EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

Week of February 5

It is NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and that means we have the new winner of the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. Once again, I narrowed it down to about six choices before I decided on the medal winners.

Here we go…

Bronze Medalist

The Cull #5

Cover Art by Mattia De Iulis

The final issue of the five-issue mini series from Image. 

Silver Medalist

Fantastic Four #17

Cover Art by Alex Ross

Another great cover by Alex Ross, but what really is what earned the silver medal was the cameo in the upper right hand corner of the cover from Indiana Jones himself! I was surprised when I saw him there. It also looks like Short Round’s hat there.

Gold Medalist

Star Wars: Mace Windu #1

Cover Art by Mateus Manhanini

Here is how I know this is the cover of the week. I do not collect any Star Wars titles. I like Star Wars but I am not interested in reading them. I saw this issue on the wall at Comic World and I saw the cover and I was immediately attracted to it. 

I kept looking at it and finally moved over to look at it closer. I saw it was written by Marc Bernardin so that helped even more. The cover brought me in and helped me decide to buy this #1.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #80

February 3, 2024

It is the 80th edition of the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Yay! 

I was able to get some older British issues including Wolverine and Gambit#56, The Avengers United #1 and Wolverine Unleashed #53. They are reprint issues and it is just kind of cool to add them to my collection.

I wound up with my two CGC books this week from eBay. Groo the Wanderer #1 from Marvel/Epic and Groo the Wanderer #11. #1 was a 9.4 and #11 is 9.6. They are wonderful and beautiful. I do not have a lot of CGC books but I do like the three that are currently in my collection.

I have received the whole series of Sergio Aragones’ Groo run of 12-issues from Image Comics. I love me some Groo, even if the jokes may get a tad repetitive at times. 

Other books:

Deer Editor #1. Written by Ryan K. Lindsay and art by Sami Kivelä. Todd got me this issue and demanded that I do the review of it. Okay, here we go… I loved this. The main character is named Bucky and he is a two-legged walking deer who is an investigative journalist. The comic had a noir feel to it and Bucky is a great character. And by the way, he is going through the city like he is just another human. It is weird, and I am in for it.

Ghost Machine #1. This is the other book that Todd got me and demanded a review for. This is an anthology book featuring a bunch

of the new series coming from Image including books within their own worlds. Several of these have been fun and I will probably be following. I used to like Geiger, but I have not continued with it. The Hyde Street horror series I will definitely check out. I already plan on picking up Redcoat. The Family Odysseys series are interesting too. This book was a decent kick off for these books.

Dark Ride #10. Written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Andrei Bressan. Declan Shalvey did the cover art for the B cover that I purchased. This series is ramping things up as Sam and Halloween are heading to their own choices. 

Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Juan Ferreyra. Ferreyra had an amazing cover too. This was the finale of this awesome Spider-Man horror book featuring the Jackal. I really enjoyed this book and I would be behind extending mor Spider-horror in the future.

Spider-Boy #3. ”Nonstop Action Figure” and “Spi-lingual” Both stories written by Dan Slott. First story art by Paco Medina and second story art is by Ty Templeton. Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Spider-Boy takes on the Toy Soldier, who is an action figure with all the powers of the Avengers. I have been liking Spider-Boy a lot. This is a lot of fun.

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu: Gang War #2. Written by Greg Pak and art by Caio Majado. David Aja did the cool cover on this. I really enjoy these covers. Shang has been struggling to maintain the power and the organization of the Five Weapons Society. This has been one of the best books from the Gang War arc.

Avengers Inc. #5. Case Number: 005: “The Prodigal Son” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Leonard Kirk. Daniel Acuna got the cover art of the week for this excellent cover. This books came to an end way too early. This has been an excellent book and the fact that it has not caught on and has been cancelled after 5 issues is a shame.

Local Man #9. Written by Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs does the art. Jack and Inga’s dalliance comes to light and it causes some trouble. Jack’s killing of Camo Crusader comes out as well. And lots of water in this issue too.

Avengers: Twilight #2. ”Book Two: That’s Not Who We Are.” Written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Daniel Acuna. I have once again enjoyed this book despite me typically not being a fan of these alternate future stories. This one was cool following with old Captain America and we see an older Kamala too. I should never doubt Chip Zdarsky.

Marvel Voices Legends #1. I typically do not read these Voices books much, but I did read this one and I liked most of the book. It was neat to see a few characters we don’t see much such as The Patriot and Deathlok. I prefer that over seeing short story with Black Panther who has his own book. Caanan White & Frank D’Armata did the cover art.

Killadelphia #33. ”Death Be Not Proud: Part III“ Written by Rodney Barnes and art by Jason Shawn Alexander & German Erramouspe. Jason Shawn Alexander did the cover art. Savage Dragon guest stars in this issue. I am not sure I love the new version of Killadelphia without the Founding Fathers Vampires from the first 30 issues. It’s fine, but it is definitely down from those heights.

Dead X-Men #1. ”Earth Intruders” Written by Steve Foxe and art by Jonas Scharf, Bernard Chang and Vincenzo Carratù. This is strange as some dead X-Men, who died during the Hellfire Gala are back and after Moira. I am not sure about this book because I am not sure I understand what is going on here.

Incredible Hulk #8. ”Spirits of Vengeance Part Three“ Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. Hulk and Ghost Rider (one of them at least) fighting monsters. That is about it. Lots of kids involved too. 

Moon Man #1. Written by Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi & Kyle Higgins and art by Marco Locati. Rapper Kid Cudi writes a comic. It is an interesting start. I would probably give another issue a chance. I think the ideas here are decent and I’m intrigued to see where it heads from here.

Other books this week: Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #5, Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #3, The Bloody Dozen #2, and W0rldtr33 #7. (Only four in the other books this week Todd. Are you happy? I hope you’re happy)

EYG Comic Cavalcade #78

January 20, 2024

Welcome to EYG Comic Cavalcade #78. 

I got a whole bunch of books from eBay this week. The eBay books I pick up are usually those odd ball books that you may not find anywhere else. In fact, I picked up three different series of The Tick. One was The Tick Color #1-4. Then Tick and Arthur #1-6 and finally The Tick: Big Blue Destiny #1-5. I do love the Tick and my Tick collection is sparse at best. 

After that, I was able to pick up Howard the Duck Vol. 3 #2, 3,and 4. Number one is actually on the way separately as this seemed as if the conditions were better than the one set on eBay that had all of the volume 3 in it. I think there was also a variant cover coming with that #1. When that arrives, I do believe that I have all of the Howard the Duck volumes in my collection, leaving only those stranger ones.

Not from eBay directly, via Todd actually, is Ice Cream Man #20. I had a second printing of this already, but this is the Local Comic Shop Day edition of the book. This was very much like the Swan Song #6 from last week and it was a ton of fun and yet still quite creepy.

New books this week:

Invincible Iron Man #14. ”Here Be Mandarin Rings“ Written by Gerry Duggan and art by guest artist Andrea Di Vito. Kael Ngu was the cover artist. Tony Stark and Emma Frost get busy!!! Then Ironheart and Forge face dangers in space.

The Colonized: Zombies vs. Aliens. Written by Chris Ryall and drawn by Drew Moss. Cover art was by Fran Cavil. This was a lot of fun. Aliens arrive on earth, trying to collect specimens. Unfortunately, their ray brought the dead back, reanimating them into zombies. 

Deviant #3. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Joshua Hixson. Who knew an axe to the face might not be a final blow? This story of serial killers and those investigating it has been thrilling so far.

Jackpot #1. Written by Celeste Bronfman and art by Joey Vazquez with Eric Gapstur. Pablo Villalobos & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. Mary Jane Watson in her new Jackpot identity joins in on the Gang War storyline running through the Spidey and street level books. I’m still not sold on MJ as a superhero, but this was enjoyable enough.

Cobra Commander #1. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. One of the biggest surprises of the week, I really enjoyed this first issue starring Cobra’s head cheese. And the surprise captive that Cobra Commander has is worth the price of the book alone.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4. Written by Brian Buccellato and art by Christian Duce and Tom Derenick. Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. We head to Atlantis for some watery battles and Aquaman is able to unleash the Kraken!

Avengers: Twilight #1. ”The Best of Us” Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Daniel Acuna. Alex Ross and Daniel Acuna did the cover art. This was another surprise of the week as I typically do not love these potential future stories very much, but I was totally engaged with this one. Sad Spider-Man scene though.

Fantastic Four #16. ”Exalt Imagination“ Written by Ryan North and art by Francesco Mortarino. Cover art this week is the EYG Cover of the Week and it is by EYG Hall of Famer Alex Ross. Franklin and Valeria have to go to school in the FF’s new home of Arizona and they try to do something amazing for their science report. It might have backfired on them. Fun issue with these characters who have been gone for awhile. 

Daredevil #5. ”Introductory Rites” Part Five. Written by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Farid Karami. Cover art by John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. Father Matt and She-Hulk are out on the town and are eating food everywhere. Something is going on with Jen Walters and it’s going to take Father Matt to figure it out.

Amazing Spider-Man #42. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Beetle and Madame Masque have a stare down as the Gang War continues. Then. sides are forming for the big thrown down. 

Cable #1. ”United We Fall“. Written by Fabian Nicieza and penciled by Scot Eaton. Whilce Portacio & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. Okay, I tried to get into this, but honestly Cable has never been a personal favorite of mine and this book was meh for me. 

Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #3. ”Beware… The Werewolf By Night of 2099“ Written by Steve Orlando and art by Jason Muhr. This was the Legacy issue #100 for Miguel as he has to deal with a Werewolf from 2099.

The Enfield Gang Massacre #6. ”Chapter Six: An Occurrence.” Written by Chris Condon and artwork by Jacob Phillips. This limited series comes to a close with a great sequence involving Enfield and a hangman’s noose. It was a sequence right out of an old Twilight Zone episode and it was well done.   

Other books read this week: Phantom Road #8, Superman: Lost #10, White Widow #3, Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #4, X-Men #30, Black Panther #8, Kill Your Darlings #5, and Guardians of the Galaxy #10. 

EYG Comic Cavalcade #77

January 12, 2024

Another snowstorm opened up some time to read comics today. The last snowstorm allowed me o head to Comic World this past Wednesday. We’ve had nearly 20 inches of snow this week. 

I have also gotten some eBay shopping in. This week a copy of the Marvel Graphic Novel The Death of Groo by Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés arrived in the mail. It is a beautiful copy and I am very happy to have it. I have ordered several older Tick books that will arrive at a later date.

Other books this week:

The Sensational She-Hulk #4. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Ig Guara. Jen Bartel did the cover art. I was very excited for this issue because Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat was going to appear. She was a hoot in this issue, as she and Jen head out on the town (with Carol Danvers) and there was fun for all. I don’t know why I really love Hellcat, but I find that I really do.

Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man #2. ”Beware… Dracula!“ Written by Steve Orlando and art by Michael Dowling. Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. I liked this issue much more than I did issue #1. The confrontation between Miguel and Dracula on the moon was very interesting and compelling. 

Swan Songs #6. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and illustrated by Martin Morazzo. This is my favorite book of the week (plus the winner of the Cover of the week). This is the most creative book I have seen in ages, a parody of Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends and a crossover with Ice Cream Man. The poems are funny and warped. 

Captain Marvel #4. ”Shifting Lines“ Carol and Yuna are after the MacGuffin in teh Negative Zone and they come across… The Black Cat??? What? 

Book of Butcher #1. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Werther Dell’edera. This was a surprise a couple weeks ago when it was just suddenly out. I thought comic companies usually promote releases like this. It even caught the staff at Comic World off guard. This was informational.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1. Written by Jonathan Hicks and art by Marco Checchetto. Checchetto and Matthew Wilson did the cover art. The Ultimate Universe is back and the new Ultimate Spider-Man kicks it off. Peter Parker had not been bitten by the radioactive spider and he was now a middle aged man, married to MJ with two kids. But something was missing. This was a good read and I am intrigued by the new version we are getting.

Daredevil: Gang War#2. Written by Erica Schultz and penciled by Sergio Davila. Elektra is in the Gang War in an attempt to protect Hell’s Kitchen. However, Madame Masque has a new assassin hired, and she had Wolverine-like claws. Who is she? Very curious.

Giant Size Spider-Man #1. ”Lethal Protection“. Written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Iban Coello. Includes a reprint of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #22 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli. Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. Miles Morales has to face off with a wild and uncontrollable Venom.

Luke Cage: Gang War #3. Written by Rodney Barnes and drawn by Ramon Bachs. Caanan White did the cover art. Mayor Cage and his new group of heroes take on some giant robots created by Smythe.

Avengers #9. “Twilight Dreaming” Part Three. The Avengers take on the Twilight Court and pull out one of the oldest clichés around. They match up against the villains that were too even a match… so they decided to switch opponents. I saw that coming a mile away. As I was reading, I thought, watch them just switch opponents and that is exactly what they did. I have seen that countless times over the years. I found that pretty lazy.

Transformers #4. Written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Optimus puts everything on the line to try and save Spike, who was shot last episode. It did not help when Starscream and the Decepticons attacked the hospital. A shocking final scene too, btw.

Blade #7. “Mother of Evil” Part Seven. Written by Bryan Hill and art by Valentina Pinti. Cover art was by Elena Casagrande & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Blade received a call from Bruce Banner and he arrives in a small town and faces off with the Hulk. It’s a creepy issue with some horrifying imagery even though the cover is a bit of a mislead. 

Deep Cuts #4. ”Blue Notes“ Written by Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark and pencils by Ramon K. Perez. I really thought this book was over. It had been months since the last issue came out. I do enjoy the different style of storytelling that goes on in this anthology book.

Rise of the Powers of X #1. Written by Kieron Gillen and art by R.B. Silva. Ugh. This one takes place ten years in the future, immediately making me uneasy about it. Then Ms. Marvel is listed as Captain Krakoa. These future storylines are never my favorites. Unfortunately, this one was not any different.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #15. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Federico Vicentini and Federica Mancin. Still in the Gang War, Miles teams up with Captain Kra…err… Ms. Marvel against the Hobgoblin and his henchmen. 

Fishflies #4. Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire. Franny Fox and her former fugitive friend who had turned into a giant bug are out and being pursued by the police. A real Frankenstein type story that is beautiful to look at (especially the colors).

Other books read this week: Thunderbolts #2, The Sentry #2, Blood Commandment #3, Antarctica #7, Spider-Gwen: Smash #2, Starsigns #7, W0rldtr33 #6, and Midlife (or How to Hero at Fifty).

EYG Comic Cavalcade #76

January 6, 2024

The first EYG Comic Cavalcade of the new year! Happy New Year! 

Kicking off things this week, I have completed my collection of Howard the Duck Vol. 1 with issues #5 and #8. There are more Howards to get from future volumes, but I am pleased that I’m done with that one. I have a bunch of Vol. 2 What Ifs on the way from eBay as well. 

I have been working on inventorying my comics with the app CLZ. I have passed 5300 comics at this point with plenty of boxes remaining. It has been fun going through the collection. 

Books this week:

Captain America #5. ”Sigils, Moxie and Chopped Demon Liver.” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Lan Medina. Cover art was done by Taurin Clarke. The story continued with the present day battle with the demon and the past time against the Nazis. This has been a great story arc so far. 

Pine & Merrimac #1. Written by Kyle Starks and illustrated by Fran Galán. The new Boom! Studios book with Linner & Parker. They are the married couple at the heart of the book. Pine & Merrimac happens to be the street corner where their detective agency was found. I enjoyed this debut very much. It was a good read and I loved the relationship with Linner and Parker.

Amazing Spider-Man #41. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. The Gang War continues as Kingpin and Tombstone battled with each other over their respective children. Spidey and She-Hulk were funny with the interactions with Typhoid Mary.

Ghostlore #7. ”Babe at the Threshold.” Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. The cover art (which was the cover of the week) was from Reiko Murakami & Vincenzo Riccardi. A storm is coming. And it is going to be a danger for Harmony.

Thanos: Smash of the Titans #2. ”Yesterday’s Lovers Never Make Good Friends.” Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Luca Pizzari. Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Gho did the cover art. The Illuminati recruited the Hulk to take on Thanos, to keep the Mad Titan away from Roberta. And the ending was a shock.

Silver Surfer: Rebirth Legacy #5. ”The Devil You Know.“ Written by Ron Marz and penciled by Ron Lim. The Silver Surfer does battle with Mephisto with help from Eve Warlock and Genis-Vell. This flashback series came to a conclusion, but there seems to be something being set up for Eve Warlock and Nova (Frankie Raye). 

Love Everlasting #11. ”Just West of Love” Written by Tom King and art by Elsa Charretier. This new arc seems to be revealing to us the origin of the Cowboy. 

Fall of the House of X #1. ”The Trial of Cyclops“ Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Lucas Werneck. Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia did the cover art. The Orchis storyline is coming to a head as Cyclops refuses to put up a defense. This are definitely happening in the X-verse.

Doctor Strange #11. ”Circus.“ Written by Jed MacKay and art by guest Danilo S. Beyruth. Alex Ross did the cover art. Dr. Strange and Clea take Clea’s new sister to the circus and all kinds of chaos breaks out. 

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1. ”Reese.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. David Finch did the cover art. Marc Spector is dead. Or is he? Quite an intriguing new issue with the staff of the Midnight Mission stepping up for the loss of Moon Knight. Who is the new Moon Knight? I am excited to find out.

Fantastic Four #15. ”The China Brain.” Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art by Alex Ross. The Baxter Building and the children make their return after a year of absentee. This run of FF has been excellent and I am glad to see the group happy once again.

Beware the Planet of the Apes #1. Written by Marc Guggenheim and art by Alvaro Lopez. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. A prequel to the original Planet of the Apes movie from 1968. It was an interesting issue. I’m not sure if I plan on continuing with the series, but I did like the first issue. I may have to try issue #2.

Kid Venom Origins #1. Written & drawn by Taigami. This is a collected version of the original five-page sections of the Kid Venom story from Death of the Venomverse series. I enjoyed the art of the book and I kind of liked the character. There is another series coming from this character. I’m not sure whether I liked this enough to read it, but I will certainly see number one.

Other books read this week: Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #1, Marvel Meow #1, Destiny Gate #4, Nights #4, Marvel Zombies: Black, White & Blood #4, and The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #6. 

2023 Comics Year in Review

2023 was the year that I really got back into comics, big time. I had been buying books and reading a few here and there, but I was having piles of comics at my house that I was not getting to and some that were still in the bag I bought them in at Comic World. And Todd is always hording those bags.

Anyway, with the beginning of the Comic Catch-Up post, I started working through those piles of books, getting them bagged and boarded. Once the piles were basically done, I switched the post to EYG Comic Cavalcade and here we are.

I have also expanded my collecting of books from just Marvel to Marvel, Image, Boom! Studios… and even DC (a little). I have a very wide swath of comics I get in a month.

So I have given out some of the year awards for EYG Year in Review for the world of comics.

Best Marvel Series: Daredevil. Daredevil was consistently one of the most enjoyable books each month. Chip Zdarsky created an amazing tale for Matt Murdock and Saladin Ahmed has continued the thrilling arc for the character in his new series. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, She-Hulk.

Best Independent Series: No/One. This was a tough choice. I loved a lot of independent books this year, and I bought a bunch of them. However, I guess No/One got a bit of a push when I found the podcast that is tied to it. I have truly enjoyed this book so far. Runners-Up: Something is Killing the Children, Something Epic, Void Rivals, Killadelphia, The Great British Bump Off.

Best DC Series: Knight Terrors. This is a bit of a cheat, but this summer storyline lead me to buy the entire run of books, including all the crossovers. I liked more of this than not, with the main limited series being some great stuff with Batman and Deadman involved. Runners-Up: Peacemaker: Tries Hard, Superman: Lost.

Best New Character: Spider-Boy. Dan Slott’s latest creation in the world of Spider-Man is the young Spider-Boy who remembers being Spider-Man’s sidekick. Problem is that he is the only person who remembers that happening. Spider-Boy has been fun so far. Runners-up: No/One, Danny Dillon, Hunter’s Moon, Hallows’ Eve, Red Goblin

Best Writer: James Tynion IV. Tynion has been one of the best and most prolific writers on the independent scene all year. With Something Killing the Children being awesome every month, there was also Blue Book, Universal Monsters: Dracula, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, W0rldT33, The Department of Truth, The Deviant etc. It has gotten to a point that when I see James Tynion IV on a comic, I want to buy it. Runners-Up: Jeff Lemire, Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky, Szymon Kudranski, Jed MacKay, Saladin Ahmed

Best Artist: Szymon Kudranski. His work on Something Epic was absolutely astounding. His art of those issues stuck with me and made me think of him for this book. It is so realistic that it looks photographic and I find it absolutely beautiful. Runners-Up: Lee Bermejo, John Romita Jr., Elena Casagrande, Werther Dell’Edera, Martin Simmonds.

Best Graphic Novel: Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes. A creative book featuring the iconic detective. Runners-Up: Parasocial, Killadelphia trade paperback. 

Best Issue #1: Something Epic #1. This book inspired me to head out and actually search down as many of the variant covers that I could find. It was such a great issue I felt excited after reading it. Runners-Up: Hellcat #1, Predator versus Wolverine #1, The Deviant #1.

Best Surprise: Predator vs. Wolverine #1. I could not believe that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. While the next couple issues were okay at best, this first issue really shocked me with how much I enjoyed it. Runners-Up: Killadelphia, Void Rivals, Transformers

Most Underappreciated: Hellcat. I loved this limited series. I know it did not have the best following, but Patsy Walker had an exciting and enjoyable mystery to solve involving her ex-husband Damian Hellstrom. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Peacemaker: Tries Hard

Best One Shot: Hellfire Gala #1. Big things happened in this book and I was really enjoying it. The Orchis storyline kicked into high gear and the X-Men have yet to recover. Runners-Up: Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1, The Original X-Men #1, Howard the Duck #1.

Best Older Series I Started this Year: Gideon Falls. I absolutely loved this series and it was a big reason why I dove into the independent scene as much as I did. Jeff Lemire created a classic with this 28-issue masterpiece. Runners-Up: Omega the Unknown, Planetary, Ice Cream Man, Howard the Duck, That Texas Blood

Cover of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #35, Cover D. Drawn by Elena Casagrande. 

Comic Character MVPs for 2023: Spider-Man, Optimus Prime, Deadman, Erica Slaughter, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, and Moon Knight.

The 2023 Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year

2023saw a bit of a decline in the subgenre of the comic book movie… at least in the eyes of some.

Personally, I enjoyed most of the comic book movies of 2023, and while there were none that were unbelievable, I do not subscribe to the theory of the narrative of the “comic book movie fatigue” that some have been pushing for nearly a decade now. It is not a theory to which I would agree as it just feels like more toxicity than anything else.

So among the films this year, I have a few that I considered for the Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year. Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania fielded a lot of hatred, much more than it deserved. The Flash had some good moments (but not the baby-hospital rescue part), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was one of the best movies of the year.

Previous winners are as follows:

The Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year

Previous WinnersBatman (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Crow (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), Men in Black (1997), Blade (1998), Mystery Men (1999), X-Men (2000), From Hell (2001), Spider-Man (2002), X2: X-Men United (1993), Spider-Man 2 (1994), V for Vendetta (2005), 300 (2006), Superman: Doomsday (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Captain America: First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: Winter Soldier & Guardians of the Galaxy [tie] (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Logan (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Birds of Prey (2020)Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

So in 2023, the Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year is…

Winner: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a tremendous conclusion for the James Gunn-led trilogy. The emotional backstory of Rocket informed the whole film and we truly got a chance to see how vital that character was to the overall franchise. There were some beautiful moments in the film, including many of the moments between Rocket and Lyla.

Guardians Vol. 3 was able to blend humor and tragedy together into a wonderfully epic tale.

Who is NO/ONE?

I am taking a class for my educational license renewal on podcasts in education. I started it yesterday and one of the assignments was to basically try out a podcast. I was considering the Wolverine one, but then I remembered. The podcast that went along with Image Comics’ series No/One. I saw the ads for it at the back of the comic and I always wanted to give it a try. This gave me the perfect opportunity.

Starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Patton Oswalt, I only had to listen to the first episode for my class. I was hooked. By the end of the night, I had gone through the entire six episodes that are currently available.

I have been loving the No/One comic series. This podcast was a remarkable compendium to that book. Listening to the podcast, I had that background knowledge from the books and so when the podcast would describe something that I remembered from the comic, it was as if I was a special insider.

Rachael Leigh Cook and Patton Oswalt were great in telling the story of the Richard Roe murders and the copycats.

The comic series is ten issues so I assume there will continue to be a podcast episode for wach issue. This was a fun listen.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #72

December 7, 2023

I was able to spend this past NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at Comic World as I used a personal day from school. Once again, it was wonderful. I was able to sit at the back table at Comic World and read most of the new books this week. I do love being able to do this.

It also appears that the curse of the number three in independent books is officially over. I have five #3s this week and they were all in my pull box. Mercifully, the long nightmare is finally over!

Books read this week:

Fantastic Four #14. Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Alex Ross did the cover art. The Fantastic Four returns to the site of the Baxter Building with the expectation that it would reappear after it was sent into the future. They discovered people (super villains actually) constructing something on the location.

Thunderbolts#1. “Worldstrike” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and art by Geraldo Borges. Terry Dodson did the cover art. A new team of Thunderbolts head out to take on the Red Skull. Included Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter, Val and Red Guardian. I liked the interactions between these characters.

Amazing Spider-Man #39. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Gang War is underway! There were some awesome interaction between Spidey and She-Hulk. Tombstone is up. This is a great arc so far.

Daredevil #4. “Introductory Rites” Part Four. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by German Peralta. John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Daredevil confronts the Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich. We fins out why Ben has been acting as he has been.

The Sentry #1. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Luigi Zagaria. Ben Harvey did the cover art. The book had me immediately when Jessica Jones showed up. She is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe. The recently murdered Sentry’s power seems to have been split up among a group of other people. Intriguing for sure.

Invincible Iron Man #13. “The Mysterium Marauders” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Juan Frigeri. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Ironheart. Starfox. Tony Stark and Emma Frost. On the way to find the mysterious metal called Mysterium.

X-Men #29. “House of Doom.” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Joshua Cassara. X-Men head into Latveria to attempt to recruit the Latverian mutants. They end up having dinner with Dr. Doom.

Blood Commandment #2. Written and drawn by Szymon Kudranski. Vampires, werewolves and absolutely beautiful art work. It is a shocking book filled with some amazing imagery. It is a remarkably designed book.

Transformers #3. Written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Big battle between Optimus Prime and Starscream. Watching Optimus beat Starscream with his own removed arm was epic. And a shocking moment with Spike.

Nights #3. “Never Knows Best.” Written by Wyatt Kennedy and art by Luigi Formisano. Vincent started off the book with a bit of a stain… it surprised me when I saw it. This book is a oddball coming of age story that looks at some supernatural as well.

Alpha Flight #5. “Divided We Stand Part Five” Written by Ed Brisson and art by Scott Godlewski with David Cutler. Leonard Kirk and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. The conclusion of Alpha Flight as they come together to save as many of the mutants from Krakoa North. I liked this book.

Avengers #8. “Twilight Dreaming” Part Two. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. The Avengers have to confront Nightmare in order to get back to Vision and Scarlet Witch who were battling the Twilight Court. I loved what Thor does near the end with Nightmare. Otherwise, I do not have a great connection with the Twilight Court.

Other books this week: Destiny Gate #3, Midlife (or How to Hero at Fifty) #3, Project: Cryptid #3, The Avengers Voices #1.