June 21

Hey. It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. It seems like I should stop saying that it is another big week this week since it seems as if every week has a ton of books any more. It’s lots of fun.

I have dived into Nightwing and I am awaiting an order from eBay where I picked up the Tom Taylor run (#78-113). I also picked up a few back issues from the Bettendorf shop, all at cover price. Awesome.

I’m trying to stay focused but there is a cricket cricketing like crazy in my room right now and it is driving me nuts. I do hate crickets so I may have to pause to go murder it soon.

Books this week:

Toxie Team-Up #1. Written by Mark Russell and art by Richard Pace. Cover art was done by Fred Harper. Blasphemy at its finest! Toxic Avenger teams up with the one and only Jesus H. Christ. This was such a lot of fun, even if I’m going to Hell. There are some really funny moments in this if you have a sense of humor.

Wolverine #10. “All Happy Families” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo & Bryan Valenza. Logan goes into his childhood house looking for Sabretooth. This is actually one of my favorite issues of the week. Logan’s “voice over” is really great and I loved the script.

They Choose Violence #1. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. Fun new series by AWA. Interestingly enough, this has been recalled by the company because one page is reprinted, I assume, accidentally in the story. I am not sure if there was a page missing where the one page was there again. It was weird when I read it, and then I saw the recall.

Emma Frost: White Queen #1. Written by Amy Chu and art by Andrea Di Vito. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. This story took place in the past of continuity during the time when Emma Frost was in the Hellfire Club as the White Queen. I would have rather this book tell a present day story of Emma Frost, who we have come to love over the last several years. Still, there is a fun X-Men appearance.

Psylocke #8. “Into the Snow.” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Moises Hidalgo. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. Kwannon goes to the land of where she was born. We have some major flashbacks going on.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos: Children of the Night #1. Script by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art is by Noah Dao. This feels like a re-introduction of Christopher Chaos and the rest of the Monster Club.

Iron Man #9. “Part Four: Great-Power Competition.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Michael Dowling, Julius Ohta & Guiu Vilanova. Cover art by Yasmine Putri. Bucky, Black Widow, The Winter Guard guest star as Iron Man faces the challenge of providing weapons for Doom.

Vatican City #3. Written by Mark Millar and art and cover art was done by Per Berg. The vampire storyline comes to a dramatic conclusion with this three-issue story. Vatican City has been a pretty fun run and this wraps up nicely.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #9. “Clinical Trial” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. Moon Knight and his group are reforming, getting ready to go after Fairchild. This sets up the major battle next issue, I am guessing.

I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #3. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Michelle Madsen. This has been a great book so far. This issue initially left me with hope that Rennie would be able to get away from her killing, even though it was clear the signs were pointing at she could not do it.

Blood & Thunder #2. Written by Benito Cereno with art by E.J. Su. Cover art was done by E.J. Su & Msassyk. We get more in this issue of the relationship between Akeldama and her gun, including some background on her father. This has been a fun series so far and I do like how they have developed relationships moving forward.

Past Time #3. Written by Joe Harris and art by Russell Olson. Mark Chiarello did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Baseball and vampires go hand in hand, don’t they? It really works in this series and sets up a dramatic end for the issue. Very creative using these two story types in one.

Avengers #27. “Masters of Evil” Part 3. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art by Valerio Schiti & Federico Blee. Black Panther and Captain America have to team up against the new Masters of Evil while the Mad Thinker sets his true plan in motion.

Vanishing Point #2. “The Tomorrow Family: Life in the Year 2100. Tonight’s Episode: You Leave Me Breathless.” Written by Mark Russell and art by Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Robert Hack did the cover art. Any fans of Hanna-Barbera’s classic cartoon, The Jetsons? This parody issue is for you. Vanishing Point is an anthology sci-fi series and it has been great so far.

X-Men #18. “Invitation” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Emilio Laiso. Ryan Stegman & Marte Garcia did the cover art. 3K is making some major moves in this issue, including making an untimely offer to Beast. Lots of mutant shenanigans going down here.

Godzilla vs. Avengers #1. Written by David F. Walker and penciled by Georges Jeanty. Lee Garbett did the variant cover art (the versus cover). This takes place in the New Avengers time so we have Luke Cage and Spider-Man and Spider-Woman in the Avengers along with Cap and Iron Man and Wolverine. It is kind of a fun way to tell the story as we also get an Ultraman type character.

West Coast Avengers #8. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Ben Harvey did the cover art. It was a bad day to be an Avenger. The West Cast Avengers try to take on the cult of Ultron. Things don’t go well.

Los Monstruos #2. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. The noir story continues as our werewolf lead, Private Investigator Perry Cutter, heads into the Egyptian section to deal with mummies! Los Monstruos has been excellent so far, feeling very much like an old time movie from Universal.

Benjamin #1. Script by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. The cover art was done by Christian Ward (Bronze Medalist). I loved this issue, as we dive into a mystery and the issue spends time trying to figure it out. Who is this writer and how is he not dead? Create use of the medium.

Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton #1. “Chapter One: Krypton” Written by Ryan North and art by Mike Norton. Jae Lee & June Chung did the cover art. Ever want a deeper dive into the origin of Krypto? Well here you go… all told by Ryan North, a writer whom I have loved from Fantastic Four.

Exquisite Corpses #2. Written by Michael Walsh with James Tynion IV and art by Marianne Ignazzi with Michael Walsh. Cover A art by Michael Walsh. I also go Cover B by Marianne Ignazzi (Gold Medalist). I love how this series is setting things up. Where it could have dived into a huge battle and slaughter fest, this book is taking things slow, with just one more death. This has been a huge winner so far.

Amazing Spider-Man #6. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz. Spidey and Black Cat find themselves working together on a potential heist… at least that is what Black Cat wants. They run into Hellgate, the new Spider-Man villain on the final, massive page.

The Ultimates #13. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. There are a lot of things going on in this issue, but everything feels as if it is building to something huge. The Ultimates has become on of the best Ultimate books around.

Absolute Flash #4. “The Trials of the Flash” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by A. I Kaplan. Nick Robles did the cover art. The Absolute Flash has become one of my favorite of the Absolute run. Probably a big reason being Jeff Lemire. I am a Lemire fan and his work on this book has been top notch.

Nightwing #127. “Other Part 1” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Cover art was done by Dexter Soy and Adriano Lucas. I am just starting to learn about Nightwing. For example, I did not know Dick Grayson had a sister. I have been enjoying starting to learn more about a character that I always liked before.

G.I. Joe #8. Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Andrea Milana. Cover art was done by Tom Reilly. The Baroness is tired of the training, and so she needs 48 hours for a personal trip to Paris. They send Cover Girl with her. And they get in trouble right away.

Other books this week: Aliens vs. Avengers #4, The New Gods #7, Weapon X-Men#5, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #2, Doom’s Division #4, and Bloodletter #1.

Quick Hits: I finally got the new Sam and Twitch Case Files #14 after missing it a couple of weeks ago. Shout out to this book for still only being $2.99. More comics should be cheaper to try and help build the hobby. Bytch Craft #1 came from Mad Cave, but this one was not one of my favorites. I was not interested in this Mad Cave book. Another new mini series that I think I will be skipping is Jeff the Land Shark #1. I have picked up the It’s Jeff one shots over the last year or so, but this one does not interest me either. Power Man: Timeless #4 brings this short mini series to a close. I had kind of lost interest in this one too, after being really excited about the early couple of issues. The Keenspot book Don’t Run With Scissors #2 is really a weird book and has some art that keeps with that tone. Phantom Road #13 continues with the weird world of Jeff Lemire. The first of the new Marvel one-shot series called Bring on the Bad Guys: Doom #1 came out too. I have a cool Dr. Doom cover but there is a fun variant cover featuring the new villain Sister Sorrow. Connected with Dr. Doom, he goes to Valera’s birthday party in Fantastic Four Fanfare #2. There are three stories inside this book. Bug Wars #5 is, I believe, the big penultimate issue of this series from Jason Aaron. Another penultimate issue is the Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #3. This is actually pretty funny this issue. Finally I have Zatanna #5. Honestly, I am having a harder time getting into this than the last Zatanna book, but I do love the art by Jamal Campbell. Zatanna must think she is She-Hulk as we get a big meta moment in the middle of the book.

June 13

Happy Friday the 13th to all of the horror movie fans out there. It has been awhile since I was able to get the EYG Comic Cavalcade out on a Friday, but summer’s here and some extra reading time is available.

I also have a brand new computer chair that I put together (with only some swear words) last night. It is nice and comfy as I type this week’s Cavalcade post.

Books this week:

Death of the Silver Surfer #1. “Chapter 1: Here” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan. As readers of the Comic Cavalcade know, I am not much of a fan of alternate future stories and this is a new one from Marvel. However, this book, written by Greg Pak, who I do like a great deal, is really decent. I was very engaged when I was reading it and I think this will be one of those future stories that will work for me.

Star Hunters #1-7. This is a group of seven books, the full series, that Todd made me buy. JK. He did recommend it. I have not actually read the full series, just skimming the first issue a bit, but I am happy to have it. Issue one had cover price of $0.35 which jumps up to $0.50 by the final issue.

Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #1. Written by Jeff Lemire with art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. Jeff Lemire is the reason I picked up this number one, and I am very pleased that I did so because it is an exceptional story involving the eventually tragic Robin, Jason Todd. I have always been a fan of Robin and, while Jason Todd is not a personal fav, this book takes that character into a new level.

Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga #1. “Marvel Girl“. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Rod Reis. Ms. Marvel and Legion insert themselves into the Dark Phoenix Saga after being in the recruitment of the new X-Men in the last issue. I am not sure what this Ms. Marvel group of books is meant to do, but the stories have been fine.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9. “The Way of the Rotted Rat.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. With Donny behind bars, the remaining Turtles try to keep from killing each other in an attempt to save their brother. Things are not going great for them.

Lost Fantasy #2. “Book One: A World Beneath.” Created by Curt Pries & Luca Casalanguida. A new hunter comes into play while Henry fights for his life. Lost Fantasy has been a great read so far and the ‘giant size” regular book is awesome. More books should provide more pages of story than what they have been doing recently.

Nightwing #126. “By the Book- Finale: Bad Cop/Good Cop.” Written by Dan Watters and art by Francesco Francavilla. Cover art was done by Adriano Lucas. I have been a fan of Nightwing since his debut in Teen Titans, and Dick Grayson prior to that as Robin. I decided to give Nightwing a chance and grabbed this issue off the shelf. Of course, it was a finale of a story arc, but even with that, the story was understandable and interesting.

Something is Killing the Children #42. “All Her Monsters Part Two” Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. I also picked up cover B variant with art by Tyler Boss (Gold Medalist) which was a glow-in-the-dark cover. Erica is back as we continue to see into the past of the young monster slayer.

Far Down Below #3. Written by Chris Condon and art by Gege Schall. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips. Brian, Jeff and Brian’s grandfather continue their trek beneath the surface of the earth and find all kinds of dangers and obstacles. And they found someone else!

The New Avengers #1. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Tony Lima. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. The New Avengers … or The Thunderbolts! Bucky and Black Widow are on a mission and they need to find some “team members.” They start off with Laura Kinney Wolverine and Namor. More to come.

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1. “Crisis on Infinite Corgis.” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Belen Ortega. This was a fun, little time travel story with Trinity along with a couple of other versions of her from different times, are out to retrieve a group of time traveling corgis. Weird book, but always fun thanks to Tom King.

Avengers Academy Assemble #1. Written by Anthony Oliveira and art by Carlos Lopez and KJ Diaz. Steven Byrne did the cover art. This looks like it is collecting the Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic #1-6, which I believe is on the Marvel Unlimited digital series. This is my preferred way to read comics, with the floppy copy. I do like a lot of these young characters and I was a fan of the old Avengers Academy books, so this was fun.

Runaways #1. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Elena Casagrande. Cover art by Stephanie Hans. I also picked up a variant cover by Elena Casagrande with a wrap-around cover of the original Runaways. I was a fan of the Runaways and Doombot was one of my favorite characters so with Dr. Doom running the world, it was just a matter of time before he tried to reclaim his property.

One World Under Doom #5. Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Ben Harvey did the cover art. Doom and the Avengers find themselves on the same side against the dread Dormammu. Of course, this is something that the manipulative Doom will take advantage of as he groomed his reputation and image as a world wide savior.

Geiger #15. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art was done by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson. The battle between the Glowing People comes to an explosive finish in this issue. Geiger continues to be high quality in the Ghost Machine imprint.

Spider-Girl #1. Written by Torunn Grønbekk and with art by Andre Risso. Variant cover B art was done by Peach Momoko. From the pages of Spider-Boy, we get the new heroine who had teamed up with Bullseye to fight in a tournament. Here she has to face Vermin.

Amazing Spider-Man Giant Size #1. Four separate Spidey stories written by Kevin Smith, Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky and Mitsuyasu Sakai. The four artists involved were Giuseppe Camuncoli, Mark Buckingham, Cafu & Gerardo Sandoval. Spidey is out looking for a fix for his torn costume, he meets Wyn from G.O.D.S., and they introduce the new character Rapid, who can slow down time.

Conan the Barbarian #21. “Slaves of the Magi” Written by Grim Jim Zub and art by Ferocious Fernando Dagnino. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Another book I grabbed off the stands to give a try. I used to collect the Conan books that were recently at Marvel and I thought I would try this Titan book. It was fairly decent. Certainly looked great.

New Champions #6. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Arthur Hesli. The young New Champions team up with the Avengers in a battle against a new Super-Skrull. Oh, and Moon Knight shows up and scares Moon Squire.

Exceptional X-Men #10. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Carmen Carnero & Federica Mancin. Cover art was done by Carmen Carnero & Nolan Woodard. Kitty, Emma and Iceman are here to help their trainees, but Axo has to come to the rescue instead. I thought this might be the end of this series, but I am glad it looks like it is moving on.

Jumpscare #3, 4. Written by Cullen Bunn and art and cover art by Danny Luckert. I finally got Jumpscare #3, which was a suddenly difficult book to find. Todd was able to find it in Des Moines (although he then tried to hid it from me…. ). I was starting to believe that issue three was just a urban legend. I do enjoy this book and I am glad I am currently caught up.

Absolute Batman #9. “Abomination Part One” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. The Absolute Universe debut of Bane. And Bane is badass!

Eddie Brock: Carnage #5. Written by Charles Soule and art by Juanan Ramirez. Cover art was done by Iban Coello & Frank D’Armata. Carnage and Eddie are having their internal struggle for control as Eddie is trying to help a crashed plane’s passengers. Misty Knight may be in over her head.

Phoenix #12. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Roi Mercado. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck (Bronze Medalist). This issue spends most of the time with Sarah Grey, in both present day and flashbacks. It sets her up as a possible mutant, but Cable does not seem too pleased.

Batman: Dark Patterns #7. “Pareidolia” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. The new arc of the Dark Patterns series kicks off here and it continues to be an exceptional take on an early Batman.

Star Wars #2. “Smoke” Written by Alex Segura and art and cover art by Phil Noto. Luke takes off, leaving Rynn behind and winds up in search of a Jedi artifact called the Crown of Verity. This issue featured Luke’s travels and his confrontations as he searched for the McGuffin.

Magik #6. “The Road Back Home.” Written by Ashley Allen and art by Jesus Hervas. Cover art was done by Pablo Villalobos. Trouble brewing in Limbo, so Illyana meets up with Madelyne Pryor to cause sparks to fly between the two powerful Limbo masters.

Other Books this week: Frankenstein New World: The Sea Forever #4, The Loose Ends #4, Huge Detective #5, Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #3, Marvel United: A Pride Special #1, Marvel Rivals Ignite #1, and Deadpool/Wolverine #6.

Quick Hits: Todd had gotten a group of Superman Unlimited #1 issues signed by Dan Slott through Midtown Comics and I was able to get one of those. It was cool because I swear, Dan Slott is the only comic book creator whose signature is readable. Optimist Prime is still in some bad shape in Transformers #21. EC Blood Type #1 was another off the stands book to try out. It wasn’t bad even though there are a surplus of vampire stories right now. Blue Palo Verde #1 is also new and I had never heard of it before, but I feel as if Mad Cave deserves the benefit of the doubt right now and I did love this book. Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #8 is one of the least regularly released books currently coming out that is not from DSTLRY. No Black Panther in Ultimate Black Panther#17, but it might have been better with the focus on Killmonger and Okoye. Sister Imperator #4 closes that series out. I am not sure if I will miss it. W0rldtr33 #15 has the silver medalist this week for Fernando Blanco. Hello Darkness #11 continues to have great covers too and a potpourri of horror short stories. Finally Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men #16 is here and is still the most original Ultimate books available.

June 8

Good day. It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade.

This past Wednesday was the first NEW COMIC BOOK DAY of the summer months so I got to spend the afternoon at Comic World, reading my books and waiting for the late arriving Diamond order to be divvied out. Good news, Comic World is going to be finally done with Diamond. Here’s hopin’ that Penguin will be more consistent than Diamond has been the last six months or so.

Books this week:

X-Men #17. “Visitor” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Ryan Stegman. Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia did the cover art. Piper’s twin vs. Magneto (inside and controlling a Sentinel). At least it appeared as if they were able to find Kid Omega and that he was not dead.

Mark Spears Monsters #5. Written, illustrated and cover art by Mark Spears (TIED- Bronze Medalist). Monsters continues to be an amazing series of cover art as well as some of the best interior art around. Mark Spears has been a star this year and this book, which has ties to Monster Squad, is highly entertaining.

Amazing Spider-Man #5. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Pepe Larraz. Cover A art was done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. I do love it when the cover art incorporates the title in some creative manner. I also picked up cover C, whose art was done by Joelle Jones & Rachelle Rodriguez. The poisoned Peter arc wrapped up as Spidey faces off with the Hobgoblin.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 2 #1. Written by Brian Buccellato and art by Christian Duce. Christian Duce & Luis Guerrero did the cover art. This is a sequel to the previous mini-series featuring an alternate world where the JL fought the big two monsters. Things are back with more trouble for the Justice League.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz #5. Adapted and illustrated by Otis Frampton. I was upset by the end of this book because there was a note inside saying that they were going to have 15 more issues to tell this story, but from now on, it would be only available digitally, or in a trade paperback. I had enjoyed this series through the first five issues and this made me very disappointed. I do not like digital comics. I want to hold it in my hand (as the book called it … a floppy). This made me mad and disappointed.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #1. Written by Deniz Camp & Cody Ziglar with art by Jonas Scharf. Cover art (foil version) done by Kael Ngu. I grabbed this lovely foil cover featuring Miles Morales fighting the Spot. Miles finds himself in the Ultimate universe. Is he home? What does this mean for the 616?

Be Not Afraid #1. Written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and illustrated by Lisandro Estherren. Cover art was done by Reiko Murakami. I grabbed both the A cover and the virgin cover for this new Boom! Studios book. This is a dark horror story dealing with a family and a frightening spirit out for something dastardly.

Imperial #1. “One” Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Iban Coello & Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Marte Gracia. Jonathan Hickman brings his sweeping epic to the cosmic world of Marvel. Lots of characters involved including Nova, Star Lord, Hulk, Gladiator and the Shi’ar, the Skrulls & Kree, just to name a few. It feels like another future story, but I was interested so far.

All-New Venom #7. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Adam Kubert & Laura martin did the cover art. All-New Venom has to face off with Agent Venom, so it is MJ vs. Flash Thompson. Plus, there is more with Rick Jones who still thinks Robbie is the new Venom.

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #1. “Part One: The Death of Kings” Created by Joe Quesada and Christopher Priest. Cover art by Joe Quesada. We have another possible future story, and this one has created a huge wave of controversy as they have introduced a white man as the new Black Panther. Oh my….. As if Quesada already doesn’t receive enough hate for his Marvel stuff.

Return of the Living Dead #4. Written by S.A. Check & James Kuhoric with art by Andrea Arcari. Cover art was done by Mark Spears (Gold Medalist). This was an explosive finale for this remake of the Return of the Living Dead. This was a fun zombie series from American Mythology Productions.

Daredevil #22. “Rites of Reconciliation.” Part Three. Written by Saladin Ahmed and penciled by Jose Luis Soares and Carlos Nieto. Black armor Daredevil discovered the answer to the dangerous spores that were being sent around by our villain. Too bad Joel and Ellie did not know about it.

Immortal Thor #24. “The Death of the Immortal Thor.” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jon Bazaldua. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Silver Medalist). It appeared that Thor had made it through the huge battle against the prophecy. Thor expected to die in a heroic sacrifice. He did not. Everyone is happy. Oh… and then Loki stabbed him in the back.

The Terminator #8. Written by Declan Shalvey and art by Colin Craker. Cover art was by Declan Shalvey (Tied- Bronze Medalist). Kind of a review of what has happened so far in the Terminator. It is a very original way to showcase what has gone before.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine #7. “My So-Called Perfect Life, part 2” Written by Erica Schultz and art by Giada Belviso. Elena Casagrande & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Laura broke out of the “perfect life” she had been trapped in to face off with the Badoon.

Storm #9. “Sinister Schemes of the Stars and Stripes Part Two” Written by Murewa Ayodele with art by Lucas Werneck. Cover art by Mateus Manhanini. Storm is in trouble with the federal government for her aid to Professor X in escaping custody. Jennifer Walters is on the case.

The Slasher’s Apprentice #2. Written by Justin Richards and art and cover art by Val Halvorson. Riley makes a pitch to the Hopton Valley Killer (which she will call HVK, because it is easier to say) to join him and learn from him on how to be a serial killer. This Mad Cave book feels very warped so far.

Pop Kill #4. Story by Dave Johnson and Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Juan Santacruz. Cover art is by Dave Johnson. This is the final issue of the soda pop wars as the twins face off over the formula that would have forever fizz. Dina is struck in the middle.

Ultimate Wolverine #6. Written by Chris Condon and guest art by Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Frank Martin. Logan looks as if he has been snapped out of the mind control forced on him as the Winter Soldier. He is the best at what he does…

Other books this week: Buried Long, Long Ago #2, The Moon is Following Us #10, The Secret Six #4, Plague House #3 and Let This One Be a Devil #4

Quick Hits: Mad Cave comics has another new number one that I picked up. It is called Endless Night #1 and it was okay. I have really liked the Mad Cave books recently and I think it is worth taking a look at them. Godzilla Heist #5 is out this weekend. There are a bunch of Godzilla comics. Almost as many as Batman. I picked up the Dynamite Comics book Giant-Size Wacky Races #1. That was a silly book. I always liked Mumbly from the Laff-A-Lympics from my childhood. I think this was a one shot but I doubt that will be a regular book on my list if it continues. Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #14 has Gwen still with King Loki in space. I would like her to get back to earth soon. I do enjoy the Dark Horse book You Never Heard of Me #4. There is one more book in that series. Absolute Superman #8 starts a new story arc and brings Superman into the orbit of Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson. Absolute Green Lantern #3 has some fun things going down with our Lanterns. I am very intrigued by Hal Jordan and his dark hand. The final issue of the series of The Atom Project #6 featured an end to the troubles of the different Atoms.

June 1

Summer is officially here as I am out of school and on break. I have the June Swoon 4 underway starting today, and more Dodgers baseball later tonight, but I am going to fit the EYG Comic Cavalcade into the mix.

I wanted to give a shout out to Pleasant View Comics on eBay. They had a special recently where they offered a “buy two, get two free” offer. Plus, they had only a $1.99 shipping cost and if you know anything about eBay, you know sometimes the sellers have some extremely high shipping costs. I have had one book and the shipping is listed as $6.99 or even more.

Any way, I had done two separate orders from Pleasant View Comics, one with some Power Pack back issues and the other with some back issues of Marvel Classic Comics. Without me asking, they took the two separate orders and combined them into one and refunded me one of the $1.99 shipping costs I had already paid. They shipped me a package of eight comics for just $1.99, and the packaging was well done. It arrived this week and I was very happy with their service. These are the type of sellers that give eBay a good name. Just thought I’d share…

Books this week:

Giant Sized X-Men #1. “The Mutant That Walks Like a Man” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Adam Kubert. Cover art was done by Adam Kubert & Laura Martin. There was a backup story called “Revelations: Superior” written by Al Ewing with art by Sara Pichelli as well. Ms. Marvel goes time hopping to the moment when the new X-Men faced off with Krakoa. I’m not sure how this is supposed to affect things or if this is just a What If type of situation. Honestly, the story was okay, but that was about it.

Uncanny X-Men #15. “As Close to Evil.” Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. The Dark Artery storyline continues here with The X-Men and the Outliers confronted Lady Henrietta, who wanted Deathdream to take her place as guardian of the city of the dead, Penumbra.

Hyde Street #6. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Francis Portela. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. Mrs. Goodbody and Pranky have their own conflict while Mister X-Ray lured a group from a bus to the movies. Some seriously weird stuff going down on Hyde Street.

Pinupocalypse #3. Written, drawn and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. Must be the week for horror comics to go to the movies as Roxy and Foxy take refuge in the theater. Of course, the zombies apparently like movies too. More satirical fun with this series.

Ultimate Spider-Man #17. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by David Messina. Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Harry is back and he is contacting Uncle Ben and Jonah. Another issue of Ultimate Spider-Man where we barely see Peter Parker. Yet it is very compelling. That tells you how strong the supporting cast is for Spicer-Man.

Predator Versus Spider-Man #2. Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Cover art by Paulo Siqueira & Yen Nitro. Kraven is hunting the Predator as Spidey is in pursuit. Unfortunately, there seems to be a battalion of Predators on their way. Another surprisingly satisfying mash up.

You’ll Do Bad Things #3. Written by Tyler Boss and art by Adriano Turtulici. Tyler Boss did the cover art. I loved this cover by Tyler Boss and I almost picked it for the medal this week, but there were so many choices that this one fell to the side. Still is an impressive cover and an engaging book.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #2. Written by Charles Soule & Steve McNiven with art and cover art by Steve McNiven. Elektra showed up in this future story with Matt Murdock, who had just had his powers return for a short time.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers #1. Written by David Pepose and art by Eman Casallos. Cover art was done by Mark Spears. Here is another new Dynamite Comics series with a character that has no reason to be as good as it is. Captain Planet always just seemed like a joke of a character to me, but this was really solid.

Feral #13. “Cats and Dogs.” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Variant cover B art by Tony Fleecs and Allen Passalaqua (Gold Medalist). This is a fantastic variant cover. The book does horror themed variant covers have been fun, but this issue, Feral the 13th, was the best yet.

Universal Monsters: The Mummy #3. Written and drawn by Faith Erin Hicks with a cover art done by Hicks and Lee Loughridge (Silver Medalist). More background with Helen and Ankh-es-en-Amun. Creepy love stories.

The Goddamn Tragedy #1. Written by Chris Condon and illustrated and cover art by Shawn Kuruneru. I have been waiting for this one shot for awhile because of the awesome title of this book. I also love Chris Condon and his writing style worked well for this genre. A family story based loosely on the Donner party? Yes, please. I’ll take that any day.

West Coast Avengers #7. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. Simon Williams returned this week to confront Killerwatt’s adoption of the Wonder Man name. They did it in a different way that surprised me. West Coast Avengers has been excellent so far with this variation of the book.

Mr. Terrific: Year One #1. “Back to the Beginning.” Written by Al Letson and art by Valentine De Landro. Valentine De Landro and Marissa Louis did the cover art. I am exited about this book as I have not known much about Mr. Terrific and a “Day One” story will work well for me.

New Champions #5. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Ricky Yagawa did the variant cover art. I have enjoyed this group of characters combining into the New Champions. I would like more of a story for them than what we have gotten so far.

The Department of Truth #30. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Martin Simmonds. Will Lee Harvey Oswald make the country great again? The last scene of this issue opens up the possibilities to an amazing story. Department of Truth has been really a great book consistently.

Avengers #26. “Masters of Evil” Part Two. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti and Federico Blee. Captain America stands alone against the new Masters of Evil and Sam shows off his ability.

Justice League Unlimited #7. “Rise of Gorilla Grodd.” Written by Mark Waid and art by Travis Moore. Cover art was done by Dan Mora. This story arc has felt up and down to me and this one is another bit of a down. I am not sure I am vibing with what they are doing here. I will say that the Justice League that shows up on the last page of this issue makes me curious.

Infinity Watch #5. Written by Derek Landy and art by Ruairi Coleman. Variant cover art by Inhyuk Lee. I’m not sure if I enjoyed the finale of this short series as much as I had thought I might. I enjoyed these characters, but I am not sure if what happened with them is what I would be happy happening. I hope we get some more of the Infinity Watch somewhere down the road.

Magik #5. “Fate Unbound.” Written by Ashley Allen and drawn by German Peralta. Cover art was done by J. Scott Campbell & Tanya Lenoux. This book felt weird at the beginning…as if we missed out on something big between the end of issue four and the beginning of five.

Minor Arcana #7. “Wheel of Fortune: Part One-Temperance” Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jeff Lemire. I found this issue’s relationship between Theresa and Officer Brad to be extremely well written and it helped to develop these two characters to a point where I wanted more from them. It feels as if there is a big arc coming for this book and I am all in as I am a big fan of Jeff Lemire’s work.

Kill Train #5. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and art by Martina Niosi of Outclass Studio. Skylar Patridge did the cover art. This fun Mad Cave series ended with this issue as Vanessa and Kay fought to escape from the Kill Train. Vanessa certainly ended up as a bad ass in this series.

Uncanny Valley #9. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Dave Wachter. The variant cover B art was done by Tony Fleecs. Oliver is in real trouble, but fear not, his mom is on the way, as she is reclaiming her cartoon side. This has been a remarkably creative book so far and it looks like this is a penultimate issue of the series.

Crush Depth #3. Written by David “DB” Andry and Tim Daniel with art and cover art by Alex Sanchez. Told in flashback format, this gives us even more background on the characters and the horrors that they have found themselves caught in. There is some horrifying imagery in this book that really help create a tone.

Hornsby & Halo #7. Storytellers are Peter J. Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Cover art by Peter Snejbjerg & John Kalisz. Zach and Rose are going out of their way to try and deny or avoid the information that they were presented last issue. Meanwhile horrifying things are going on around them.

G.I. Joe #7. Written by Joshua Williamson and art and variant cover art by Andrea Milana (Bronze Medalist). We get a Beach Head issue here and it was good. I love the die cut cover gimmick this book has as a variant.

The Last Boy #3. Written by Dan Panosian and illustrated by Alessio Avallone. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Peter pan’s problems in Neverland continue to grow as the boy still denies the death of Hook. The Phantom King is a creepy villain that Tinkerbell and the other fairies had to save Peter from. Wendy’s black and white arc continued as well with a bunch of kids and a pond.

Werewolf by Night: Red Band #10. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila with the cover art done by E.M. Gist. This edition of Werewolf by Night comes to its close after a battle with Lilith. Sorcerer Supreme Victor Von Doom also makes a cameo as a Deus ex machina.

Who are the Power Pals?#3. Written by Duane Murray and art and cover art by Ahmed Raafat. The issue spends most of its time building a rift between our two main protagonists so that when trouble comes, they are separated. One must wonder why these tow completely different people have been friends for so long.

Other books this week: Venom: Original Sin #1, The Power Fantasy #9, Mommy Blog #1, Assorted Crisis Events #3, Rogue The Savage Land #5, Doom’s Division #3 and Darkwing Duck #4.

Quick Hits: I had an unexpected book in my box this week, but it is because Todd is taking care of me. Green Lantern #23 has a cool Mark Spears cover (even though it did not make the medals this week). I do love me some Mark Spears. Deadpool/Wolverine #5 was out this week with Cable guest starring. I do think I may have reached my limit with Deadpool and Wolverine team ups. Dark Honor #1 is new from Image and it is a sci-fi type book that needs another issue or two to see what I think of it. Dark Pyramid #3 took a truly bizarre turn this month. In the book, We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #3, something weird is going on with Annalise. There is more to her story than what we have been told so far. Disney What If issues are back with What If…? Donald Duck Became Iron Man. These Disney What If books all feel fairly similar. Metamorpho #6 breaks the fourth wall to beg the audience to write to DC to get more Metamorpho books. Weird and fairly brazen. Absolute Wonder Woman#8 and Absolute Martian Manhunter #3 were both kind of meh this week. And speaking of meh, Void Rivals #19 missed out on momentum from last issue and instead went to the planet of Junkion. They did it without “Dare to Be Stupid” playing in the background. If you know, you know. Eddie Brock: Carnage #4 puts Eddie through the ringer and Spider-Boy#19 sees Spider-Boy disappointing Spider-Man, setting up the final Spider-Boy issue next month.

May 18, 2025

The weekly challenge that is Diamond continued this week. This week there was a shipment made to Comic World, but it was missing a few books. It is better than not having any Marvel books at all, like prior week. I have picked up several of the missing books, variant versions basically, in Bettendorf. I do not know if the missing box from last week will ever show up at Comic World, but I have it covered, I believe.

I keep waiting for Mark Spears Monsters #4 books that I ordered from Keenspot directly to be delivered. I sent a message to the company and they responded with a nice email, but I am getting anxious waiting for them to get here.

Books this week:

Look Out #1. By Dan Baillie and Tim Bradstreet. This is an illustrated novella from AWA and Vertigo Entertainment. This was something I picked up on eBay and I did not expect what it was. It is not a graphic novel. It is more of a story with illustrations than anything else. It is a lovely book though.

Red Hulk #4. “Enemies of the State.” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Geoff Shaw. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Marte Gracia. Thunderbolt Ross and Deathlok continue to try and make their way through Latveria in an attempt to “recharge” the Red Hulk.

Exquisite Corpses #1. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Michael Walsh. I also have a variant cover done by Jenny Frison. I love this new book from James Tynion IV. The secret group that runs the world is getting together to determine which of them will now run the organization. They do it with a competition between killers that feels like a Hunger Games type of situation. This one was truly fun.

Phoenix #11. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Roi Mercado. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. This starts a new arc with Jean Grey and her supposedly deceased sister Sara. Cable is involved as well. There is something weird going on.

Godzilla vs. X-Men #1. “A World That Hates and Fears Them.” Written by Fabian Nicieza and art is done by Emilio Laiso. Cover art was done by Tony Daniel & Marcelo Maiolo. The running stories of Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe comes to the X-Men. Secret… they wind up working together eventually. That feels like a continuous theme among these Godzilla books. Good to see Sunfire.

Daredevil #21. “Rites of Reconciliation Part Two” Written by Saladin Ahmed and penciled by Jose Luis Soares & Carlos Nieto. Variant cover art by Alex Ross. This was one of the missing books this week that I grabbed a variant cover of. It is the Timeless variant with Alex Ross and this cover featured a lovely picture of Iron Fist on the virgin cover. Meanwhile Daredevil feels as if he has stepped into the world of The Last of Us with all of the plants around.

Immortal Thor #23. “Come at the King.” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jan Bazaldua. Variant cover C art by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Another book that was missing in the Diamond order this week and this variant cover is the Impossible Man variant as Thor looks like the Impossible Man. Thor is having plenty of troubles as he battled the god Kemur.

Phantom Road #12. “The Horrormen Part 2 of 5” Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art done by Gabriel H. Walta. The second arc of this Image series continues with Agents Weaver and Harold continue their pursuit of Patrick Hanover. The agents are finding themselves in the other side.

Batman: Dark Pattern #6. “Voice of the Tower Part 3” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. The storyline with Scarface ends with this issue as the building burns out. I was not sure that this Batman series was going to continue, but it does look as if it will start a new storyline next month.

Silverhawks #3-4. Written by Ed Brisson and art by George Kambadais. Issue three variant cover art was done by James Stokoe and issue four was done by Mark Spears (Gold Medalist). Some brutality going down in these issues as the Silverhawks veteran heroes do not come out well.

Transformers #20. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Cover art was done by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer. Starscream is repaired by Megatron. Starscream thought Megatron was going to kill him, but he did not. However, the newly repaired Starscream found out that Megatron was not just being kind.

Wolverine #9. “The Long Road Home.” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by Martin Coccolo & Bryan Valenza. I liked this book this week as Logan faced off with Department H in an unexpected manner. Plus, Logan is on his way to face off with… Victor.

Absolute Batman #8. “Absolute Zero.” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Marcos Martin. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. This issue featuring Mister Freeze really has some horror aspects to it and it is a cool issue (ignore the pun).

Zdarsky Comic News #11. The newest news pamphlet from Chip Zdarsky includes an interview with Cody Ziglar and the continued war against “books being so big they crush your ‘boys’ when you try to read them in bed.” This still reminds me of the old Marvel Age book.

Green Hornet Miss Fury #5. Co-written by Alex Segura & Henry Barajas with art by Federico Sorressa. Variant cover B art by Jae Lee & June Chung. This short series ended with a shocking conclusion. It also does not feel as if the story is done. I guess we’ll see if there is more in the future.

Spectacular Spider-Men #15. “Gone Girl, Found Family.” Written by Greg Weisman and art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Mark Bagley & Edgar Delgado (Silver Medalist). This is the final issue of this Spider-man team-up book with a great party at the coffee shop. I will miss this intriguing book.

Supergirl #1. “Misadventures in Midvale Part 1” Written, art and cover art by Sophie Campbell. Supergirl gets her own new DC book, but I did not find myself engaged by this comic. I did like the look of the book.

I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #2. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Michelle Madsen. Rennie goes out of her way to aid her … “friend.” It surprises her too. I do enjoy this unlikely series. We have had several serial killer books lately and this is one of the better ones.

Space Ghost #12. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Francesco Mattina did the cover art. After last issue’s inglorious defeat, Space Ghost returns and put the hurt on the Council of Doom.

Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #1. Written by Frank Tieri and art and cover art by Angel Hernandez. This is a fun way to use Godzilla… with space aliens involved. I am not sure if I am going to continue to grab these issues, but this number one was fun, if nothing else.

Red Sonja vs. the Army of Darkness #2. Written by Tim Seely and art by Jim Terry. Variant cover B art by Tim Seely. Red Sonja and Ash Williams are in search of the Book of the Necronomicon. Along the way they have to fight a unicorn. I am worried that Ash is going to get his sexual harassment kicked out of him by Red Sonja.

Past Time #2. Written by Joe Harris and art by Russell Olson. Mark Chiarello did the cover art. This cover art is a beautiful one and it would have definitely been a medalist had I not gotten it until after the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week came out.

Dark Regards #1. Written by Dave Hill and art and cover art by Artyom Topilin. Dark Regards is a new book from Oni Press that tells the mostly true story of the internet viral sensation from the early 2000s when he invented his black metal band. I was not engaged in this book either, but I may give it another chance before issue two comes out.

When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee #4. Written by Gus Moreno and illustrated and cover art by Jakub Rebelka. Father Barrera and Stygian are having some issues but the problems are loading up. Barrera has had a tragic backstory and it is being manipulated by the demon.

Jumpscare #2. Written by Cullen Bunn and art and cover art by Danny Luckert. The new superhero based on horror movies, Jumpscare, has her sister kidnapped. Does she care about that at all? She certainly does not want her parents to think she does. Jumpscare has been a really fun new book from Dark Horse.

Behemoth #4. Written by Grant Sputore & Ryan Engle and art by Jay Martin. This was the final issue of this excellent mini series from Dark Horse. It was a great conclusion too as I loved the way the story played out.

One World Under Doom #4. “Dormammu vs. Doom.” Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Ben Harvey did the cover art. The title of this issue absolutely is the perfect one for this issue. It is Dormammu trying to take advantage of Dr. Doom. These two are basically the only two characters in this book. And Doom has not come to bargain.

Uncanny X-Men #14. “An Infectious World” Written by Gail Simone and the art is done by David Marquez. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Rogue punches a dragon. We learn more about Lady Henrietta. Gail Simone has written some compelling stuff and this is building to have some exciting New Orleans action.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33. “God War Part II” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Miles has found himself deep inside the trouble as the war between Anansi and Ares is underway. Miles gets to recruit his team for the battle. Who does he choose? Hint, there is no Peter Parker or Steve Rogers (why not, Miles!!!)

Geiger #14. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Gary Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover art. The Glowing Man battles the Glowing Woman. Geiger continues to be one of the best books of the Ghost Machine books.

X-Factor #10. “Survivor’s Guild.” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Cover art was done by Greg Land & Frank D’Armata. The X-Factor series is over after this issue as it seemed as if Havok and Polaris finally got back together. Angel came back and made up with everyone too.

The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special #1. I picked this up just for fun. It is a book from Ahoy Comics that featured several cool full pages of artwork as well as a couple of stories starring Toxie. This was another cover that might have been a medalist had I gotten it earlier.

Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #4. “My Dinner with Doom.” Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly with art by Tommaso Bianchi. Leinil Francis & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. Doctor Doom faced off with Bucky Barnes.

Other books this week: Energon Universe #1, Grimm #22, Ultimate X-Men #15, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #1, The All-New, All-Deadly Gwenpool #1, Ultimate Black Panther #16, Worldtr33 #14, and The Hive #4.

A few other thoughts: I also grabbed some cool covers of books that I already have. This included the fairly hot Pop Kill Cover B book. I had picked up this book twice for other people as I had purchased the cover A of it. I was pleased that it was still available. I got the Mark Spears Space Quest #1 book too which is a beautiful piece of art. I grabbed the A cover of Amazing Spider-Man #3. I grabbed Ripperland #4 which ended with this issue. I have Psylocke #7 with the aforementioned Impossible variant cover as Psylocke is portrayed as the Impossible Man. Amadeus Cho #1 was another of the missing books that I picked up this weekend. I like this cover with Amadeus flexing. Hello Darkness #10 always seem to have an awesome cover.