerfully sad moments. One of the most creative uses of zombies in any comic recently appeared in this book.
The Mortal Thor #6. “Hide and Seek” Written by Al Ewing and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Bronze Medalist). Sigmund has to face off with The Cobra, showing off his skills with the hammer once again. There are a few people questioning what is going on with this guy.
The New Avengers #9. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover B art was done by Karen S. Darboe. Can we trust the Black Widow? That is what Bucky is trying to figure out, but it sure seems like the question he should ask is ‘Can he trust Carnage?’
The Beauty #3. Written by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley with art by Emanuela Lupacchino. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun. Who is the Boogeyman? How does he fit into the world where everyone wants to catch the latest STD, which turns you beautiful? This feels as if something bad is about to happen.
Captain America #6. “Doom’s Shadow” Part 1. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti and Frank Martin. I also picked up the foil version by Ivan Tao (Gold Medalist). Cap is approached by Nick Fury Jr. with an offer that Cap is not too keen on accepting. He also is trying to have a date with Sharon.
Rogue #1. Written by Erica Schultz with art by Luigi Zagaria. David Nakayama did the cover art. Rogue is here with her solo comic under the Shadow of Tomorrow banner. Though it is a solo book, she has Gambit appear as well as some of the other X-Men from her Louisiana team. She heads off to find Mystique and Destiny, and is shocked by what she finds.
Amazing Spider-Man #20. Written by Joe Kelly with pencils by John Romita Jr., Paco Diaz & Todd Nauck. Cover art is done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Dean White. I picked up another variant cover by Lee Bermejo (Silver Medalist). Norman Osborn continues to struggle in his replacement of Peter. Aunt May wants to talk to Norman. Ooh…
Nightwing #134. “The Game” Written by Dan Watters with art by V. Ken Marion. Cover art was done by Dexter Soy. Nightwing and Zanni face off in the Fifth Dimension where their effects dramatically cause destruction in Bludhaven. What can Nightwing do?
Assorted Crisis Events #8. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. One of the best books of the week. I love this creativity of this story, with our comic fourth wall breaking. Even the design of the book’s format is something that I have rarely seen, certainly not in the details of the format.
Redcoat #16. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Bryan Hitch. Cover art was done by Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson. Another book I loved this week. Albert has found Simon with a problem. Benedict Arnold is back. And… oh he is BACK! Great set up for the new arc. I am anxious to see how this moves on.
Gunpowder Prophets #4. Written by Justin Jordan and art and cover art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Huck and Harley are on the path of finding America, who has been taken. This is a fun series with two of the most violent characters you’ll ever get.
Planet She-Hulk #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was done by Aaron Kuder & Sonia Oback. More outer space adventures by She-Hulk. There was a mention of She-Hulk in space in another book, which makes me happier. The cosmic continuity has bothered me and so I hope this is an answer.
X-Men of Apocalypse #2. Written by Jeph Loeb and art and cover art by Simone Di Meo. Alternate universal X-Men versus each other. Oh… and there is Phoenix too. This is an interesting book for what is is. Not sure if it means anything.
Cul-De-Sac #6. Written by Mike Carey with art and cover art by Jonathan Wayshak. This Bad Idea book wrapped up with this issue. It is another vampire book that has a lot of creativity and originality behind it. I have enjoyed the characters of Cul-De-Sac vey much.
Other books this week: Power Fantasy #15, Death to Pachuco #4, Psylocke Ninja #1, Ghost Pepper #7, Good as Dead #5, Nights #17, Ultimate Black Panther #24, and Star Wars #9.
Quick Hits: Cap has to face off with a surprise monster during WWII in Alien vs. Captain America #3. Flash Gordon is in a lot of trouble in Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #2. I was missing The Last Starship #3 so I picked it up off eBay, and then The Last Starship #4 came out this week. I mentioned earlier how strong Ignition Press has been. Murder Podcast #4 is another example. Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3 provides more excellent sci-fi action. Terrorbytes #4 is an excellent sci-fi story this week with Mr. Brace. More trouble between Daredevil & Punisher #3. Can’t we all just get along? Spidey and Wolvie are still jumping around the multiverse in Spider-Man & Wolverine #9. There is some great crime action in American Caper #3. Mad Cave has been dropping a bunch of Speed Racer content over the last several months and the new one-shot Speed Racer: Tales from the Road #1. Green Lantern: Galactic Slam #1 brings Kyle Raynor into the world of cosmic wrestling. Finally, we got the time travel action of Liquidator #3.
I have been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the fourth and final episode of the Netflix mini-series, Death by Lightning. Looking forward to because I have been thoroughly enthralled by this historical drama about James Garfield and dreading it because I have grown to admire and love the character of James Garfield and I knew what his fate held.
The Sunday Morning Sidewalk came this morning and I watched the final episode.
It was so powerful.
It made me wish for a man like James Garfield who could step up and face the corruption of the current political setting. What I wouldn’t give for an honest man, one who did not play the games, like James Garfield. Seeing how his presence and kindness transformed Chester A. Arthur was amazing.
But, it was not just James Garfield who changed Arthur. He had help from a force of nature that we got to witness in this episode: Crete Garfield. The First Lady spent the episode bringing forth the vengeance.
Betty Gilpin got her moments in this episode and she was tremendous.
There were no shortage of villains in this episode. Starting off with Charles Guiteau, who wound up shooting the president in the back. The joy he showed at his actions, despite how demented he was, was obscene. I took a lot of satisfaction in the confrontation with Crete and Guiteau’s eventual hanging. The moment just before he is hanged where he finally realized what was going to happen was best. I also found a strange satisfaction in seeing his brain removed from his dead body for research at the end.
Another villain in the episode was Roscoe Conkling. He was horrendous in his response to the shooting of Garfield. His machinations being turned back on him was great, and seeing how Chester Arthur finally stood up to him.
Then, there was Doctor Bliss. The bullet was not what eventually killed Garfield. He was killed by infection brought on because Bliss did not sterilize his instruments when he was probing for the bullet. The arrogance of this doctor came through clearly in this episode.
This was one of the most compelling four episode mini series I have seen in a long time. Great performances and amazing true stories highlighted the show. I did not expect to love this as much as I did. If you have time, binge this series on Netflix. You will not be disappointed.
Next week, the Sunday Morning Sidewalk switches to another Netflix mini-series: three episodes of a show called Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials. I can only hope that it is as excellent as Death By Lightning.
I hope everyone is having a great MLK Day. I know not everyone is off work today, but my school is still off, so this has given me a chance to get this finished after yet another busy weekend.
I have been picking up a bunch of Marvel Team-Ups recently. The ones I got this week include #5, 6, 16, 17, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 55,57, 64, 66, 68,72, 73 and 86.
Books this week:
Uncanny X-Men #22. “No Clean Hands” Written b y Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. Mutina is back and wanting to join the X-Men. Yes, it may not be the most heroic reason and it sure seemed as if Wolverine and Nightcrawler have a different mind about that.
Where Does the Rainbow End? #1. Written by Francesca Perillo and art and cover art by Stefano Cardoselli. New book from Mad Cave. A new futuristic story involving robots and humans and how they now interact with one another.
Like a Bell in the Month of May #1. Written by Dustin Victor and art by Metro Catpiss. This was a book I picked up at In This Issue in Bettendorf. The owner of the shop told me that this was a couple of local creators who did this book. I thought it was cool so I picked it up. It is a weird story. It felt as if there was a page missing or something. I am still happy to have picked it up.
Avengers #34. “Heroes” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by Russell Dauterman & Rachelle Rosenberg. I also picked up variant covers by Leonardo Romero and one by CAFU. This is Legacy number 800 for the Avengers. However, this issue felt a little lesser than I expected. It felt more like one of those clip show episodes of a TV show that reviewed previous episodes.
The Ultimates #20. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Phil Noto. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio. We get a bunch of the new Ultimate Vision and Nick Fury as we are moving toward the end of the Ultimates Universe.
Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #4. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Pere Perez. Cover art by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. There is a scene in this book that I absolutely loved and felt vintage Spider-Man. When Spidey finds Evangeline sitting on a construction site, what follows is perfection.
Dungeons of Doom #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson & Benjamin Percy with art by Justin Mason, Robert Gill, Carlos Magno, George Jeanty & Karl Story. The aftermath of the death of Doctor Doom rages on in the Marvel Universe and we get a bunch of people looking to take advantage of the situation.
DC KO #3. “No Mercy” Written by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson with art by Javi Fernandez and Xermánico. Cover art was done by Javi Fernandez & Alejandro Sanchez. It is tag team time as the remaining competitors get to choose a defeated champion as their partner… and no one chose Batman.
Black Cat #6. “Night Court” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. Black Cat needs help so she goes in search of Daredevil so he could help her find…. Matt Murdock? She needs him to help defend her in the court of vampires.
Geiger #20. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art was done by Gary Frank. I also grabbed the Wicked homage cover by Sean Von Gorman (Gold Medalist). The Northerner is here and looking for help from Geiger… and he’s not too anxious to join in.
Doctor Strange #2. Written by Derek Landy and artist is Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art was done by Alex Horley. Doctor Strange and Angela are running around the world of Asgard. I have to say that I was not as into this issue as I expected.
Sai: Dimensional Rivals #1. Storytellers included Peach Momoko, Iban Coello, Stan Sakai with Emi Fuji. Cover art was done by Peach Momoko. Sai is around the dimensions with different artists. Some of the work of this book was fabulous and I especially loved the black and white pages. This is an intriguing book that I am interested in continuing.
Minor Arcana #13. Written, illustrated and cover art by Jeff Lemire. Theresa heads to another fortune teller with some specific questions. The fortune teller is out of C.A.N.O.E. (Clairvoyant Association of Northern Occultists & Esoterics).
Alice Forever After #1. Written and cover art by Dan Panosian and illustrated Dan Panosian (London part) and Giorgio Spalletta (Wonderland part). A new series set in Wonderland with the characters of Alice in Wonderland. Where is the White Rabbit?
Space Ghost #7. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was done by Francesco Mattina. Space Ghost takes on the Anti Matter Man. Can our hero stop him? Doesn’t seem like it.
Crownsville #3. Written by Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. We got ghosts! Crownsville has been a fabulous book so far and the story of this haunted asylum is really creepy.
Axi-Cab #1. Written by Philip Nelson and art and cover art by Cee Raygun. There are two actual stories in this book, first one entitled “The Warden’s Last Ride” and the second one being “In the Air Tonight.” A murderous cab drives around looking for justice or vengeance. Another new horror story that was pretty good.
G.I. Joe #17. Written by Joshua Williamson and art and cover art by Tom Reilly. The Dreadnok War closes with an unlikely alliance between the Dreadnoks and Cobra Commander. Plus, a shocking final page of this story.
Transformers #28. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Man… Megatron is just absolutely brutal in this issue. The last few pages of this issue show how monstrous Megatron can be.
Other Books this week: Knull #1, Good as Dead #4, Logan: Black, White & Blood #1 (Silver Medalist), Luna Snow: World Tour #1, and Blood & Thunder #9.
Quick Hits: So Battleworld #5 finished this series off with a really weird final page. Is it meant to be a tease for another Battleworld series?? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #14 is hopefully my final issue of this series. I have had some books ordered before I wanted to cancel the book so I needed to buy them (store policy). It did have a nice cover. The penultimate issue of this series is Die!Namite: Blood Red #4. Still fun with the group of female comic stars. C.O.R.T: Children of the Round Table #5 brings our heroes into more training and prepping them of the final issue. Things are getting strange with The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft #3. I picked up Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #2 off eBay since I missed it when it was out. Silver medalist cover this week went to Wonder Woman: Black and Gold 2026 Special #1. Finally, this week we got It Killed Everyone But Me #5, which I actually have not had a chance to read yet.
Does Dr. Robby have a sneaky, behind-the-typical-treatment treatment for every emergency situation? He sure feels like he has a folksy solution to all kinds of situations, from shoulder dislocations to baby urination. It feels that our new Dr. Al-Hashimi isn’t as impressed as I am.
Dr. Whitaker’s main focus of the day was trying to comfort a Alzheimer’s patient whose husband had died that day. It was heartbreaking seeing him, for the second time, tell her that her husband had died. He took her to see the body and even that did not seem to work as she just thought he was resting. Alzheimer’s Disease is truly a tragic thing.
A man who was choking on broccoli delivered the line of the episode. After they had removed the broccoli, he told about his wife making him count calories in an attempt to lose weight and he said “I never choked on an sausage egg McMuffin.” LOL.
Dr. King got knocked to the ground and struck her head. She spent most of the time worrying over her part in a malpractice case that she would be testifying in later today so I hope that head blow does not come back in a bad way.
Maybe I am getting used to this show as I was cringing and saying out loud “What is going to be in there?” as they started to cut off the cast from the arm of the man who was brought in last week with a horrendous odor. The made sure he showered last week and disposed of his clothes this week. Anyway, back to the cast, I knew something would be coming out of that thing and, sure enough, we has a whole bunch of maggots. Ugh!
We also have evidence that an 8-hour erection is not a good thing. Not sure I needed the dick-shot in the scene. I could have used my imagination.
Another solid episode that was spent more with the characters than anything major in the emergency room. The show blends the cases and the doctors/nurses brilliantly and this is why it is one of the best shows on TV.
There was a family everyone admired. The D’Amore family looked perfect from the outside—a loving mother, a hardworking father, and three well-behaved daughters. Little did they know, perfection can hide terrible secrets.
It was November 15, 1992, the D’Amores arrived at church at 7:30 p.m. The building was quiet, and the air felt strangely cold, as they stepped inside. Before church the family went to turn the lights on and unlock the doors. When the girls got back together the lights went out and Charlotte went to turn the circuit breaker back on.
That’s when the screaming began.
Mr. D’Amore body lay motionless in the hallway, blood pooling beneath him. He had been murdered. Mrs. D’Amore immediately called the police, clutching her younger twins, Lizzy and Belle, who were crying in confusion. When the officers arrived, Mrs. D’Amore realized Charlotte, her oldest daughter, was missing.
Moments later, a scream echoed from the back hallway. Charlotte appeared walking toward them, oddly calm .She told the police she saw something, something she couldn’t explain, almost demonic in nature in the pale glow of the moon light.
The police took the family home that night. Once inside, Mrs. D’Amore sat her daughters down and spoke gently. “Something very bad happened to your father,” she said. “But we are safe now.” She turned to Charlotte. “Are you okay, sweetheart? I know that was scary.”
Charlotte stared at the floor. “I can’t stop seeing his body,” she whispered. “Mom, I’m scared. Her mother hugged her tightly. “No, Charlotte. You didn’t do anything wrong. Go get some sleep.”
Charlotte went to bed with her sisters that night listening to their quiet breathing. What her mother didn’t know was that Charlotte had lied, she remembered seeing the figure first, seeing the blade in her hands, then washing something off her hands.
One year later the family returned to the church where it all took place and tragedy struck again. Mrs. D’Amore was killed in the same hallway as her husband. This time Charlotte was seen with a blade in her hands. Years of being starved, and abused had filled her with rage. Something about that church and that day had caused her to snap and finally act out. Charlotte was arrested, and Lizzy and Belle were taken away.
Ten years later, Charlotte was released, her only desire is to find her sisters.
So the day after he went around the city and found as many clothes he could find, it didn’t matter the color. After he found what he could he put the clothes on over his other clothes that he had on and went back to his box to sleep for that night because it was getting dark outside.
It is now the next day the homeless man woke up, He was hungry of course but there was no food around that’s why he wanted money. After thinking about how to get money he remembered the clothes he found and he was going to use them to rob a bank for at least $1,000, he wanted at least that much because he didn’t want to starve. He was fine with sleeping in a box but having no food was not acceptable with his standards.
Now It’s 9:15 AM now the homeless man thought that he shouldn’t rob a bank yet, he thought about going and stealing peoples wallets. He thought about it for 28 minutes and he decided that it was a good idea so he put on those clothes that he found and did just that. After a long time it was now 12:45 PM, He had gotten 3 wallets, the money that was in the wallets added up to $51 with that cash. He remembered that he lived by a GoodWill, so he went into the GoodWill and bought a pair of pants, shirt, gloves, winter hat, socks and shoes the cost of all that was $20.39 with tax.
Now he goes to a place called McDonald’s and just gets some fries for $3.86 with tax. But only the fries didn’t fill him up because he hasn’t eaten in 3 days so he went back into Mcdonald’s and ordered 2 Big Mac meals For $16.46 Including tax. With purchasing all that stuff he is left with $10.29. After that he went to a home depot to get a ski mask for $5.08 and now the homeless man will steal wallets for a living until he can get a job.
Season one of Agents of Shield was wrapped up tonight as the storyline with Hydra and Shield came to a conclusion.
The truth behind Ward being part of Hydra came to light and he teamed up with Garrett, Raina and Deathlok to try and recreate the GH-325 that was used in TAHITI.
Lots of cool stuff in these episodes:
A sort of Absorbing Man came into play as we meet the cellist that was connected to Coulson.
Melinda may returned after leaving the team
We got to catch up with Maria Hill.
We met Eric Koenig, played by Patton Oswalt, an agent of Shield in Fury’s secret hidden base.
Eric was murdered by Ward. Ward was trying to get Skye to decrypt the file she fixed.
The show hinted at a storyline for season two, dealing with Skye’s past and the truth that she is an Inhuman.
It was revealed that Coulson left a message saying TAHITI “must be shut down because of horrific side effects the drugs had on test subjects, which could only be mitigated by erasing the victim’s memory of what happened.”
Raina made a sample of GH-325 and it ended up being given to Garrett, who was revealed as the first test subject in the Deathlok program.
Ward trapped Fitz and Simmons in a pod and ejected it into the ocean. They sank to the ocean floor.
Nick Fury makes an appearance and rescues Fitz and Simmons.
The magic drug started to cause Garrett to go mad.
We see where Garrett recruited and trained a young Ward, by leaving him alone in the woods for six months.
Skye and Ward had a big showdown at Cybertek.
Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury has a cool cameo in the finale.
Fury made Coulson the new Director for a new, rebuilt Shield.
We see Billy Koenig at the end of the finale show up. He is also played by Patton Oswalt.
I just finished the first season of The Pitt on HBO Max just in time for the start of season two. And season two kicked off setting up the overarching drama that will be running through the day.
The show’s concept is that every hour is shot in real time as the day shift comes in to take over. Doctor Robby arrived at the hospital on what was supposed to be his final day before heading on a sabbatical.
The show had its typically gross injuries that made me turn my head away. I have always had trouble with medical shows dating back to Quincy. This is far more realistic than most medical shows.
We have a brand new attending physician who will be replacing Robby when he was gone. She is Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, and she definitely has a story to tell. They ended the episode on her as she stared down at a baby that had been deserted in the hospital’s bathroom. She also has a series of “improvements” for the Pitt that will surely create a conflict with Robby.
Dr. Langdon’s story continued. It did not seem that Robby had forgiven him yet. They had Langdon apologize to Louie, the patient we met last year who drank a lot. He is back and I am getting the feeling that something terrible is going to happen to him. The scene between Langdon and Louie, when Langdon revealed that he had stolen Louie’s medication in season one was a great scene and it made me like Louie all the more. I sense heartbreak coming.
Whitaker seems to have taken some steps to being even stronger than he was before. He led a moment of silence for a patient they lost (as Robby watched approvingly in the background). However, the first impression of the new interns was not the most impressive I have ever seen.
The Pitt is such a fantastic show and I am happy that it will be back weekly moving forward.
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.
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- Embrace Your Geekness 