Tag Archives: comic-books

EYG Comic Cavalcade #98

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May 17, 2024

We are back with the EYG Comic Cavalcade this Friday night.

Made a bit of a mistake. I went to eBay to start working on filling out my New Warriors collection. I ordered several different issues, but I had looked at several of them. A few days later, I was sent an offer from a seller on eBay for the New Warriors Vol. 2 #1-10. I knew I had looked at this before, so I jumped at the offer.

Then, I received the package of the ten issues and they were great. I went to eBay to leave feedback and found out that on that first day, I had already ordered the Vol. 2 issues, and another set was on its way. They arrived this week.

This was my dumb mistake, so I decided just to keep the double set of issues and not go and try and return one of them. I just have two copies of these books.

Books this week:

Saga Vol. 4. Okay, this week I was able to read the fourth volume of the complete set of Saga I picked up at Free Comic Book Day. This continues to be a fantastic trade paperback. I hope to get some time carved out to continue reading this soon, but summer vacation is coming soon, and, if I have not finished it by then, that would be a great opportunity.

X-Men Forever #4. “No Hope” Written by Kieron Gillen and art by Luca Maresca. Cover art by Jim Rigg (Silver Medalist). Jean Grey as the Phoenix is back once again, but it comes at the end of the road for Hope.

Bear Pirate Viking Queen #1. Written by Sean Lewis and art by Jonathan Marks Barravecchia. I mean… that title? How could I possibly pass up Bear Pirate Viking Queen? It is a beautiful book with a cool story with a dangerous bear. I enjoyed reading number one. I believe it is a three issue mini series from Image and I am excited to see where this goes.

Ice Cream Man #39. “Decompression in a Wreck (Part One)” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art by Jeffrey Alan Love (Gold Medalist). One of the most interesting and creative concepts for an issue, Ice Cream Man #39 tells a five second story, going through a fatal car crash. Great issue.

Free Comic Book Day: MAD. It’s absurd…it’s inane… it’s… MAD. Todd picked this one up for me a few weeks after Free Comic Book Day and it was a hoot. It focused on DC Comics characters given the MAD treatment. EYG Hall of Famer Sergio Aragones did several of the bits. It also includes some Spy vs. Spy classics. Fun.

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Justina Ireland and penciled by Marcelo Ferreira. Ferreira, Roberto Poggi & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. The story continued from the Amazing Spider-Man regular series as Spidey teams up with Misty Knight and …The Lizard? to go in search of a missing Morbius… aka Dr. Mike. More vampire action than you can shake a wooden stake at.

Displaced #4. “Chapter Four: Go Our Own Way”. Written by Ed Brisson and illustrated and cover art by Luca Casalanguida. Displaced continues to be an excellent book. We see the group splitting apart which is causing some of them fade away. There is still a LOST vibe to this book and I am loving it.

Doom #1. “Days of Doom” Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Sanford Greene. Cover art by Ari Granov (Bronze medalist). This was strange. It was one of those potential future stories. I am never a huge fan of these and this one with Doom in space was not what I expected. I did like the inclusion of Valeria. I’m just not sure the purpose of this book.

Redcoat #2. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Bryan Hitch. Redcoat is one of my favorite new comic series. Simon Pure has seemingly found himself a sidekick… Albert Einstein? And there was a new antagonist… Benedict Arnold. Creativity abounds in this new series.

Dark Ride #12. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrei Bressan. Cover art was by Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas. The series comes to an end as things go fairly poorly for Arthur whereas his kids, Sam and Halloween get everything they ever wanted. As happy of an ending as Hell could provide.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #20. “Sibling Day” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Federico Vicentini. Vicentini & Matt Milla did the cover art. Miles and his clone “brother” Shift take their little sister on a sibling trip. They meet up with Kamala Khan!

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #3. “Reunions” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada and art by Scott Godlewski. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez and Jesus Aburtov. Speaking of Kamala Khan, this series sees her reunited with Red Dagger and we get a bit of a love connection. Also zombie Cyclops.

Something Epic #10. Written, Illustrated and cover art by Szymon Kudranski. The investigation into the death of Sherlock Holmes and the disappearance of Zeus continues as Noa goes in search of the first goddess. The imagery of this book is always gorgeous.

Fishflies #6. Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Lemire as well as Shawn Kuruneru. We find out the origin behind the creature and Helen has a shocking loss. Fishflies #6 is the penultimate issue of this run and it was one of my favorites of the series so far.

Ultimate X-Men #3. Written, art and cover art by Peach Momoko. Hisako and Mei get some more specifics in their powers, and they drop the word…mutants for the first time. I really like the way the Ultimate X-Men is very different than the regular X-Men. I love how the Ultimate X-Men are their own character and not just repeats of the normal team.

What If…?: Aliens #3. Written by Hans Rodionoff and art by Guiu Vilanova. Phil Noto did the cover art. I have been loving this new type of What If. You have the rights for Aliens so why not tell a What If story with these characters. Paul Reiser and his son Leon came up with the concept.

House of Slaughter #23. “The Butcher’s War Part Three” Written by Tate Brombal and illustrated by Antonio Fuso. Cover art was done by Nimit Malavia & Werther Dell’edera. The Houses come together to try to plan what to do about Jace Boucher.

Other books this week: Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #4, Napalm Lullaby #3, FCBD: Ultra Duck, What If…Venom #4, and the Energon Universe #1.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of May 13

It is that time again this week to give out some medals for the best covers from this week’s comic books. Interestingly enough, this week has three variant covers as our medal winners. Oh, and no Alex Ross this week…

Bronze Medalist

Doom #1

Variant cover

Cover Art by Adi Granov

This one became the Bronze Medalist by the skin of its figural teeth as this one held off Ultimate X-Men to take this prize. The imposing nature of Dr. Doom in close up dominates the cover and stands out like a boss.

Silver Medalist

X-Men Forever #4

Variant Cover

Cover art by Jim Rugg

A beautiful painted looking cover with Jean in her Phoenix outfit, having the fiery bird land on her arm. And it is lovely. It is compelling of a piece of art.

Gold Medalist

Ice Cream Man #39

Variant Cover

Cover art by Jeffrey Alan Love

Ice Cream Man typically has some frightening horror covers and this one is creepy as heck. The Ice Cream Man with the arms coming from his back, in the black and white cover is really excellent.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #97

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May 11, 2024

It is time for the Comic Cavalcade once again. I picked up a bunch of new books this week this past Wednesday. There is also a bunch of books that I picked up on eBay and some new back issues of Amazing Spider-Man.

I have picked up some New Warriors books on eBay. I am going to start working on filling out the New Warriors. The first volume of New Warriors is missing several of the later books. I did pick up the entire volume 3, issues #1-20. I do love the New Warriors and I am always down for more of this group of characters.

New books this week:

Saga Volume 2 &3. On Free Comic Book Day, I picked up the entire 9 volumes of the Saga series from Image. I have found time to read the second and third volumes this week. They are so good. I was told that I would love this series, and I really do. There have been some shocking things happen that I did not see coming. It truly is a human story of a family struggling to get by. Hopefully, I will be able to carve out some time to keep going on this collection.

The Last Mermaid #3. Story and art by Derek Kirk Kim. I love this book too. This issue was just packed with visual storytelling and the imagery of the book is off the charts. I have to say that the design of the issue is special and helps make this excellent book stand out even more.

Avengers #14. “Blood Hunt Part One” Written by Jed MacKay and art from C.F. Villa. Joshua Cassara & Guru-eFX did the cover art. A new band of Avengers, led by Steve Rogers, steps up while the other Avengers are missing/in deep trouble. Cap brings us Kate Bishop, Quicksilver, Hercules and Hazmat. These are a nice mix of characters and each one is able to share their voice during the battle with vampires.

Fantastic Four #20. “To Work Wonders” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art by Alex Ross (Gold Medalist). This issue focuses upon the continual familial rivalry between Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. These two are always competing with each other, even if they are working as cashiers at the same grocery store. Very strange issue, but it did show the depth of the relationship between the two of them.

Amazing Spider-Man #49. Written by Zeb Wells with pencils by John Romita Jr. Cover art was by Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz. The White Rabbit has been turned into a vampire and Spidey is on the case, looking to help his foe.

Crocodile Black #1. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and illustrated by SOM. Andrea Sorrentino did the cover art (Silver Medalist). Brand new series from Boom! Studios and I loved this so much. I did not know what to expect, and I can guarantee that what they gave us what nowhere near what I thought it might have been. I love it when a series can keep me off balance and this certainly did. I can’t wait to see where they take this book.

Strange Academy: Blood Hunt #1. Three separate stories, all written by Daniel Jose Older. Three separate artists for each, including Luigi Zagaria, Eric Gapstur & Scott Hanna, and then Eric Gapstur. Cover art was by Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado. I do love Strange Academy so I was excited to see them involved in the Blood Hunt crossover. I will say that the three stories surprised me although these blended well.

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #2. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg are the cover artists. As things are happening with the Osborns, Spidey takes on the Sandman.

Ain’t No Grave #1. “Chapter One: Denial”. Written by Skottie Young and art and cover art by Jorge Corona (Bronze Medalist). New Western series with some real unexpected twists. I love Skottie Young’s writing and this takes our main protagonist into a trip to try and kill Death. Literally? Seems so. A beautifully illustrated book too.

Daredevil #9. “Introductory Rights Part Nine” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Juann Cabal. Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. Daredevil and Elektra take on Bullseye and matt Murdock finally goes to see Foggy to let him know that he is alive. Foggy does not take it well, as one would expect.

Dracula: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Danny Lore and art by Vincenzo Carratù with cover art by Rod Reis. I guess it makes sense that if vampires are everywhere across the earth that Dracula would be involved. But did you expect him to show up and help Blade’s daughter, Brielle Brooks?

Doctor Strange #15. “Blood Hunt, Pt. 1” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did this cover art too. Doctor Strange has been turned into a vampire, so he separates his astral form to try and help stop Blade.

Blood Hunters #1. Three stories featuring three separate characters: Clint Barton, Man-Wolf and Dagger. I have to say that the cover of the issue (which was done by Greg Land & Frank D’Armata) made it look like this was a team up between these characters. Instead, it was three separate stories with only the vampires to connect them. It was neat seeing Dagger and Man-Wolf again.

Captain America #9. “The Desert of the Unknown“. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art and cover art by Jesus Saiz. Cap heads to Chile and picked up a penguin along the way. And I do not mean Oswald Cobblepot.

Giant-Size X-Men #1. “Truth or Die” Written by Ann Nocenti and art by Lee Ferguson. Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair did the cove art. A solo story of Angel, aka Warren Worthington III, trying to survive Maze, a trainee of Arcade. This attempts to go deep into the mind of Warren, but honestly, this was at best okay.

The Mildly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #9. Written by Tate Brombal and art by Isaac Goodhart. Cover art by Nick Robles. We return to Christopher and his life and we spend some time with Christopher and his two friends in the Monster Club. We get some info about Christopher’s mysterious background as it is sort of his birthday.

X-Men: Forever #3. “Unhappy in their own Way” Written by Kieron Gillen and art by Luca Maresca. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Two main arcs happening. One with Nightcrawler, Mystique and Destiny and the revelation about parentage. The second arc was with Hope and her potential sacrifice to save everyone.

Transformers #8. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson with art by Jorge Corona. Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer did the cover art. The Autobots are beginning their plans to fight the Decepticons and Carly wants in. Optimus Prime does not think that is a good idea.

Geiger #2. “The Hunter and the Hunted” Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Gary Frank & Brad Anderson did the cover art. A small town deals with the Glowing Man to take care of a recent masked raider that had been causing trouble in the town.

The Deviant #5. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Joshua Hixson. It feels like a while since we got a new issue of this series, but it is just as compelling as it was then. What has Michael done? We see some of little kid Michael in a flashback this issue as older Michael is being arrested.

Deadpool #2. Written by Cody Ziglar and penciled by Rogê Antonio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Deadpool and Taskmaster team up to take what was supposed to be an easy mark. Thing do not go as they had planned. Not good when Crossbones shows up.

Other books this week: Boy Wonder #1, Monsters are my Business #2, Captain Marvel #8, Night People #3, and The One Hand #4.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of May 6

It is time again this week for the three medalist for best cover of the week. I must say that I eliminated one possible cover this week because I picked up a variant version of The Creature of the Black Lagoon Lives #1 which I really loved. But since this was actually released a few weeks ago, I decided to not count this one as a comic cover medalist. The original cover (Cover A) did place in the medal round prior so it is not like it comes out empty handed. Call this an honorable mention.

Otherwise, we had several comics in the running this week. There were some really cool covers that did not place in the top three. It was two independent books and one Marvel. And the Marvel cover artist has been a medalist several times already.

Bronze Medalist

Ain’t No Grave #1

Image Comics

Cover art by Jorge Corona

A new Western series written by Skottie Young. The cover has some wonderful Western imagery blended together.

Silver Medalist

Crocodile Black #1

Boom! Studios

Cover art by Andrea Sorrentino

New book from Boom! Studios has a very compelling cover. The guy on the bench with that alligator behind him is cool, but I loved the red highlights down on the ground around the body. Is it blood? Maybe, it looks awesome though.

Gold Medalist

Fantastic Four #20

Marvel Comics

Cover art by Alex Ross

EYG Hall of Famer Alex Ross earns yet another medal this week with the great FF cover that is not only beautifully drawn but tells a fun story with Ben and Johnny. What is going on here? I don’t know, but I am excited to find out and that means the cover does its job well.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #96

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May 5, 2024

Free Comic Book Day special edition

To all the Star Wars fans out there, happy Revenge of the 5th, the day following May the 4th Be With You. Otherwise, this is a super special edition of the EYG Comic Cavalcade featuring the events and books of Free Comic book Day!

May 4th was more than just Star Wars Day this year. This year it also was Free Comic Book Day, a day where the companies release a bunch of promo comics, and comic shops around the country give them out for free.

I hope everyone understands that these are not free for the comic shop, who has to purchase these books (yes, at a reduced rate) and pay for shipping. This is why it is so vital that when you partake of a free book, you find something else to purchase at the shop as a thank you for all you do type of thing.

I had a wonderful day with Free Comic Book Day this year. I started the day with a movie that was really bad (Tarot…quite the stinker) and lunch at Burger King before heading over to Comic World.

I walked in the store right after the shop opened at noon and there were plenty of people already there. In the hour and a half (or so) that I hung out there, it was really quite busy, which is awesome.

There were some fabulous moments as I sat and watched people in the store. Some of the highlights included one young boy, probably around 10-11, who came in asking about the free comics and store owner Ben directed him to the table of books. The boy had eyes bulging and he said “thank you” in such a grateful way that you could tell that he meant it. It was such a cool moment, a small little moment that helped make the day great. With hope, a day like this could help create a future comic book fan.

That is, of course, one of the main purposes behind the entire Free Comic Book Day concept. Comic books are a niche hobby and it is important that the comic companies find a way to find new readers than just the same people that buy their books every Wednesday.

Another fun moment for me was when my teacher friend Ambarlee showed up with her three kids to buy their first comic books. She had the boys pick out a comic from the wall each before going over to the free table. I know she also picked up a trade paperback of Rainbow Rowell’s She-Hulk run (she enjoyed the She-Hulk Disney + show). They then grabbed a few of the free comics including One Piece, the Spidey and Amazing Friends, and the Spider-Man/Ultimates book. I had to take a pic of her holding her little girl who looked to be intently reading the comic in her hand.

Then, of course, I did my own purchasing. I picked up a rousing 21 free comics. Most of them had already been pulled in my box for me, which I appreciate so much. These included such books as Romeo vs. Juliet, The Cursed Library Prelude #0, Energon Universe #1, Flash Gordon #0, Dying Inside, One Piece Ace’s Story, Marvel Voices #1, Boom! Box 10th Anniversary Extravaganza, Hellboy, Monster High, Cursedverse #1, Stories from the Atlas Comics Library #1, Absolute Power #1, Conan: Battle of the Black Stone,Dr. Who #00, The Valiants, Gannibal, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

A couple of others:

FCBD: The Worlds of James Tynion IV: This included reprinted material, but two of them were Mementic and The Woods. I did not know either of these books and I may be interested in looking into them. The book indicated The Woods: Deluxe Edition is coming soon. Tynion is one of my favorite writers currently working with Something is Killing the Children (which is one of the key series that got me picking up independent books), The Department of Truth, and W0rldtr33.

FCBD: Blood Hunt #1: The prelude to this upcoming vampire story in Marvel includes Spider-Man fighting Doctor Dark and Dracula showing up. This also featured a back-up X-Men story by Gail Simone, featuring Jubilee. Simone will be the head writer on the upcoming new Uncanny X-Men series. Simone has been a huge proponent of Free Comic Book Day and supporting your local comic book shop.

FCBD: Spider-Man/Ultimate Universe #1. This had a weird Spider-Man story that I thought was an Ultimate Spider-Man story at first, but Peter did not have his beard, so I think this was supposed to be the regular Spider-Man. The back up story featured the Ultimates, trying to retrieve the original Human Torch. There was also a couple pages of Venom here.

Along with the FCBD books, I purchased a bunch of books from my shop.

Saga Volume 1-9. Brian K. Vaughn’s epic independent book is collected in nine volumes. I read volume one and I have to say that I was hooked. This first volume collected the first six chapters and we are introduced to some great characters and some major surprising twists. The nine volumes are contained in a beautiful container with art by Fiona Staples. I am excited to read the rest of this series moving forward.

X-Men: 198 #1-5. I picked up this mini series because I had never heard of it before and the five issues were packed together at a very reasonable price. This was a story taking place when there were only 198 mutants left on the planet (after Wanda’s No More Mutants, I believe). The government is moving the remaining mutants to Xavier’s School, and trying not to use the words internment camp. This has some really dark moments and seeing Cyclops and some of the other X-Men backing the government was tough. Kitty Pryde’s response was very understandable as the connection to the Holocaust is not missed on anyone. This was a fascinating read with a group of characters that I have not seen much of over the years.

Marvel Team-Up #9, 10,15. These have been at Comic World for awhile, and I have eyeballed them at different times, but this was a good point to buy them. I love Spidey and Marvel Team-Up was always one of my favorite books growing up. This has Ghost Rider, Human Torch and Iron Man in these issues. #15 in particular is in beautiful condition. I have not rebagged my Marvel Team-Up books yet, but I know I did not have any of these.

The Tomb of Dracula #36-38, 57. I bought several Tomb of Dracula books a few months ago and these were still at the shop. I figured this would be the perfect moment to pick them up. I do like the character of Dracula, and with the Blood Hunt coming up, this feels very relevant.

I finished up with an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen on the trip back to Maquoketa. As I was driving, I remember thinking what a great day this was. I had a blast with Free Comic Book Day and I hope everyone else had an excellent experience too.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #95

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May 3, 2024

This past Wednesday, I took a personal day from school and I went to Comic World to hang out that afternoon on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY! It was glorious. I got to talk to my friend Todd, read the new books this week, and just enjoy the ambiance of the store.

Tomorrow, then, is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Across the country, there are comic shops celebrating this special day with comics put out by the comic companies to hopefully hook some new readers and promote their new comics. I am looking forward to going to Comic World tomorrow and joining in on the celebration.

However, you should not just go to your comic shop and take the freebies that they have because it is not free for the shops. This is a post that EYG Hall of Famer Gail Simone talking about Free Comic Book Day:

“ABOUT FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

Hello again, everyone.

I say a version of this every year, many of you have seen many variations. I apologize for repeating myself a bit, but it’s kind of important.

Really, it’s vital that you know, comic stores love having you come to Free Comic Book Day. Many of them make it a kind of all-day party and we all love having new people and long-time readers come by a great store and leave with some fantastic comics. It’s a great experience for almost everyone. Kids love it, adults, it’s just a great time for all.

Lots of stores have sales, guest appearances, cosplayers, sometimes even cake or other treats. I love it, one of my favorite days of the year.

This year, in just a couple days, I will be at THE GOLDEN AGE 1942 store in historic Maryville, Tennessee. Come say hello!

Now, there’s a couple things I say every year, just for the record.

First, most people think that the comics that the stores give away for free are free to the stores.

They are not. Each comic is paid for by the stores. At a greatly reduced price from normal comics, yes, but they are sold to the store by the bundle, and with many many dozens of FCBD comics, it adds up hugely fast. Multiply that by gosh knows how many people in line, it’s a significant number, all given away for FREE, no cash coming back to the retailer at all.

But that’s not all. They also have to pay shipping, which anyone who runs a business knows, is astronomical.

So, every book they give away is paid for by the store, twice, really.

On top of that, it is almost always necessary to hire extra help for the day. They might have to purchase more stock, after one of the slower parts of the year, sales-wised.

If they have decorations or publicity or cosplayers or creator guests, they are paying for each of those expenses. There’s a lot of expenses I am missing, I’m not a retailer. But they are there.

Free Comic Book Day is darn expensive for comics retailers. Most are delighted to have it, it’s a great day to get people to come and celebrate comics and learn about the stores. None of them would want you to feel guilty about coming and picking up the books, that’s what’s SUPPOSED to happen.

However, I would ask everyone going to Free Comic Book Day this weekend to do me a personal favor and SHOP a bit there, too. Even if it’s busy, hang around, have fun, and do a bit of shopping.

If each person purchases something ON FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, it helps justify all the expense, and ensures that the store will be able to continue ordering great stuff, and having the annual event again next year and beyond.

If there’s a TPB you have been thinking about, or a statue, or an action figure, I urge you to consider buying it ON FCBD, if at all possible. If your budget is tight, even buying a comic or some comics off the rack or back issue bins helps a LOT, I promise you, and you are doing something awesome for the community.

Comic shop owners and workers work long hours, often for thin profit margins. But they’re the ones who will look for that book you want, that will special order things, that will recommend you a book not to make a sale, but because they know you will love it. They are the force keeping the hobby fun, social and convenient.

So please, if you have ever really loved shopping at a great comics shop, look around and purchase something on this fun day of celebration in particular, okay?

You’ll be my hero. 🙂

Thank you,

Gail

PS. No comic shop has ever asked me to talk about this, they just want you to come and have fun. They don’t want you to feel any kind of bad on FCBD. This is all from me, about the economic reality of the expense of putting on the event, because I am more shameless. 🙂

PPS. Thank you all!

PPPS. Have a great Free Comic Book Day, all right?

PPPPS. Get Marvel’s FCBD book this weekend, my first ever X-Men story is in it!

PPPPPS. THANK YOU RETAILERS, YOU LOVELY MERCHANTS OF JOY“

I plan on buying several comics this weekend along with the large number of free comics that I have pulled for me.

Speaking of back issues, I have four Amazing Spider-Man issues, #433, #435-437 as I continue to work on my ASM collection.

After all of that, here are the books this week:

Incredible Hulk #12. “Doctor Voodoo and the Soul Cage Part One” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art and cover by Nic Klein. The Incredible Hulk has been an okay read recently, but I loved this issue as Hulk goes to Strange Academy trying to save Charlie from the soul cage. Banner and the Hulk head into the soul cage to try and save her, while another Hulk, one that looks fairly Immortal, shows up with Voodoo. This was the best issue of Hulk since the Al Ewing run.

7174 A.S. #1. Creative team:  TP LOUISE and  ASHLEY WOOD. This is one of the books that I found interesting. Unfortunately, I did not like the issue. I did not feel connected to this at all.

Space Ghost #1. Written by David Pepose and drawn by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was by Michael Cho (Silver Medalist). While I did not like 7174 AD, the new Space Ghost series from Dynamite was awesome. Space Ghost was shown to be a bad ass and the issue was just great. It was a little hard seeing Brak as a monstrous villain, btu I am down for it.

Blood Hunt #1. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Pepe Larraz. Cover art Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. I also picked up a variant cover issue with a cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau (Bronze Medalist). The new vampire story arc in Marvel kicked off with Blade turning heel and attacking the Marvel Universe. There are some shocking moments with major characters dying, but I have problems with that. They aren’t dead. They will return from death soon and it is sad that I feel no angst over the loss of any of these characters. Otherwise, Blood Hunt is off to a cool start.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5. “8-Ball” Written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art by David Paratore. Shroud was revealed as the new Moon Knight but Tigra and Hunter’s Moon was not having any of it. But Blood Hunt started with a major event with the Darkforce users, including Shroud.

Ultimate X-Men #2. Writer and artist Peach Momoko. Hisako has met another mutant, who seems to be able to control the weather… hm. I have enjoyed these first two issues of the new X-Men book. I like how it is so different than the regular Marvel Universe X-Men.

Ghostlore #10. “Churning the Grave” Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. The middle section was illustrated by Sally Cantirino. The cover art was by Reiko Murakami and Sally Cantirino. Harmony and her father Lucas have reunited, but she is not happy with what her father is planning to battle Shane.

The Blood Brothers Mother #1. Written by Brian Azzarello and drawn and cover by Eduardo Risso (Gold Medalist). Awesome new Western series from DSTLRY. This is a beautiful and brutal new series as we see the beginning of the brothers and how they came to be.

Invincible Iron Man #18. “If I Only Had a Heart” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Creees Lee. Cover art was by Kael Ngu. Iron Man and Magneto vs. Stark Sentinels and Nimrod. What more could you ask for? How about War Machine?

Get Fury #1. “1. Sweet Bird of Truth” Written by Garth Ennis and penciled by Jacen Burrows. Dave Johnson did the cover art. Nick Fury is trapped in North Vietnam and the US government is worried about what he knows. So they send Frank Castle after him. Honestly, that sounded cool, but I just could not get into this. I was not a fan of this issue.

X-Men #34. “Love-Hate” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Joshua Cassara. Terry & Rachel Dodson did the cover art. The X-Men are coming after Charles Xavier. Logan and Shadowcat are together again. What will happen?

Spider-Woman #7. “New Kids on the Block” Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ig Guara. Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Gho did the cover art. Spider-Woman is discovering that there are still plenty of problems in San Francisco. However, she meets up with a new team of heroes, The Assembly, which has some similarities.

Immortal Thor #10. “Getting the Axe” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Carlos Magno. Alex Ross did the cover art. I am not sure how I feel about this. Thor battled a fake Thor, the Thor of Roxxon. And it is a frame job. Not sure how I feel about this storyline. I do love Al Ewing so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Zorro: Man of the Dead #4. Written and drawn by Sean Gordon Murphy. This is the final issue of this mini-series. I really enjoyed this book from Massive comics and I am sorry to see it end. I hope this is one that will earn another volume of issues moving forward.

Other books this week: Count Crowley: Mediocre Midnight Monster Hunter #3, Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII #1, Power Pack: Into the Storm #5, and Minor Threats #2.

Happy Free Comic Book Day to everyone!

EYG Comic Cavalcade #93

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April 22, 2024

I am back with the second part of last week’s large pile of comics after the mysterious disappearance of the week’s prior shipment. I don’t want to miss another week of books again.

Next books:

Blue Books: 1947 #3. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Michael Avon Oeming, who also did the cover art (Silver medalist). We have reached the point where we are ready to start talking about Roswell and the events surrounding that. I thought this was very interesting.

Moon Man #2. Script by Scott Mescudi and Kyle Higgins with art by Marco Locati. This was a pretty good follow up to the first issue of this book. I did enjoy the manner in which the art was presented in this issue. Some of the larger panels were really epic.

Beware of the Planet of the Apes #4. Written by Marc Guggenheim and art by Alvaro Lopez. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. This prequel to the first movie wrapped up the series and it was enjoyable. Maybe it was not spectacular, but I did like it. It has been one of my favorite of the 20th Century Studios imprint so far.

Ultimate Black Panther #3. Written by Bryan Hill and drawn by Stefano Caselli. Josh Cassara & Guru-eFX did the cover art. T’Challa meeting up with Killmonger and Ororo looking for Moon Knight and some of the African gods. I have liked this new take on Black Panther and his surrounding cast, especially Shuri and Okaye.

Captain Marvel #7. “Bonds to Break” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Jan Bazaldua. Stephen Segovia & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the art for the cover. Captain Marvel and Genis-Vell battled in the comic. The item that possessed Genis comes out and prepares to take on Carol.

Resurrection of Magneto #4. “Reawakening” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Luciano Vecchio. Stefano Caselli and Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Magneto is back. What kind of Magneto is he? This is the question that this issue poses. This is perhaps my favorite issue of this series so far.

Avengers: Twilight #5. “And the Truth is Rain.” Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Daniel Acuna. Cover art by Alex Ross and Acuna. The futuristic tale of the Avengers taking on a returned Red Skull continues. I have said before how I am not a fan of alternate future stories, but this is tremendous. Chip Zdarsky is at his best so far in this series. And the last page’s reveal of the Hulk is awesome.

Incredible Hulk #11. “Frozen Charlotte: Part Three” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and illustrated by guest artist Danny Earles. The Frozen Charlotte storyline has not been my favorite, but I did like how it wrapped up. What happens to Charlie is a neat twist.

Jill and the Killers #4. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and illustrated by Roberta Ingranata. Cover art by Sanya Anwar. This mystery series wrapped up after the answer of the mystery was revealed. This was a very special series that was very unexpected from Oni Press.

Animal Pound #3. “Chapter Three: Piggy Performs” Written by Tom King and illustrated by Peter Gross. Animal Pound is a really good look at political theater. They follow through multiple elections inside the animal pound and it really shows what politics are like. By the way, I have a feeling that I know whom is represented by Piggy.

What If: Venom #3. Written by Jeremy Holt and penciled by Manuel Garcia. Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr did the cover art. I have not been much of a fan of these Venom What If issues, but I love the What If series so I am collecting it. Venom bonded to Dr. Strange is fine. That’s about it.

X-Men ’97 #2. Written by Steve Foxe and drawn by Salva Espín. Cover art was by Todd Nuack & Rachelle Rosenberg. This prequel series to the new animated X-Men ’97 series on Disney + has been okay, but it does not measure up to the exceptional animated series. Sabretooth and the Marauders make a guest appearance.

Dead X-Men #4. “Hyper Ballad” Written by Steve Foxe and art by David Baldeon, Bernard Chang, & Vincenzo Carratù. Lucas Werneck did the cover art. This felt weird since it should have been read before the Rise of the Powers of X #4, which I have already read. Still, this was fine.

Fall of the House of X #4. “The Turn” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Lucas Werneck & Jethro Morales. Cover art is done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. Things are coming to a conclusion with this storyline as the X-Men are facing down with Nimrod.

House of Slaughter #22. Written by Tate Brombal and illustrated by Antonio Fuso. Cover art by Nimit Malavia and Werther Dell’edera. Sunny Boucher has gone out of his way to help protect his friend Jace Boucher, but at what cost?

Night People #2. “The Secret Life of Insects” Written by Chris Condon and illustrated by Alexandre Tefenkgi. Cover art by Jason Shawn Alexander. Honestly, this series has not been enjoyable so far. This is based on a novel by Barry Gifford, but I just have not liked it at this point.

Giant-Size Hulk #1. “Reuben’s Train” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Andrea Broccardo. KJ Diaz did the cover art. I enjoyed the issue with the Hulk on a train. However, it did not turn out well for the train.

Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #2. “Vengeance is Mine” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Danny Kim. Juan Ferreyra did the cover art. The Red Hood continues as the brand new Ghost Rider, who stole the Spirit of Vengeance from Johnny Blaze. This series is darker than before and I like it.

Kill Your Darlings #8. Story by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan and art by Robert Quinn. This series has ended with this issue and I am glad it is done. I have not been a huge fan of this book over the last eight issues. This is one of the books that I started and basically finished because I wanted to be a completist. This does have a cool wrap-around cover, though.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #92

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April 19, 2024

So, this was a huge week of comics, because of the mysterious disappearance of the shipment from the previous week to Comic World. I had 38 books this week and that was just massive.

Because of the amount of books to read this week, I decided to split this week into two sections. I have a handful of books read right now, and then I will continue to read more to hopefully do another Comic Cavalcade prior to NEW COMIC BOOK DAY next Wednesday. That is the goal, at least.

It is amazing that it was just a few years ago that I only purchased Marvel Comics books. Now, I collect more independent comics than Marvel books. Marvel is still my favorite company, but I have gained a new respect for the stories created by talented creatives. Recently, I am starting to look through the catalogue of Dark Horse, which I have not paid enough attention to over the last year or so. There are some new books from DH this week that were fun.

Books this week, Part One:

Ms. Marvel #18. “Meanwhile in Wakanda” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Francesco Gaston. Nelson Blake II and Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. So this was, of course, not a book from this past week. It is one that I picked up on eBay. I have been inventorying the collection and I found that I was missing this issue of the Ms. Marvel series. I found it on eBay to fill in that volume. I do very much enjoy Ms. Marvel. More on her later.

Monsters are My Business #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Piazzalunga with Marco Brakko did the cover art. One of the new Dark Horse books I was talking about, this was a lot of fun. Strange characters and some exciting monster action.

Uncanny Valley #1. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Dave Wachter. Boom! Studios has been a huge company too recently, as some of the best books of the month are from this company. This starts off with a troubled kid who has some kind of mysterious background and a grandfather who turns out to be a… cartoon?

Cobra Commander #4. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. Milana & Annalisa Leoni did the art for the cover. The mini series in the Energon Universe continues as the leader of Cobra heads to his power. Cobra Commander is shown to be quite the bad ass here, and we get our first glimpse of Destro.

Sam and Twitch: Case Files #2. Written by Todd McFarlane with Jon Goff (co-plot) and art by Szymon Kudranski. Thaddeus Robeck and Mirko Colak did the cover art. Problems between partners and a suspension lead Max to get out of New York and help a former friend with a serial killer case in a small town. I like this detective series inside the Spawn universe.

Roxxon Presents Thor #1. “Hate is a Color Called …Green” Written by Al Ewing and penciled by Greg Land. This is bizarre. In the continuity of the Immortal Thor, Roxxon has gotten the rights to publish Thor comics and they have made Thor a joke. This is the comic that Roxxon published and it reads like a giant product placement for Roxxon and its products. It is a strange comic and a blip in the storyline from the main Thor book.

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #2. “Starstruck.” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada and art by Scott Godlewski. Carlos Gomez & Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Co-written by the MCU’s Ms. Marvel herself, this book features Lila Cheney and Mojo. It is always fun with Mojo and his obsessive desire for ratings. I said how much I love Ms. Marvel earlier, and she continues to be awesome.

What If…?: Aliens #2. Part Two written by Hans Rodionoff & Leon Reiser with art by Guiu Vilanova. Phil Noto did the cover art. Like Iman Vellani in the previous book, this is another comic featuring a celebrity involved in the creative process with Paul Reiser. His son helped him develop the story and co-wrote this one. A great continuation of this What If story. I do miss the Watcher in these books, but this has been a ton of fun so far.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #19. “Retribution: Part 3” Written by Cody Ziglar and art from Federico Vicentini. Vicentini & Richard Isanove did the cover art. A serious throwdown between Miles and Rabble that leads to a final end to the story.

Invincible Iron Man #17. “The Price of Knowledge.” Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by guest artist Patch Zircher. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Feilong and Tony Stark comes to blows, but Feilong has a problem. He has lost control of the Stark Sentinels. AI cannot be trusted. Iron Man has an unlikely ally arrive to help out… Magneto?

Blow Away #1. Written by Zac Thompson and illustrated by Nicola Izzo. Cover art is done by Annie Wu (Gold Medalist). Another cool new series from Boom! Studios. A photographer has some mysterious job, but she is distracted watching some mountain climbers. Strange things happen in this series and I am excited to see what is going on.

Fantastic Four #19. “The Perfect Storm” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art by Alex Ross (Bronze Medalist). This was an awesome black and white (with red) noir detective story with Alicia Masters as the detective. It was a strange story that would make sense eventually. I really have enjoyed Ryan North’s run on this book as he has told FF stories in different manners every month.

Amazing Spider-Man #47. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by guest artist Todd Nauck. John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Ben Reilly is back as Chasm, reuniting with Hallows’ Eve. They are after Betty Bryant and Spider-Man has to protect her.

Spider-Boy #6. Written by Dan Slott. “The Man Upstairs” art by Paco Medina & Walden Wong and “So You’re a Humanimal” drawn by Julian Shaw. Bailey Briggs is fighting the humanimals of Madame Monstrosity, trying to save his friend, Christina Xu. He does not succeed.

Something Epic #9. Written and illustrated by Szymon Kudranski. In the investigation into the death of Sherlock Holmes leads Noa and her duck friend to Mount Olympus and Zeus, who has also disappeared. They head off to see Hades in the Underworld. The new arc is fascinating and, dare I say it, epic.

Spider-Woman #6. “Star Light, Star Bright, The First Star I Punch Tonight.” Written by Steve Foxe and art from Ig Guara. Leinil Francis Yu & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. Star is after Jessica Drew and they fight on a train. The train doesn’t stand a chance.

The Displaced #3. “Chapter Three: Everyone Needs to Eat.” Written by Ed Brisson and illustrated by Luca Casalanguida. This is fast becoming one of my favorite books of the month. The story of the survivors of the city of Oshawa, Ontario which has vanished, keeps getting more dramatic every issue. The cracks in the survivors’ connection are starting to show. This is a great book from Boom! Studio.

Black Widow & Hawkeye #2. “Broken Arrow: Part 2” Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Paolo Villanelli. Stephen Segovia and Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Black Widow and her new symbiote are out to save a injured Hawkeye against an assassin after him.

Spectacular Spider-Men #2. “Arachnobatics Chapter #2: Community” Written by Greg Weisman and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Ramos & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Peter and Miles take on Vermin in the sewers of NYC and spend time at their coffee shop. There is also a mystery dealing with a burnt body. Is it a clone? I love the interaction between Peter and Miles.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of April 15

Last week, a shipment of comics heading to Comic World was lost in the mail. Only Image books came in last week. That meant that there was a MASSIVE amount of books this week. A large number to narrow down to just three medalists. It was a tough decision as I had about ten that I had in the finals, finally moving down to the top three. No Image this week.

Bronze Medalist

Fantastic Four #19

Cover art by Alex Ross

One of the greatest cover artists of all time received another medal this week as Alex Ross brings an awesome cover featuring Sue Storm in a very original looking issue.

Silver Medalist

Blue Book: 1947 #3

Cover Art by Michael Avon Oeming

Blue Book has been one of the consistently beautiful covers, using the colors of blue and black every issue. The Dark Horse comic does a lot with a little.

Gold Medalist

Blow Away #1

Cover art by Annie Wu

Brand new comic from Boom! Studios. Much like last week’s winner, Phantom Road, less on this cover is more. The beautiful blue ice makes this feel very special while the character is in the distance, showing on how much this character has to go through. It is a lovely piece of art.

A few honorable mentions this week considering I got 38 comics this week: Night People #2, Something Epic #9, Black Widow/Hawkeye #2, Spectacular Spider-Men #2, and Avengers: Twilight #5.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #91

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April 11, 2024

Well, yesterday was NEW COMIC BOOK DAY…sort of.

If you saw the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week post on Wednesday, you know what happened. The new comics shipment to Comic World was lost in the mail. Last I heard they had no idea what had happened to the shipment and they were waiting on a replacement order. The only books that arrived were the DC and Image books. There are a very limited number of DC books that I get, so this week was going to be a down week for comic issues.

I did get a few Image books and so the 91st edition of the Comic Cavalcade will press on.

This actually worked out pretty well for me as Todd had picked up a bunch of Amazing Spider-Man back issues for me. I had told him that I was going to start filling out my ASM collection with issues that I was missing since I had gone through my Amazing Spider-Man box , reboarding and re-bagging them. This allowed me to see the issues that I already had, which had always been the hold back for me buying back issues. There was a time that Todd had thought that I did not like back issues, but that was never the case. I just was never sure what I had already owned. As my project to re-box, re-bag and re-board all the older comics, while inventorying the books on CLZ has been moving forward slowly, I knew what was missing in the ASM camp.

Todd did go a bit in depth with his search for these back issues and came back from Des Moines with a pile of books (41 in all) for me to buy over the next several months. Since I did not have much in the pull list this week with the great comic box disappearance (was this worse than the truck/fire thing from last year… probably not because no one died in this. More inconvenient than anything else), I intended on buying the whole lot. Todd wouldn’t let me.

I am not sure why, but he held back most of the higher priced ASM books he had and even went a far as to keep the books with him to prevent me from circling back and buying them from one of the others at Comic World. I guess I appreciate Todd’s zeal to protect my bank account.

Anyway, I have a large group of Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 issues mostly in the four hundreds, but a few lower. I do love Spider-Man and having these are really cool. I’ll get those other ASM books one day, though next week looks to be a double week, with the books from this week and the books from next week. Oy.

Here are the few sparse books this week:

The Last Mermaid #1-2. Written and drawn by Derek Kirk Kim. I actually got The Last Mermaid #2 last week, but I could not read it because I was waiting for #1 to come in. I had missed it and Todd picked it up for me in Des Moines, so I got the chance to read them this week and I loved these two books. Absolutely gorgeous art on the interior of the book. I loved the different shape of the book. I would not want every comic to be this size, but this make this series feel different and original. It was a fun little story of a wasteland future time with a mermaid in a mech-suit in search of usable water. This was some beautiful visual storytelling and I just loved what has been given to us so far. I actually gasped at the end of issue two. I am surprised how connected I am to this mermaid and her little axolotl companion after just a couple of issues. This is wonderful so far.

Rat City #1. Written by Erica Schultz and drawn by Ze Carlos. Cover art by Ze Carlos (Bronze Medalist). This is a book taking place in the future with a character that has lost his legs in his military service and has been given state-of-the-art prosthetics. This is connected to the multitude of new Spawn books coming too. Honestly, this was okay, but it did not grab me enough to want to continue to follow this story.

Napalm Lullaby #2. Written by Rick Remender and art by Bengal, who also did the cover art (Silver medalist). Unlike the previous book, I found this to be an awesome issue. In fact, this really picked up from an okay issue #1. I really dug the story of Sam and Sarah and their father and their beginning of a trek to kill the Magnificent leader.. which led them into…Heaven? I am in.

Phantom Road #10. “Billy Bear One” Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Gabriel H. Walta, who also did the cover art (Gold Medalist). This is the end of Book Two, but it was clearly not a end of this series. Very compelling books, kind of a mix between The Walking Dead and The Langoliers. Jeff Lemire is one of my favorite writers currently working today and I will read most everything that he writes.

Transformers #7. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Soundwave vs. Starscream. Oofta! Who is the leader of the Decepticons? And what is going on with Optimus Prime? This issue brings several questions to the front and keeps the momentum of this series moving on.

That’s it for new books this week. Next week is a huge week with the Marvel/Boom! Studios/Etc. from this week and everything from next. More Amazing Spider-Man? Who knows.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of April 8

So we have a strange week this week. My comic shop had their new comics lost in the mail. No one knows what happened to it. The only books that came out this week were Image/DC. I had nothing from DC which meant this week’s comic cover medalists are out of five Image Comics. Next week will be a large one.

Bronze Medalist

Rat City #1

Cover art by Zé Carlos

I don’t know anything about this issue except that sure looks like Spawn on the cover. I picked it up as a curiosity and because I liked the cover. I am interested to see what it is about.

Silver Medalist

Napalm Lullaby #2

Cover art by Bengal

I like this cover quite a bit with this new title from Image. Love the background on this cover as our main protagonists stand in front. I love how everything around them seem to leap off the cover. The title stands out beautifully too.

Gold Medalist

Phantom Road #10

Cover art by Gabriel H. Walta

I love this cover. Truthfully, it is not as much the art of the cover that stands out, but the coloring. This green makes this such a compelling cover. You remember the color because you do not typically see something like this.

Congrats to the all-Image week.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #90

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It is Wrestlemania weekend, so the time has been limited. I had to squeeze some books in-between everything that was going on. I still wanted to get Comic Cavalcade #90 done and published.

Books this week:

Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter #4. “The Mad Monster” Written by David Dastmalchian and art by Lukas Ketner. If you read last week’s Comic Cavalcade, you know that I actually read the trade paperback that included this issue because of a mix-up at eBay. I received the missing issue from this Dark Horse series this week.

Doctor Strange #14. “Cobolorum, Pt. 2” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art by Alex Ross. The D & D-inspired Cobolorum is completed in this Doctor Strange issue and the interactions between Taskmaster, Black Cat, and Hunter’s Moon was one of the strongest part of this storyline.

Captain America #8. “Intermezzo, Part Two of Two” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Carlos Magno. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Lyra, sister of Asmoday, also known as Life, recruited Captain America. This pair of issues was not as strong as the previous part of this book.

Sensational She-Hulk #7. Written by Rainbow Rowell and drawn by Ig Guara. Jen Bartel did the cover art. She-Hulk is doubting her relationship with Jack of Hearts because of an old flame for Jack, Ganymede, who has shown up at the space retreat. Little does anyone know that her mission is to kill She-Hulk.

Man’s Best #1. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote and illustrated by Jesse Lonergan. Two dogs and a cat (dressed as a dog) are the center of this new series. There have been a plethora of dogs/cats/animals leading comics over the last few years. This is yet another interesting book.

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Michael Sta. Maria. Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. This is another of the short series that fall into a previous time frame. This one goes a long way back to the early days of the Amazing Spider-Man. The most interesting part of this series was the interaction between Peter and his Aunt May in the days and weeks right after the loss of Ben.

Under York #1. Written by Sylvain Runberg and art art by Mirka Andolfo. This is an intriguing new Image Comic book involving magic and the underground world existing beneath New York. New characters and a fun start.

Deadpool #1. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antônio. Inhyuk Lee In did the cover art (Gold Medalist). New series for Deadpool and there is a new villain out there. And Deadpool feels a little heartbroken from a previous failed relationship.

Geiger #1. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank. Cover art by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson. Part of the Ghost Machine universe from Image, Geiger returns to a new book. I really do love the design of this character and I find it very interesting a read. Some futuristic post apocalyptic action.

Rook Exodus #1. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Jason Fabok. Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson did the cover art. A second of the Ghost Machine universe and it was another fascinating book. Rook has a helmet that allows him to control birds and he has wound up on a planet after escaping from a dying earth. This was a great book and I am looking forward to seeing the book continue. Scary giant bear too. Stephen Colbert says that bears are the ultimate killing machine. This is a gigantic example of that.

Redcoat #1. Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Bryan Hitch. Cover art is done by Bryan Hitch and Brad Anderson. This is my favorite of the three new Ghost Machine books. A cowardly BritI ish redcoat named Simon Pure has become immortal. I enjoyed this book a great deal.

Antarctica #10. Written by Simon Birks and art by Willi Roberts. Willi Roberts did the cover art (Silver Medalist). The finale of this series. This book wraps up with Hannah and her father face a deadly moment. This has been a very original run in a combo book from Top Cow and Image.

Void Rivals #8. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Lorenzo De Felici. We get some background details about Solila’s past. Her past is coming back to haunt her… or maybe hunt her. Wait for that last page, it is a doozy.

Sam and Twitch: Case Files #1. Written and plotted by Todd McFarlane and Jon Goff. Art was by Szymon Kudranski. Cover art was done by Kevin Keane and Todd McFarlane (Bronze Medalist). A new book inside the Spawn’s Universe features Sam Burke and Maximilian “Twitch” Williams, a pair of detectives that do not necessarily follow the rules.

Ghostlore #9. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. Cover art by Reiko Murakami and Jorge Coelho. Things go poorly for the people helping out Harmony. Shane has some deadly ideas going down. Harmony’s father reunites with her. Things are starting to fire up.

X-Men #33. “As the World Burns.” Written by Gerry Duggasn and art by Joshua Cassara. Joshua Cassara and GURU-eFX did the cover art. The X-Men are into the final battle with Orchis and they get some help from the X-Men of Doom.

Love Everlasting #14. “Acting Out of Love.” Written by Tom King and drawn by Elsa Charretier. We focus in on the Cowboy more and we find out who is behind the plans for Joan Peterson. It is her mother! This seems to be heading toward a finale, maybe?

Immortal Thor #9. “The Land of Lost Content” Written by Al Ewing and art by Ibraim Roberson. Cover art by Alex Ross. Skurge, Enchantress, Minotaur and.. Roxxon Comics?

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #4. “Hunter’s Moon.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art by Davide Paratore. Tigra and Hunter’s Moon are out to discover who this new Moon Knight is… and they learn the shocking truth.

Avengers #12. “Hit Back“. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Francesco Mortarino. Stuart Immonen did the cover art. After keeping out of it, Iron Man officially calls the Avenger into the conflict with Orchis, and they are executing it to a precise detail.

Other books this week: Minor Threats #1, Power Pack: Into the Storm #4, Grim #16, Deep Cuts #6, The One Hand #3, and Torpedo 1972 #2.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #88

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March 30, 2024

Good day. Happy Saturday. I hope everyone who celebrates it has a wonderful Easter Sunday tomorrow.

I had my first negative experience on eBay this week. I had ordered the back issue Amazing Spider-Man #400, which I initially thought I had already owned, but it was not among the Spider-Man box I went through recently. When it arrived in the mail, the package was not what I was used to for eBay and as I pulled out the book, it was all wrinkled and damaged, including a tear on the spine at the top left of the book. I could not believe it was in such poor shape.

I went back to see if it had been listed as such and it did mention a slight bend in the left corner, but nothing like what I had seen. I went to leave negative feedback for this seller as I was pretty unhappy. I had everything written out and eBay sent a message to me saying if I was sure if I wanted to leave this negative review. It suggested that I consider contacting the seller first. I looked and saw that the seller had 100% positive on his account so I decided to give it a chance.

I messaged the seller and he responded very quickly, saying that the book was not damaged when he sent it and that he did not understand how this happened. Honestly, he did seem more concerned with his 100% positive feedback than anything else as he begged me not to leave any negative comments. He refunded my money with me asking for it, so I decided to let it slide. He seemed pretty grateful for my decision.

He wanted me to send it back to him, but I am not doing that. I am not going to go through the expense or the trouble of boxing this one comic up and sending it back to him.

This did not put me off purchasing on eBay, because I have not had any other negative experiences on the site, but it may make me a little more cautious than I was before.

New books this week:

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #18. “Retribution: Part 2” Written by Cody Ziglar and with art by David Marquez, Sara Pichelli, Juann Cabal with Matt Horak, Luciano Vecchio and Federico Vicentini. Vicentini and Richard Isanove did the cover art. This was legacy number 300 for Miles and it was a big issue featuring Miles facing off with Rabble and also dealing with the Cape Killers. Old school double-sized issue without a bunch of back-up stories. I appreciated that.

Feral #1. Written by Tony Fleecs and drawn by Trish Forstner. Cover by Trish Forstner & Tony Fleecs (Bronze Medalist). I loved Stray Dogs, which was from the same creators of this comic. Feral had the same type of feel and flow as Stray Dogs and I really enjoyed the set up of this book.

Zorro: Man of the Dead #3. Written and illustrated by Sean Gordon Murphy. Cover art by Dan Panosian (Gold Medalist). An amazing cover this week on Zorro and I have really been enjoying this new take on Zorro. Present day setting and our hero may be just crazy, delusional as he deals with the dangers around him.

Ultimate Spider-Man #3. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Checchetto and Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Peter gets his classic costume after a whole section of trial and error with his daughter, May. Spidey meets the Green Goblin and together they take down Bullseye. Goblin is Harry and he and Peter are getting a drink. Cool switch up.

Amazing Spider-Man #46. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by guest artist Carmen Carnero. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. Electro shows up to try and reclaim Sandman for the Sinister Six. Spidey and Jackpot team up to stop him.

Newburn #16. Written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Jacob Phillips. This series comes to a close with Emily wrapping up the story for the supposedly dead Newburn. Of course, I never once thought that Newburn was actually dead. It does provide a decent end for the series’ protagonist.

Incredible Hulk #10. “Frozen Charlotte: Part Two.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and drawn by guest artist Danny Earles. Nic Klein was the cover artist. Charlie has been taken by some creature and the Hulk is in pursuit. However, New Orleans Hulk comes across a ghost that is ready to help him. Weird and different, I definitely like where this is heading.

Thunderbolts #4. “World Strike: OP-04// Operation Doomstrike.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Geraldo Borges. Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson did the cover art. The wrap up of this new version of the Thunderbolts was great as they confronted Red Skull inside Latveria as a ticking clock counted down until the arrival of Dr. Doom! Very satisfying ending.

Deer Editor #3. Written by Ryan K. Lindsay and art by Sami Kivelä. Bucky is still at it and he is on the trail of the story. He also has one scene in particular that is so kick ass that it stood out as one of my favorite moments of the week. It all involves a flip down by Bucky. Deer Editor continues to be one of the more interesting books published outside of the big three (Marvel, DC, Image) each month.

Jill and the Killers #3. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and illustrated by Roberta Ingranata. Cover art by Sanya Anwar. Another great book published outside of the big three, Jill and the Killers keeps me off balance and this issue dove deeper into characters as Jill felt very unlikable for much of the book. I am enjoying this one a great deal.

Superior Spider-Man #5. “The Heel Turn.” Written by Christos Gage (from story by Dan Slott) and penciled by Mark Bagey. Bagley & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Big twist at the end of the book involving Spider-Boy! Can’t wait to see what happens next.

Daredevil #7. “Introductory Rites: Part Seven.” Written by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Aaron Kuder. John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove did the cover art. Daredevil has been chasing the demons of his seven deadly sins, and he has found the person possessed by the next one. Unfortunately for him, it’s Wolverine.

Jackpot & Black Cat #1. Written by Celeste Bronfman and art by Emilio Laiso. Adam Hughes did the cover art. I have not been a huge fan of MJ being this super hero named Jackpot, but I do enjoy the chemistry between her and Black Cat, Felicia Hardy. The connection between Peter’s former lovers makes for an intriguing dynamic and carries a lot of this book.

Rise of the Powers of X #3. “The Ex Life of Moira.” Written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by R.B. Silva. Silva and David Curiel did the cover art. Charles Xavier goes back in time to one of the past lives of Moira McTaggert as a little girl with the intentions of killing her. What results from the confrontation is very engaging.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #8. Written by Tate Brombal (based on idea by James Tynion IV) and art by Soo Lee. Nick Robles did the cover art (Silver Medalist). The back story of Adam Frankenstein continues in this issue. Looks like Christopher will return next issue, but I really enjoyed this detour into the past of Adam.

X-Men ’97 #1. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Salva Espín. Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. This is a prequel series from the period before the X-Men ’97 Disney + series began. You can see the details being set up in this book that will happen in the first few episodes of the series, but it is also telling a story involving Dazzler.

Other books this week: Local Man: Bad Girls Special #1, G.O.D.S. #6, The Six Fingers #2, Nights #6, and Killadelphia #34.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #87

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March 22, 2024

An unlikely and unexpected snowstorm on March 22nd led to a no school day today, and I was able to finish up this week’s new books. I knew that the snow was in the forecast, but I really did not believe that we would get any… or more correctly, I did not expect that we would get enough to matter. It sounds as if we may be around seven inches when its done, which is quite a lot for the end of March.

I have been active on eBay recently and I have several books that are intriguing to me. It is not just filling out series that I already have like Amazing Spider-Man, Groo the Wanderer or The Defenders (which, by the way, I purchased The Defenders Vol. 1 #14, 55,56 at Comic World this week. Todd tried to entice me to buy more, but I held my ground and would not succumb to his high-pressure sales tactics. :)), but also some rare and not as popular books too. I do like some strange comics at times.

This week’s books:

Man from Atlantis #1-7. One of the series I was referring to is this one from the late 1970s featuring the character of Mark Harris, a mysterious man with webbed hands and feet that could breathe underwater. It was based on a really short run TV show of the same title starring Patrick Duffy, before he made it big on Dallas. Honestly, these issues are not great, but it filled that nostalgia quota for me as I did like that TV show when I was young. I would be curious to see what I thought about it today. [EDIT: I found it on Amazon Prime for purchase. I am going to do a rewatch on EYG starting this weekend sometime. Very excited]

Lovesick #1-7. Written and drawn by Luana Vecchio. Another series that I picked up on eBay, Lovesick was quite the bizarre book. I was a little taken back by the overall concept. I am not sure how this wound up on my radar, but I have always enjoyed picking up these independent books (this one is from Image) and reading it through. I have had more success in my random choice (like That Texas Blood or Gideon Falls) than I have not, but Lovesick is one that I am not sure I would revisit or purchase again in hindsight.

Spider-Woman #5. “Sunday in the Park with Jess.” Written by Steve Foxe and art by Carola Borelli. Leinil Francis Yu & Sonny Gho did the cover art. This was a random encounter with Jessica Drew and Spider-Boy, and it was a fun little pairing. Spider-Boy could relate to Jess’s son’s current situation, as their stories are both similar. I thought this was a good use of character in this story.

Invincible Iron Man #16. “Splash Damage.” Written by Gerry Duggan and penciled by Creees Lee. Kael Ngu did the cover art. The Sentinel Buster Mark 72 armor is in full effect in this issue as Tony Stark takes on the crew of Sentinels along with Feilong. Some great art in this issue with a lot of full page panels. I have enjoyed Tony Stark’s involvement in the X-Men/Orchis storyline.

Tenement #10. Written by Jeff Lemire and featuring art by Andrea Sorrentino. The most recent book in the Bone Orchard saga comes to a close with this issue that paid off with a very satisfying conclusion for this leg of the story. I have enjoyed diving into Jeff Lemire’s writing over the last year or so and I will be excited to see where this heads next.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #6. Written by Brian Buccellato and including art by Christian Duce and Tom Derenick. Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajaroo Jr did the cover art. I am not a fan of how this series is going at this point. I enjoyed it more near the beginning of the book and next issues rematch between Superman and Godzilla is promising, but the overall book feels nothing more than a Elseworld story. Especially when Guy Gardner got squished by Gorilla Grodd, and am I to believe that Grodd could mentally control both Supergirl and Kong at the same time? I hope the finale next issue is better.

Cobra Commander #3. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. This makes me think that Cobra Commander is way more bad ass than I ever thought he was. He did always seem fairly cowardly in the animated series but watching him hold out against the torture of this issue, including the little smiley face on his helmet, was impressive.

Spider-Boy #5. “Best Friends Forever” and “A Highly Evolved Opinion” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina (1st story) and Julian Shaw (2nd story). Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado had a fun cover for this issue. Admittedly, these two stories feel as if they just transition into one as Spider-Boy has to deal with Madam Monstrosity and Hellifino.

Displaced #2. Written by Ed Brisson and illustrated by Luca Casalanguida. I am really a fan of this new Boom! Studios comic. I find it extremely fascinating and I love the feel of the book. It makes me think of TV shows like LOST which has a major mystery and we have to try and understand what is going on. The disappearance of the city of Oshawa and the dangers of the survivors of the town, who are in jeopardy of disappearing too, is just fantastic.

X-Men: Forever #1. “A Ghost.” Written by Kieron Gillen and including art by Luca Maresca. Mark Brooks did the cover art (Gold medalist). I loved this cover, but, if I am being honest, I had no idea what was going on in this book. I obviously have not read enough of the current X-Men storyline to actually recognize or understand what was happening.

Night Thrasher #2. “If You Don’t Know, Now You Know.” Written by J. Holtham and art by Nelson Daniel. Alan Quah did the art on the cover. Night Thrasher and Rage (referred to as the O.G.) had another confrontation, but things did not turn out quite how Night Thrasher wanted.

Fantastic Four #18. “The Secret of Franklin Richards.” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Alex Ross did the cover art. This was great as we discovered a little secret about Reed and Sue’s son, first born Franklin Richards. We have believed that Franklin had lost his ultimate powers, but it turned out that Franklin had used his powers to make it seem as if he did not have his powers any more so he could have a normal life.

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #2. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tammetta. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. Hey look… Quicksilver is in his GREEN outfit. (Heh, heh, heh). The Wizard is here and he is in conflict with Wanda. She has to end up seeking help from her ex, Vision.

Web of Spider-Man #1. This is a compilation of examples of all of the major Spider-characters for the next several months including Spider-Man, Miles, Spider-Woman, Kaine, Spider-Gwen, Chasm, Spider-Society and the Spectacular Spider-Men. No Spider-Boy, which had me wondering what was up with that.

Black Panther #10. “Reign at Dusk: Finale” Written by Eve L. Ewing and penciled by Chris Allen. Taurin Clarke is the cover artist. Another volume of the Black Panther ends with this issue. It seems a lot of Marvel books are only getting ten issues and then they are moving along. It is the one creative team and then they leave and, instead of refilling the teams, the end the books, with a future new volume coming. Not sure how I feel about that.

Captain Marvel #6. “Genesis” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Ruairi Coleman. Bryan Valenza did the cover art. The villainous Omen still has control of Genis-Vell in the name of the Undone. Carol, Yuna Yang, Phyla-Vell, Hulkling and Wiccan take up opposition.

Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter #1. “The Monster Maker” Written by David Dastmalchian and art by Lukas Ketner. I saw an ad for this Dark Horse book in the Headless Horseman Halloween Special and thought it looked good. The main reason was that it was written by actor David Dastmalchian, who I do like a lot. I am going to see his new movie this weekend, Late Night With the Devil. This book was fun and I have the rest of the first series on its way and a second series, issues #1 & 2, waiting to be read.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3. “Soldier” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Davide Paratore did the cover art. This has been a interesting book since the death of Marc Specter and the appearance of the new, mysterious Moon Knight, whose very activity has been shining a negative light on the Midnight Mission. Soldier is front and center in this issue and is solid.

Something Epic #8. Written, drawn and cover art (Bronze Medalist) by Simon Kudranski. This series returned with a new arc, featuring paranormal investigator Noa Carpenter and a walking duck named D. Ducktive, who is ABSOLUTELY not Howard the Duck. I loved this first issue and the case of who murdered Sherlock Holmes looks to be very, if you excuse my pun, epic. Glad this book is back.

Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #2. “The Wolverine: Cutting Edge.” Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Edgar Salazar. Philip Tan & Sebastian Cheng were the cover artists. Wolverine, Captain America and Black Widow continue their adventure in Madripoor but things don’t go well for our trio of heroes.

Resurrection of Magneto #3. “Falls the Shadow” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Luciano Vecchio. Magneto and Storm team up in the after life to take on the Shadow King with the ultimate goal of bringing Magneto back to life. Does the cost go too high?

Blade #9. “Mother of Evil Part Nine” Written by Bryan Hill and including the art of Valentina Pinti. Elena Casagrande & KJ Diaz did the art for the cover. This sure seems to be another series that will be ending with issue 10, making this the penultimate issue of the run. Blade is working his way to try and find Adana, but the popular theory is that Blade ahs no chance against her. I guess we’ll see.

The Infernals #2. “Chapter Two: Trial” Written by Noah Gardner & Ryan Parrott and art by John J. Pearson with Lola Bonato. Nero finds out that he is not getting the big seat when his evil father kicks off. Instead it is Jackal. Or is that a major mistake?

Other books this week: Star Wars: Visions #1 (Silver Medalist), Bloody Dozen #4, Project: Crypid #7, Beware of the Planet of the Apes #3, Midlife: or How to Hero at Fifty #5 & 6, and Kill Your Darlings #7.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #82

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February 17, 2024

Good morning.

Big week of new books. I was re-bagging and re-boarding one of the boxes last weekend and I came across the series of Strikeforce: Morituri from Marvel. I did not have nearly as many as I thought I had and, when I put it into CLZ, I saw that there were 31 issues. I went to eBay looking to fill it out, and found a full series. Actually, the eBay order did not include #10 and I had not known that when I made that order and was a little upset when I went through the books and ten was not there. However, fortunately, #10 was one of the issues I already had so I happily have the complete series.

Other books this week.

Jill and the Killers #1. Written by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and illustrated by Roberta Ingranata. The cover art was by Sanya Anwar. This is a book Todd made me buy from a company called Oni Press. I hate to say it, but he was right. This was great. It is a cool mystery with some very likable characters. It is a fun book and was an enjoyable read.

The One Hand #1. Written by Ram V and featuring art by Laurence Campbell. The cover art was by Campbell, Lee Loughridge, and Tom Muller. Another new book with a central mystery. It had a really solid noir feel to it and I do like the setting that they are building.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #7. “The Perfectly Monstrous Life of Adam Frankenstein.” Written by Tate Brombal and art by Soo Lee. Nick Robles did the cover art. The first of a two-issue arc to give the origin/back story of Adam Frankenstein, which, of course, means we get a lot of Victor Frankenstein. It is interesting.

The Displaced #1. “Chapter One: No Time for Goodbye.” Written by Ed Brisson and illustrated by Luca Casalanguida. This was my favorite new comic of the week. The Canadian city of Oshawa, Ontario sinks into the ground after a mysterious earthquake, but that is not the only main riddle. People forget everything about the city and the people who survived. This was truly compelling and I am excited to see what the story develops.

The Cabinet #1. Written by David Ebeltoft and Jordan Hart while penciled by Chiara Raimondi. Then there is my least favorite new book of the week. I did not like The Cabinet #1. The story did not grip me and the color palate was just truly obnoxious.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #2. “Tigra” Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio. David Finch is the cover art. I enjoyed this book with its focus on Tigra. Greer has always been one of my favorite secondary characters and the look at her past, focusing on her loves, was a great touch. We also discover that the new Moon Knight is NOT Marc, but we still do not know whom this guy is. I like the way this book has moved forward since Marc’s death.

Thunderbolts #3. “Worldstrike” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and including art by Gerald Borges. The married couple of Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson did the cover art. What if you crossed the Thunderbolts with a Godzilla/Kaiju movie? This is the issue you would get. A gigantic Bucky Barnes fighting American Kaiju? Yes, please.

The Deviant #4. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Joshua Hixson. This has been one of the most consistently entertaining and engaging books every month and I feel as if it is flying under the radar. The last page of the story in issue four was shocking and really continues to set this book up as a must read every week.

Beware the Planet of the Apes #2. Written by Marc Guggenheim and featuring art by Alvaro Lopez. So far, so good with this prequel to the original Apes movie. I have not been a big fan of the different 20th Century Studios books from Marvel, but this one seems to be intriguing me.

Night Thrasher #1. “Remix Part One: Don’t Call it a Comeback” Written by J. Holtham with art by Nelson Daniel. Alan Quah did the cover art. I loved the New Warriors back in the 80s and so I was excited to see Night Thrasher returning to the front of this book. While he was not my favorite of the New Warriors characters, I think he makes for a very promising protagonist. And the antagonist of Rage is compelling too.

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #1. Written by Steve Orlando with art by Lorenzo Tammetta. More fun with Wanda and Pietro. The sibling relationship is on full display in this issue and it was very realistic, even though it is playing out in the most fantastical manner. I am also pleased that Darcy remains a part of this book’s cast as she was one of my favorite parts of the last Scarlet Witch series, which ended too soon.

The Infernals #1. “Chapter One: Bethlehem.” Written by Noah Gardner & Ryan Parrott with art by John J. Pearson with Lola Bonato. This was a very strong week for new books as The Infernals is another fascinating and engaging books dealing with some religious iconography.

Superior Spider-Man #4. “Two Minds.” Written by Dan Slott and penciled by Mark Bagley. Bagley & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. This issue featured a struggle inside the mind of Peter Parker for control between Peter and Doc Ock, looking to reassume the form of the Superior Spider-Man. I am not sure I loved the inclusion of Uncle Ben, but it did make sense storyline wise. I loved the end result of the issue, as I worried about Doc Ock being shown as the actual Superior Spider-Man.

Fall of the House of X #2. “Long Games End” Written by Gerry Duggan and including art by Lucas Werneck. The fall of Krakoa continues in this issue as the X-Men are desperately fighting to save their very existence against Orchis. I am ready for the storyline to take its turn.

Transformers #5. Written and illustrated by Daniel Warren Johnson. Surprise Autobots. The book pulled out the debut of the Devastator, the combined might of the Constructicons giving an edge int he battle for Energon to the Decepticons. The Image version of the Transformers has been very solid so far and brings surprises every issue.

Blade #8. “Mother of Evil: Part Eight.” Written by Bryan Hill and drawn by Elena Casagrande. KJ Diaz did the cover art (one of this week’s medalists). In that post of the Favorite Comic Cover of the Week, I said the cover had Blade with a group of glowing ghosts. I was wrong. They were not ghosts. They were souls of the damned in Hell. Easy mistake.

Amazing Spider-Man #43. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Gang War continues! I have enjoyed this book, even though Spidey has not been the central focus of it. The main focus has been the crimelords, especially Madame Masque, but I loved how Spidey stepped up to her this issue. I just feel as if Madame Masque is out of her league.

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu: Gang War #3. Written by Greg Pak and drawn by Caio Majado. Shang-Chi steps up big time in the Gang War. The question about which side he is on is answered in this issue definitively. I do love Shang-Chi and I have enjoyed the characterization in this short series.

Other books this week: Miles Morales: Spider-Man #16, The Bloody Dozen #3, Daredevil: Black Armor #4, Blood Commandment #4, Kill Your Darlings #6, Black Panther #9, and Spider-Gwen: Smash #3.