Tag Archives: comics

EYG Comic Cavalcade #101

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June 7, 2024

Welcome to the first post-#100 entry in the EYG Comic Cavalcade. We are kicking off the next one hundred posts with a loaded one.

I visited the new location in Dubuque for BAM (aka Books A Million) the other day and I purchased a couple of graphic novels there. First, it was Fantastic Four: Full Circle with art by Alex Ross. Ross usually only does covers but this was a beautiful job. I remember seeing this at Comic World earlier last year, but I did not pick it up and look at it. Glad I did now. The other was the 40th anniversary of Maus, with both graphic novels contained within. Maus is an outstanding piece from Art Spiegelman and I am glad it is finally in my actual collection. I do have the separate books in my classroom library.

Then, I finished up the 8th and 9th volumes of Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. I got to the final volume and I was shocked! It ended on the worst cliffhanger I had ever seen. I was under the impression that this was a collected version of the entire series, but I have since discovered that I was incorrect. I immediately rushed to eBay and found issues #55-65 available and I purchased it right then and there, the epitome of impulse buying. They should arrive any day now.

Wednesday I got to spend my first summer afternoon at Comic World and it was wonderful. I was able to purchase a whole bunch of back issues, including a trove of Avengers Vol. 3 books. I also picked up a slightly creased cover of Fantastic Four #79. Otherwise, it was in pretty decent shape considering. Todd had also brought me Amazing Spider-Man #160 as I continue to add to my wall crawler collection and some more New Warriors Vol. 1, including the previously mentioned New Warriors Annual #4. No sign of Annual #2 this week.

Other books this week:

The Last Mermaid #4. Story and art by Derek Kirk Km. This series continues to be a beautifully illustrated tale, heavily using imagery to tell the story, in particular the action bits. I have really enjoyed this story that is being told in this format that stands out among the countless books being produced.

Get Fury #2. Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Jacen Burrows. Cover art by Dave Johnson. I decided that I wanted to give Get Fury a second chance. The first time I read #1, I was not a fan, but I must say I think that I was distracted when I read it because when I read it a second time, I thought it was much better, so I picked up issue two and an happy I did. I do like Garth Ennis a lot so I figured it was worth a second chance.

Amazing Spider-Man #51. Written by Zeb Wells and art by Ed McGuinness & Todd Nauck. Cover art by McGuinness & Marcio Menyz (Gold Medalist). Picking up from last issue’s confrontation with Norman Osborn that unleashed the evil Goblin on Peter. This issue, Spider Goblin is in full force and let the Sinister Six beware.

Uncanny X-Men #35. “Dream’s End.” This issue sees the end of the Krakoa age of the X-Men. It is also Legacy number 700, so they released a double sized issue with a ton of artists and writers involved. It is quite an epic comic, leading us into the next run of X-books.

Space Ghost #2. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Cover art was by Francesco Mattina (Silver Medalist). I love this new series featuring Space Ghost. Space Ghost gets a look at how the two kids are able to help him, and they get their costumes. There is also a preview of Johnny Quest contained within.

The Mammoth #1. Written by Paul Tobin and illustrated and cover art by Arjuna Susini. This new series from Mad Cave Comics is an intriguing book. I am not sure what the story is as it is just starting, but I can’t wait to see where it goes.

The Infernals #4. “The Fall” Written by Noah Gardner & Ryan Parrott and drawn by John J. Pearson & Lola Bonato. Cover art by John J. Pearson & Tia Roxae. The Morgenstern family battles dominate this issue with Abraham coming to his end. Major things happening from Hell.

Wolverine: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Tom Waltz and art by Juan Jose Ryp. Cover art by Ben Harvey. Logan in a bar, drinking. Who knew that the world would suddenly have gone dark and that vampires would spring forth. Wolverine vs. vampires? What more could you ask for?

Uncanny Valley #2. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. Another Boom! Studios interesting book, as we have a cartoon grandfather trying to take his grandson, who had no idea he was part cartoon, to save him.

Blow Away #2. Written by Zac Thompson and illustrated by Nicola Izzo. Cover art by Annie Wu. Another great new Boom! Studios book, Blow Away follows a photographer who believes that she witnessed a murder. The trick? She is in the snow on Mount Asgard.

Bear Pirate Viking Queen #2. Written by Sean Lewis and illustrated and cover art by Jonathan Marks Barravecchia. The second of three issues in this mini series features the Viking part of this book. We also get to meet the Queen who is as brutal as you would expect. I love the special feel of the art in these issues.

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4. “Terragenesis” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada and art by Scott Godlewski. Carlos Gomez and Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. Ms. Marvel’s new body goes through the Terragin mist once again. We also learn that her mutant powers are much like the MCU version. This is the last issue of this mini series.

Blood Hunters #2. Another issue with multiple stories. This time, we have a book featuring the Hulk, Kate Bishop and Elsa Bloodstone in individual stories involving the Blood Hunt saga.

What If…? Aliens #4. Written by Hans Rodionoff & Brian Volk-Weiss and art by Guiu Vilanova. Phil Noto did the cover art. A facehugger is running around the base and Burke wants to get himself and his daughter out of there. A betrayal shows Burke what it was like. Irony.

Profane #1. Written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Raul Fernandez. Cover art was by Javier Rodriguez (Bronze Medalist). One of my favorite new books of the week, Profane #1 features a noir detective story with detective Will Profane. I love a good noir and this one seems to be a really good one.

The Ultimates #1. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Duke Ruan & Alejandro Sanchez did the cover art. The new team of Ultimates are forming around Iron Man, Cap and Thor. What other heroes will step up to join this new team?

Love Everlasting #15. “Just West of Love” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Elsa Charretier. This next arc of Love Everlasting ends with the death of the Cowboy and Joan back to her time jumping thanks to her mother.

Other books this week: The Boy Wonder #2, Minor Threats #3, What If…? Venom #5, and Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #4.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #100

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June 1, 2024

Double-Sized Special Edition

Welcome to the 100th post in the EYG Comic Cavalcade! In comics, the 100th issue is always considered a major milestone, a big deal. Something is special about the number 100. Perhaps it is the roundness, the evenness of the number. Just like in the world of comics, we at EYG will be celebrating this massive landmark with an oversized entry. Plus, I love the special banner that goes along with this double-sized post. There will be a new one for next week too!

It feels like just yesterday when Todd was telling me that the name Comic Cavalcade was already used for a comic series from DC Comics from the last century. It was why I added the EYG in front of it. Fortunately, DC has not sent any lawyers after me just yet.

I said this was post #100, but it goes further back than that. In fact, when I started doing these posts, the title was Comic Catch-Up. Marvel had introduced Legacy numbering a few years ago to account for the overall issues in a series so they could reboot/restart different books at a new #1 and still have the large number that fans liked so much. It was a sales technique that allowed the House of Ideas to put out more #1s.

For us, there were 50 posts under the banner of Comic Catch-Up, so you could say that, with this post, out Legacy number is 150.

Actually, this will be post #380 under the category heading ‘Comics this Week’ on the site. That included some early posts I did on certain books, the favorite comic covers of the week, and the banners.

But, for me, the Legacy number is 150for a specific reason. In January 2023, my collection was a mess. I had unread books scattered in piles all over my room, some in the original plastic bag I purchased them in from Comic World. There was such a massive undertaking that it just felt as if there was no sense in even trying to organize. let alone read them.

I made a decision. Near the end of the month, I committed myself to reading at least one hour every day, trying to make a dent in the seemingly endless piles. To keep myself motivated and honest, I would write a post for EYG detailing the comics that I read. I would call that post EYG Comic Catch-Up.

That first post I wrote included the following comics: Fantastic Four #2, Joe Fixit #1, Photon #1, Amazing Spider-Man #17, Unwanted #1 & 2, Strange #10, and Wasp #1.

With this renewal to my devotion of reading the comics I already had, I started to see progress. In fact, as the post numbers increased, my piles began to dwindle away.

Then, it seemed like the column was less about catching up and more about adding new comics to the read list. I had discovered new series along the way such as Gideon Falls, Middlewest, That Texas Blood and so on (Thanks eBay!)

Because of that, I chose to make a change. I decided to end EYG Comic Catch-Up and reboot it as EYG Comic Cavalcade.

March 21, 2023 saw the first post for EYG Comic Cavalcade go live. Now, 14 months later, this is my 100th post under this category.

I am very proud of my collection. I no longer have piles of unread comics sitting around collecting dust. Now I have dozens of boxes filled with bagged and boarded books.

I have set a goal that I will have all of my comics rebagged, reboarded and reboxed before the end of the summer. I was originally going to start the process in the summer, but I have been working on the collection on and off over the last six months or so. I am down to around 6-7 long boxes remaining. It has been really fun seeing what I had in my collection as I put them in all new protective materials.

And I have been taking inventory on my phone with an app called CLZ. It has been a great tool to help me organize my collection in one place. It has allowed me to search through back issues of books and know what I need.

There us still a lot of organizing to be done for my collection, and that is a long term goal. I want to get all the books together and not spread out in boxes everywhere.

I am grateful that I have EYG because writing this column has inspired me to take care of my collection. I was ashamed before with how I disregarded the comics I bought and now I am much happier than I have been in quite awhile.

The plan is to continue with the EYG Comic Cavalcade, maintaining the current numbering system. With school now out, I will be spending my Wednesday afternoons, which are of course NEW COMIC BOOK DAY, at Comic World so the column should be posted earlier than before.

I also got several New Warriors from volume one this week. Again, thanks to Todd and his nose for back issues. I have New Warriors #63, 68, 72-74, Annual #1 and Annual #2. Of course, I did not need Annual #2. Todd had called me from a comic shop with the four annuals asking me what I had. I said I had #2 and #3. To my surprise, Annual #2 was in the pile of books I got last Wednesday. It was funny.

After all that, reflecting back over 100 posts and beyond, we still have other new books this week:

Drawing Blood #2. “Metropolis and All the Jazz” Script by David Avallone and artwork by Ben Bishop. Cover art was by Kevin Eastman. Bookman has all kind of troubles from the Lithuanians he owed money, his Broadway play and too much sake. And whose funeral is it?

W0rldtr33 #10. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Fernando Blanco. We get to see how things started off with Azzy and Gabriel. This continues to be a weird book that can be difficult to follow. It is that high level of rigor that you always know you are going to get with James Tynion.

Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Cheryl Lynn Eaton and art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by Andres Sorrentino (Bronze Medalist). T’Challa battles against the hunger that is overtaking his new vampire form and Shuri attempts to help him. Black Panther is a major force in this Blood Hunt storyline across all of Marvel.

Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt #1. Written by Bryan Hill and art by German Peralta. Ken Lashley & Juan Fernandez did the cover art. Blade seems to be the big bad of this crossover, but Johnny Blaze wonders what is going on. So he recruits Danny Ketch and Victoria Montesi to see what they can figure out… or destroy Blade in the process.

Fall of the House of X #5. “Now and Forever” Written by Kieron Gillen and art by Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by R.B. Silva & David Curiel. Jean Grey-Phoenix. NUFF SAID!

Night Thrasher #4. “Whose Streets? Our Streets.” Written by J. Holtham and art by Nelson Daniel. Cover art was by Alan Quah. I believe this short series came to a close here as it certainly felt like a wrap up. Night Thrasher, Silhouette and O.G. end up together ready to make life better in Harlem. This was a short and quick series, but I would not be opposed to adding some more former New Warriors and doing this right.

Jackpot & Black Cat #3. Written by Celeste Bronfman and drawn by Emilo Laiso & Giada Belviso. Pablo Villalobos did the cover art. MJ has figured out what is happening with Felicia and comes to have dinner with her and Felicia’s new love, Amelia.

X-Men: The Wedding Special #1. As the wedding of Raven Darkholme and Irene Adler approached, there are a bunch of X-Men who have their own concerns or issues with the happy couple. There are multiple artist and writers doing part of this book. I do like the wedding scene but a lot of the rest of the book is okay, at best.

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #4. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tammetta. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. This short series comes to an end, leading directly into another Scarlet Witch #1 coming soon. I liked the inclusion of Pietro in this series but there is no really reason this couldn’t have been a story arc in the previous Scarlet Witch series. The absolute definition of Legacy numbering happening here.

Hellverine #1. “Resurrection” Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Julius Ohta. Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer and Marte Gracia did the cover art. What the flaming hellfire adamantium claws was this? I was not a fan of this comic.

Pine & Merrimac #5. Written by Kyle Starks and illustrated and cover art by Fran Galan. With Parker killed last issue, this was going to be an issue about grief. However, something weird happened in the end of the book that was totally unexpected and ended this final issue of the series in a HUGE cliffhanger. What happened? I don’t know but I love this comic and I hope this means that they intend on picking it back up in the future.

Avengers: Twilight #6. “The World is Watching” Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Daniel Acuna. Alex Ross & Daniel Acuna did the cover art. The future Avengers come to a conclusion against the Red Skull as Thor and Hulk square off in a final battle. This has been a very satisfying series and it wraps up nicely. I am never a huge fan of alternate futures, but Chip Zdarsky always does great work.

Spider-Boy #7. “And His Amazing Friends.” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art (variant) by David Baldeón (Gold Medalist). Spider-Boy is in his final showdown with Madame Monstrosity and he gets some back up. Hoo-boy does he get some back up. It is a beautiful black and white variant cover this week.

Ultimate Spider-Man #5. Written by Jonathan Hickman and guest artist David Messina. This issue focuses on Harry Osborn and how he came to be this ultimate universe Green Goblin. In fact, I’m not sure Spider-Man is seen in the book.

Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives #2. Written by Dan Watters and Ram V with art by Matthew Roberts. Cover art was by Matthew Roberts and Dave Stewart (Silver Medalist). I really loved the first issue of this book, and this second issue is just as good. Gill Man is causing a ruckus. This is a beautifully drawn book and is a fun read.

Saga Vol. 6 & 7. The sixth and seven volumes of the nine volume collection continue to be exceptional writing by Brian K. Vaughn. There was a terrible loss in these two volumes as one of my favorite characters seems to be gone for good. This has been a brilliant series so far and with only two volumes left, I am excited about finishing it.

Other books this week: The Six Fingers #4, Torpedo 1972 #3, Nights #7, Count Crowley: Mediocre Midnight Monster Hunter #4, Project: Cryptid #9, and The Bloody Dozen #6.

So this brings to a close for the EYG Comic Cavalcade #100. I have loved rededicating myself to a hobby that I have done since I was in 5th grade, and here is to another 100 posts moving forward.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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For Week of May 27

Good evening. We have just one school day left before the end of the school year. That really does not have anything to do with this article, but I am just excited about it.

Bronze Medalist

Black Panther: Blood Hunt #1

Cover Art by Andrea Sorrentino

The Blood Hunt crossover event has had some solid covers (even if they are selling some variants of a blood red cover only). This one was from Andrea Sorrentino who has done some great rt in other horror series, especially teaming up with Jeff Lemire. He has a great cover of vampire T’Challa.

Silver Medalist

Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives #2

Cover art by Matthew Roberts & Dave Stewart

These Universal Monsters books from Image have solid cover art every week and it has a bunch of excellent Variants too. I love this one with the creature spying on what is going on in the shadow.

Gold Medalist

Spider-Boy #7

Variant Cover B

Cover Art by David Baldeón 

I proclaimed to Todd that this was probably the winner this week, and sure enough, it secured the gold. Love this black and white variant with Spider-Boy in a black and white Venom-like costume. It is lovely.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #99

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May 25, 2024

Welcome back to another episode of Comic Cavalcade.

Todd has been busy. He went to a con in Minnesota recently and he brought me back a huge amount of back issues that I had been missing. I have been filling back issues of Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 books, and Todd got me four ASM. I told Todd to look for certain issues of The New Warriors Vol. 1 and Groo, particularly from Marvel/Epic run.

He got me a ton of these. Literally I think it was over 40 books. Of course, I had blundered too. I told Todd that I did not have any Groo issues from Image because I did not see any of them listed on CLZ. I had forgotten that those were listed under Sergio Aragones Groo. I actually had all 12 issues from Image and Todd picked up several of them for me. My bad.

Books this week:

Her Frankenstein. By Kawashima Norikazu. Originally published in 1988, this manga graphic novel has just been released. I am not sure how I felt about this graphic novel. I was not a huge fan of this book, but it was an interesting and quick read. I like the addition to my collection.

Saga Volume 5. Written by Brian K. Vaughn and drawn by Fiona Staples. Continuing my way through the compilation of the Saga story, this week I read Volume 5. Once again, it is a compelling tale and a very excellent read. I buzzed through this volume as things just keep happening.

Ultimate Black Panther #4. Written by Bryan Hill and art by Stefano Caselli. Cover art by Caselli & David Curiel. Queen Okoye takes on the force of Ra and Khonsu to try and save the world of Wakanda. She discovers her husband T’Challa, along with some help… Killmonger and Storm.

Something is Killing the Children #37. “Road Stories Part Two” Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover by Werther Dell’edera. Another story from the past of Erica Slaughter. I like these past stories as we can see more about Erica and her connection to the house.

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1. Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Federica Mancin. Cover art by Mark Brooks (Bronze Medalist) and variant cover by Ernanda Souza (Gold medalist). I picked up two versions of this book, including the foil cover. Gwen is in the 616 universe now. I am not sure where that happened, but it had something to do with the TVA and O.B. Why is Gwen being told she should not be in costume? I really liked this first issue and I am happy Gwen is in the 616 universe.

Black Widow & Hawkeye #3. “Broken Arrow Part 3” Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Paolo Villanelli. Stephen Segova & Jesus Aburtov did the cover art. This was told in two times, one earlier in the early days of Hawkeye and Black Widow and one in the current time frame with Hawkeye and Black Widow in Madripoor.

Sensational She-Hulk #8. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Andres Genolet. Cover art is done by Kris Anka. She-Hulk’s confrontation with Ganymede goes physical and the relationship between She-Hulk and Jack of Hearts takes a big step. She-Hulk has been very entertaining since Rainbow Rowell took over the writing duties.

Blood Hunt #2. Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Pepe Larraz. Larraz and Marte Gracia did the cover art. The Avengers make a come back against the Bloodcoven. What happened to Miles Morales? So much happening through this major crossover.

Union Jack the Ripper #1. “Ghoul Britannia” Written by Cavan Scott and penciled by Kev Walker. This is the full red variant cover issue. I have always liked Union Jack and this is a new take on that character, tying it into the Blood Hunt story. I enjoyed this issue very much. They also tied it into the Union mini series which I liked from a few years ago.

Amazing Spider-Man #50. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by McGuinness and Marco Menyz. Big issue as Norman Osborn returned to the Green Goblin. It was an intense issue as Spidey and Goblin went after each other hard and evil Spidey seemed to return at the end. There are several shorter, back-up stories in this extra large anniversary issue.

Superior Spider-Man #7. “Superior Spider-Island” Written by Dan Slott and penciled by Mark Bagley. Bagley & Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Otto Octavius has sent out an army of spiders to take over the mind of EVERYBODY! Everyone is speaking like Doc Ock. Can Spidey and Anna Marie do anything to stop him?

Sam and Twitch Case Files #3. Script by Todd McFarlane and art by Szymon Kudranski. Jonathan Glapion did the cover art (Silver Medalist) Twitch continued to work on the mysterious murder investigation outside of his home city. This detective book has been great, though I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of the way the dialogue is handled, sans word balloons. I like trying something new, but this makes it harder to read.

Spectacular Spider-Men #3. “Arachnobatics Chapter Three: Meanwhile…” Written by Greg Weisman and penciled by Humberto Ramos. This was another issue that I picked up two covers this week because I really liked one of the variant covers. This was a strange issue with Peter and Miles in situations that did not feel real. Like Peter is married to Gwen, with kids.

Blood Squad Seven #1. Written by Joe Casey and art and cover art by Paul Fry. This was a new series featuring a group of super heroes who are back after a group of heroes, who were more like celebrities, were gone thirty years before. I had a little trouble following this issue, but it is an intriguing concept.

Void Rivals #9. Written by Robert Kirkman and art and cover art by Lorenzo De Felici. Desperately trying to keep Solila alive after being impaled at the end of last issue, Darak comes across an Autobot, Springer. Springer vs. Proximus round one.

Fall of the House of X #5. “The Turn” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Lucas Werneck & Stefano Caselli. Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia did the cover art. Major battle with Nimrod, we see some serious battle with Storm and Cyclops.

Rook Exodus #2. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Jason Fabok. Fabok and Brad Anderson did the cover art. This Ghost Machine series is one of the best of the new run at Image. I would say this is just behind Redcoat among these books. I love these new characters and I love the setting with the animals.

Cobra Commander #5. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. Milana and Annalisa Leoni did the cover art. This series comes to a close with Cobra Commander stepping up to be the head of the new group, Cobra!

Immortal Thor #11. “God of Doom” Written by Al Ewing and art by Valentina Pinti. Alex Ross did the cover art. Thor calls together the children of Odin! Who knew there were this many?

Blue Book: 1947 #4. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn and cover art by Michael Avon Oeming. We go through the story of Roswell in more detail. I enjoy this somewhat true(?) adaptation of what happened in Roswell.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #7. Written by Brian Buccellato and art by Christian Duce. Drew Johnson & Romulo Fajardo Jr did the cover art. This Monsterverse title comes to an end with the Titans being returned but not before the death of Guy Gardner led to Kong with a Green Lantern power ring. What? This crossover series has been iffy at times, but that moment was all cheese and fits with the Monsterverse perfectly.

Other books this week: Feral #3, Grim #17, Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance #3, Local Man #10, Man’s Best #3, and X-Men ’97 #3

Next issue of EYG Comic Cavalcade will be the epic #100! I plan on some special things to commemorate the accomplishment of 100 posts (including a Legacy number). I will reflect back over the last few years and how my personal comic collection has changed over that period of time and how EYG helped that happen. Plus, new books from next week as well.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of May 20

Welcome back to the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week here at EYG. This week is another first. Last week, we had three variant covers receive the three medals for the first time. This week there is another first. Two of the three medalists are the same comic, one with the regular cover, and one with a variant.

Here are this week’s finalists!

Bronze Medalist

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #1

Regular cover

Cover art by Mark Brooks

Gwen Stacy comes to 616 universe for good. And O.B. from Loki TV series is there. Lots of fun and a fun cover to boot.

Silver Medalist

Sam and Twitch Case Files #3

Cover Art by Jonathan Glapion

A clever and attractive cover with the frame of Sam Burke making up the cityscape. The red, black and touch of white made this an extremely intriguing cover and gives you a look inside what the story and character are about.

Gold Medalist

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #1

Variant Cover

Cover Art by Ernanda Souza

A beautiful foil cover, listed at the cover D. The gold and pink swirls behind Gwen really pop on the foil cover and you can never go wrong with the always awesome Spider-Gwen costume.

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.

X-Men ’97 S1 E10

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Spoilers

“Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 3”

The third part of the season finale was brought to a close on Disney + in one of the most epic animated wars ever put to screen. A struggle with Bastian, with the mind of Magneto, and with the conflict within the Marvel Universe.

There is so much to see in this finale. A finale that ranged from Magneto and Charles inside Magneto’s head, to the momentary return of Phoenix, to cameos from Daredevil, Cloak and Dagger, Cap and Iron Man, Peter and MJ, Omega Red, Alpha Flight, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Red Guardian, Darkstar, and ending with Apocalypse.

The show did an amazing thing, telling this story of Bastian’s future and finding the threads of family within. It blended perfectly with Magneto’s story and the battle with Xavier for his own soul. Onslaught is surely in there somewhere, but I am not sure it is where the next step for this series lies.

Post credit scene with Apocalypse, grabbing something from the ashes of and saying the word “death?” I am not sure after first viewing what it was that was in Apocalypse’s hand, but it will clearly lead to Death in his Four Horsemen. Will it be Gambit?

A version of Bishop returned to meet Forge, telling him that the X-Men were not dead, but were instead lost in time and that they needed to find them. A crew of them in Ancient Egypt with En Sabah Nur and Scott and Jean in the far future with a young Nathan. But we did not see Storm. We did not see Wolverine. Where did they end up?

Phoenix messed up Mister Sinister something bad. Then Phoenix was gone, regulated to a feeling deep inside Jean Grey. I knew we were seeing Phoenix this season. Every opening credit included a scene with the Phoenix. It only made sense. Apocalypse has been on most of them as well.

This animated series truly has been one of the greatest things that Marvel Studios has put out, especially among the Disney + shows. It has to be considered right there with WandaVision and Loki as the upper echelon of projects on the streamer.

They do a sensational job of wrapping up the season’s story while building toward where the next season is heading. The Apocalypse material did not come at the cost of the Bastian/Magneto tale. It was masterful storytelling.

I know season two has already been written, so I cannot wait until this gorgeous series returns to my screen. It can not come too soon.

X-Men ’97 is masterful. An amazing ten episodes that brought the mutants to the forefront of Marvel where they belong.

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.

X-Men ’97 S1 E9

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SPOILERS

“Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 2”

If the second part of a trilogy is always the darkest one, then “Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 2” hits the mark.

What an amazing episode, filled with so much X-Men action that it left me breathless and anxious to see the conclusion to this epic encounter next week in the season finale.

Magneto is back and he’s done with Xavier’s message. He recreated Asteroid M and recruited both Rogue and Sunspot to his side. Both of their defections made total sense to these characters, but that did not make it any less impactful to see them turn their backs on the X-Men.

Blue and Gold teams? Yes, please. That was right out of the comics and I loved it. Having Forge, Cable, Nightcrawler still here despite not being “original” members really worked.

The showdown with Jean and Sinister was just epic, as was the inclusion of Cable into that mix. I wonder if this is all leading to Jean’s return as Phoenix? I have noticed that nearly every week, the Phoenix has made an appearance on the opening credits/theme.

This show pulls no punches and is as brutal as you could possibly expect. Seeing Wolverine’s bloody claws (even though the length of them was a bit awkward) stabbed through Magneto was unbelievable, as was Magnus’ response. Who would have guessed that we would see Magneto rip the adamantium from Wolverine on an animated TV program? This is not our kids’ X-Men.

Morph smash? Excellent “cameo” from our shapeshifter.

I also love how the X-Men did not just fall into line with Xavier. The anger they had for their leader and his choices was clear, even if they knew what they had to do in the end. Scott walking past Charles and ignoring his extended hand was a powerful image.

Bastion is still involved, even though the main thrust has moved toward Magneto. Bastion still feels as if something major will happen with him before this war comes to a close. Seeing him crying over his mother was unexpected, but very humanizing.

This animated program had no right to be as brilliant as it turned out to be. X-Men ’97 has surpassed the original program and might take its place as one of, if not the, greatest animated program ever. We will see how the conclusion of this series is next Wednesday.

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 Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of April 29

It was a light week this week as there were only 18 new comics this week. I know, that does not sound like a light week, but compared to some of the recent weeks, 18 is like nothing.

Two of the three medalists this week are variant cover D books.

Three medalist this week…

Bronze Medalist

Blood Hunt #1

Variant Edition (Cover D)

Cover art by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

A beautiful cover featuring Greer Nelson, aka Tigra. Todd gave me this because he thinks I love Tigra, but he mixes Tigra up with Hellcat. Still, this is a lovely cover and I do like me some Tigra.

Silver Medalist

Space Ghost #1

Variant Edition (Cover D)

Cover Art by Michael Cho

I love this Hanna-Barbera inspired cover with Space Ghost and the kids he saved. Just because there is a monkey, it does not make them Zan and Jana.

Gold Medalist

The Blood Brothers Mother #1

Cover art by Eduardo Risso

New Western series from DSTLRY, the cover wraps around the book and it has some layered feel to it. It really is a gorgeous piece of art and the extra large book makes this standout even more. Great cover.

X-Men ’97 S1 E8

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Spoilers

“Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 1”

The first part of the three-part season finale dropped on Disney + this morning with an epic episode built on previous episodes. Bastian, a character that I really missed out on in the comics, is designed so beautifully, and feels original and unlike any other X-villain.

This episode felt like it fit inside the Marvel Universe more than any X-Men episode, dating back to even the early 1990s. We saw Spider-Man. We saw Dr. Doom. We saw Baron Zemo. We saw Omega Red. We saw the Silver Samurai. I’m really sure that we saw the timeline from Loki. It felt as if this show was building a world that we have known for decades from out of the pages of the comics.

Some of the action in this episode are absolutely bad ass. The Scott, Jean and Cable being pursued by the human/sentinels and plowing through the mountain in a Porsche with optic blasts was unbelievable. The Wolverine falling from the sky, slicing the hybrids on his way down. The use of Nightcrawler and his sabers fighting back-to-back with Wolverine protecting an unconscious Rogue. These scenes were all just so epic.

Magneto was right. Just thought I’d leave that here.

Magneto’s boss move, as Wolverine stated “He declared war on the planet,” happening in the first episode of the three-part episode is dramatic and quite the swing. Seeing Magneto going final boss just before Charles Xavier returned to the earth was poetic.

The family theme goes throughout the episode, with the Summers, with Nightcrawler-Rogue, with Bastian’s background, with Roberto’s mother, with Xavier’s return. The writing on this show just keeps getting better every time.

I love Nightcrawler. He has always been one of my favorite X-Men characters, but he is so perfectly portrayed here and his words are so wise and impacting that I love every second Kurt Wagner is on screen. I hope this character sticks around past this season.

It was a great start to the finale. Two more to go.