December 8

I got busy over the weekend and I did not get around to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. There were a bunch of movies to watch and I just did not get the comics read so I could do the post.

So Monday night is when this comes out. Still a pretty good week of books.

Books this week:

Wild Animals #5. Written by Ed Brisson and art and cover art by Andy Kuhn. I loved this series. I really enjoyed this book and I loved this finale. The end was a great twist and I did not expect the ending that I got. I loved this book and it was one of my favorite reads every month. I will absolutely miss this series.

Something is Killing the Children #45. “All Her Monsters” Part Five. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’edera. I got the foil variant of the cover by Stefano Simeone (Gold Medalist). It was nice to have Something is Killing the Children back after a bit of a break. Erica Slaughter is always a fun read and I was pleased that it was back.

Doctor Strange #1. Written by Derek Landy with art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art by Alex Horley. The return of Doctor Strange arrived. Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard and he went on a mission where he met up with Angela. Strange in the Nine Realms is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to see where we go.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #41. “Web of Regret” Part Two. Written by Cody Ziglar with art by Marco Renna. Cover art was done by Federico Vicentini & Ceci de la Cruz. Miles and Rabble have to team up against the revived Assessor. Forget Rabble… Instead, here comes Spider-Man, Peter Parker! Love that he is here for the finale of this round of Miles’s book.

Spider-Man Noir #3. “The Gwen Stacy Affair, Part III.” Written by Erik Larsen and art by Marika Cresta. Cover art was done by Simone Di Meo. Spider-Man Noir takes on more Nazis, with the creepy Plasma Man at its core. Then, Peter tells Gwen that Spider-Man was the one who killed her father.

Rook Exodus #9. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Jason Fabok. Cover art was done by Jason Fabok & Brad Anderson. Rook, Dire Wolf, and Matterhorn have to struggle against giant monstrous spiders.

Wiccan: Witches’ Road #1. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Lucsa Werneck. This was a hoot of an issue. With Wiccan and Hulkling at the heart of this issue, I rally enjoyed it. I was a big fan of Agatha All Along on Disney + and this is clearly building off of that.

Red Shirts #5. Written by Christopher Cantwell with art by Megan Levens. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan. Okay… wait a minute. What happened here? I’m sorry… did I misread what just happened? Did our main red shirt protagonist just reveal himself as a Romulan spy? Did I read that right? And now the series is over? What? That was a ballsy move. Not sure how I feel about it, but I am thinking about it, which is a good thing.

Binary #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Giada Belviso. Rickie Yagawa did the cover art. Okay, what happened here? Did Carol Danvers just die transferring the Phoenix force back to Jean Grey? With the end of this, it really felt like an issue of What If. This could have easily have been “What If… Carol Danvers had received the Phoenix Force?” and we could have gone from there. Setting this in the Age of Revelation did not seem necessary.

Fantastic Four #6. “The Unobservable Universe.” Written by Ryan North with pencils by Humberto Ramos. Cover art by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. I also picked up a variant cover by Joe Jusko in the style of Jack Kirby. I have been a fan of Ryan North’s work on the FF since he began, but I have to say that I am not a fan of Humberto Ramos’s art this issue. I always liked him on Amazing Spider-Man, but there was just something about his FF (in particular Sue) that did not work well for me.

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #2. Written by Dan Watters and art by Sami Kivela. Cover art by Abigail Harding. The fifteenth Doctor was my personal favorite, and I loved the two seasons of TV on Disney +. So I picked up this comic with this Doctor. I have liked this story so far too.

Batman #4. “Drop the Smoke.” Written by Matt Fraction and art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. I also picked up the Bat-gear variant that was also done by Jorge Jimenez. We get a brand new Batman villain with the Minotaur.

Blue Falcon & Dynomutt #4. “Nature of the Game.” Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Pasquale Qualano. Cover art was done by Lucio Parrillo (Silver Medalist). Blue Falcon is off the bench and back into action with his new cyber-dog, Dynomutt. I do like this new series and this new look of the Hanna-Barbera characters.

Murder Podcast #3. Written by Jeremy Haun and illustrated by Mike Tisserand. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun and Nick Filardi. Murder Podcast has been a really exciting new series with some real creative storytelling behind it. Ignition Press comics have been pretty strong recently.

Absolute Wonder Woman #14. “The Price Part 2” Written by Kelly Thompson with art by Matias Bergara. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. I got this a week late. I do like the mythological type of story that Diana is finding herself in. And next issue: Batman. Ooh, that’ll be a biggie.

Giant Size Criminal #1. “The High Roller” Written by Ed Brubaker with art and cover art by Sean Phillips. With Criminal coming soon to a streaming live action series, this new series was a lot of fun. I do love the work by Brubaker and these criminal stories are always awesome.

Laura Kinney: Sabretooth #3. Written by Erica Schultz with art by Valentina Pinti. Cover art by Elena Casagrande & Edgar Delgado. We have another dead character in the Age of Revelation. Again, these secondary character stories feel like What If…? books. That is not a bad thing necessarily.

Amazing X-Men #3. “Philadelphia.” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Mahmud Asrar. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson. This felt like the big book of the group of Age of Revelation comics. This led right back into the big conclusion coming up. The book felt more significant than some of the others.

G.I. Joe #15. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art by Tom Reilly. I was not sure what had happened to Cobra Commander last issue. He is alive. I love this new Road Pig character. With Duke and Cobra Commander having to work together, this is a pretty strong book.

Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League #5. Written by Greg Rucka with art by Nicola Scott. Cover art was done by Nicola Scott & Annette Kwok. The plan comes to fruition as Cheetah and Cheshire get away from the Justice League. However, it seemed that there are some powerhouses behind this robbery that I did not expect.

DC KO: Knightfight #2. Written by Joshua Williamson with art and cover art by Dan Mora. Okay, this went from a cool concept of Batman in a universe where Dick Grayson became Batman and he had an army of Robins.. to a concept that I am completely confused by. Is Batman Clayface? What is going on here?

Speed Racer #5. Written by David Pepose with art by Davide Tinto. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. More racing action as Speed Racer and Racer X is out to battle Alpha Automotive. This has been surprisingly decent over the first five issue, even if Racer X has been too prevalent in the storyline.

Save Now #2. Written by Matt Kindt and art by Thomas Giorello. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. This Bad Idea comic has been excellent after the first two issues. Time travel shenanigans from Saver, trying to find a way to prevent the devastation of the planet, while still having the love of his life and his daughter. This has some real emotion to it and I have found Save Now as one of the better independent books out there.

War Wolf #2. Written by Steve Orlando with art by Marco Perugini. Cover art was done by David Talaski. Thomas Bruin helped drive away the invading lizard aliens, killing several. He became a big star because of it. So when the aliens returned a year later, they were after Bruin. Another fun book from Mad Cave.

Other books this week: DC KO: Superman vs. Captain Atom #1, Briar: Night’s Terror #1, Marvel Black, White & Blood and Guts #3, Dark Souls: Mother of Mourning #1 (Bronze Medalist), Kill All Immortals II #2, and Tales of the Shadowman: Ghosts of the Bayou #1.

Quick Hits: Hulk Smash Everything #1 came out and it was a weird book. It does not help with my confusion over the current Hulk. Is he in space during Imperial? Is he a new rage monster split with Banner with Infernal Hulk? Is he just smashing dinosaurs in the past? Whichever, I am not sure I need any more smashing. Gotham Academy #3 brought some emotional beats for Olive. Did they blow up Arkham? I was fairly disappointed with The Ultimate Universe: Two Years In #1. Spider-Girl #7 was the final issue of this series. I was surprised with the sudden end to this one. I know what I always think of when I think of Christmas… The Terminator. The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1 is a fun Dynamite Comics book. The Voice Said Kill #4 is another book that ended with a violent shoot out. The Phantom #3 is yet another win for Mad Cave. I do love how comics with old time characters are all the rage these days. The Absolute Green Lantern #9 continues to improve in my eyes. I was almost ready to drop this book, but it has been much better the last few months. Eat Your Young #4 was a book I did not have the opportunity to read yet. Ultimate X-Men #22 is reaching near its own end as the Ultimate Universe will be ending soon.

September 14

It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Next week’s edition may be very late because I am going with Todd to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to attend the SiouxperCon 2025. I’ll be busy at the convention on Saturday and Sunday, so I may not have as much time to read, and certainly won’t have time to do this write up next weekend. I am looking forward to heading down to SiouxperCon where I plan on meeting Gail Simone, Zander Cannon, Phil Hester among others. I do plan on using my phone to do some postings at EYG next weekend, maybe with some photos taken at the event.

Meanwhile, I picked up a graphic novel at In This Issue Comics this week by Brian K. Vaughn and Niko Henrichon called Spectators. I had put this on my pull list early on, but it was a weird thing. They sent the shop a promo copy of the book and the online listing indicated that it was pulled for me. It was weird, but then the list removed Spectators from my list. I decided not to worry about it. I saw it on the stands Thursday and I grabbed it. That was when the owner saw me with it and said they were trying to remember who had asked for this book and had the list try to pull the promo copy. They did have the book pulled in a separate place behind the desk. I just finished the book before starting this. It was a great read, but there were more penises than I have ever seen in a graphic novel.

Books this week:

Red Hood #1. “The Tower Part 1” Written by Gretchen Felker-Martin with art and cover art by Jeff Spokes. Okay, this one has a story behind it. I had heard a bunch of people complaining about this book before it ever came out with some of the writing of it. However, that is not the big story. Gretchen Felker-Martin posted a comment on the assassination of conservative Charlie Kirk and, because of that controversy, DC Comics canceled the new book. Heck, it was a day after it was released. I’ve never seen a book canceled so quickly. In fact, there was some book shops that removed the book from its shelves. Goes to show you how social media can cause troubles.

Murder Podcast #1. Written by Jeremy Haun and illustrated by Mike Tisserand. Variant cover B art was done by Mike Tisserand & Nick Filardi. A new podcast has seemingly sent some normal listeners into a murderous fugue state. It is a intriguing new book from Ignition Press.

Feral #16. “The Rule Breaker.” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Variant cover art was done by Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs. The cats are facing off with some scary potential consequences. Will the mall cats eat Lord? There is more tension in this book than most comics in a month. Feral has been an exceptional book.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #4. Written by Deniz Camp & Cody Ziglar with art by Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Sara Pichelli & Tamra Bonvillain. Miles Morales remains searching through the Ultimate universe for his little sister. He winds up in a fight with Illyana Rasputin. Miles is finding it even more difficult as memories of his other universe keep popping up.

It Killed Everyone But Me #1. Written by Ryan Parrott with art by Letizia Cadonici. Cover art was done by Jorge Corona. The brand new Mad Cave comic is a fun new idea. Twenty five years ago, Sutton Reed was the sole survivor of her friends who were slaughtered by a demonic force. She was able to imprison. Now, there is another series of grisly murders and she must confront the old demon. I look forward to see how this goes.

One World Under Doom #7. “Doom Versus Everyone” Written by Ryan North and art by R.B. Silva. Ben Harvey did the cover art. Doom has been shown to be anything but a magnanimous ruler and that leads to some battles. Specifically, a good chunk of this issue featured Doom facing off against a magic-using Reed Richards. Huh?

C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #1. Written by Tom Taylor and art by Daniele Di Nicuolo. Cover art was done by Daniele Di Nicuolo and Rain Beredo. I subscribed to this series because I love Tom Taylor’s writing so much. This feels like a younger book, but I enjoyed it anyway. We dive into the King Arthur legend again with this book.

Don’t Forget Your Briefcase #3. Written by Eliot Rahal and art and cover art by Phillip Sevy. Elmo, upset by everything going on around him with the briefcase, runs off and steals his mom’s car. Things do not go well after that. This is a really fun spy thriller book from Mad cave, which continues to be one of the most consistently good independent comic companies of 2025.

Survive #1. Written by Robert Venditti with art by Doug Braithwaite. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. A Russian submarine is sabotaged and we have more action beneath the ocean as the sub sinks. This feels like a cool story from comic company Bad Idea.

Captain America #3. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Valero Schiti. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. Cap and Doom face off. First it seemed as if Doom respected Cap, but he is still playing the game. It is a brutal story that shows some of Cap’s naivety.

Absolute Batman #12. “Abomination Part Four” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. Whoa. Seems like Absolute Batman’s rogue gallery has come to the absolute universe in full force. Penguin, Killer Croc, Two Face, Riddler, Catwoman all made appearances here. And they are all tied to Bruce. This could be tough on Bruce.

Space Ghost #2. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Francesco Mattina did the cover art. Eclipse Woman makes her return but winds up having to aid Space Ghost, Jan, Jace, and Blip.

Redcoat #14. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Bryan Hitch. Cover art was done by Bryan Hitch & Brad Anderson. Fascinating issue as Simon Pure finds himself at the White House as it is burning and he helped first lady Dolley Madison rescue a portrait of George Washington. The ghost of George Washington is on his way.

Batman: Dark Patterns #10. “The Child of Fire” Part 1. Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman (Gold Medalist). This starts the final arc of this series, which is an absolute shame because Dark Patterns has been exceptional Batman work. This issue of Dark Patterns is quite literally FIRE!

Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #2. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art was done by Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran. The duo from Ice Cream Man continues their trip into Superman. The new kryptonite has caused some new troubles for Superman. Specifically, making him a kaiju sized giant.

The Undead Iron Fist #1. Written by Jason Loo and art by Fran Galan. Cover art was done by Whilce Portacio & Alex Sinclair. Danny Rand is back from the dead and I really loved this first issue of this new series. A great new redesign of the Iron Fist costume and a guest appearance for Miles Morales made the issue epic.

Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #1. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Pasquale Qualano. Cover A art was done by Lucio Parrillo (Silver Medalist) and cover D art was done by Francesco Mattina. The new Dynamite book featuring the Hanna Barbera super hero is great and we have an origin for Dynomutt kicking off the book.

The Punisher: Red Band #1. Written by Benjamin Pearcy and art by Julius Ohta. Cover A art was done by Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson. I also got Cover B by Frank Miller. The new Punisher book is excellent. It takes place, I believe, in the time frame of The World to Come, but you could not tell by this issue. It was great to see Frank Castle back in the outfit. This was quite bloody and might be the first Marvel “Red Band” book that really deserved it.

Project Chimera: The Hero Trade #2. Written by Matt Kindt and art by David Lapham. Corey Wolfe did the cover art. I did not know that this was the just a two-issue series so when it all wrapped up in the book, I was very surprised. I did enjoy this very much and I would have liked it to continue.

Transformers #24. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer did the cover art. This was a huge final fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron. I say final, but I don’t actually mean that. There is no way that was their last fight. However, it was a huge boss battle. It was the final issue for Daniel Warren Johnson who has been with the book since the beginning.

Exceptional X-Men #13. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Federica Mancin. Carmen Carnero & Nolan Woodard did the cover art. This is the final issue of Exceptional X-Men, which makes me sad. I have enjoyed the Kitty Pryde/Emma Frost team. I do not know if it is coming back after the Age of Revelation. It felt like an end to the series.

Wolverines and Deadpools #3. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Roge Antonio. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio and Mattia Iacono. This short series came to an end. It was a fun little series with the father-daughter tandems working together to stop the Shadow King. Ellie even broke the fourth wall.

Red Hulk #8. “Allies” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Geoff Shaw. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw and Marte Gracia. Thunderbolt Ross is going through a ton of stuff. However, Machine Man, Deathlok and Wildstreak are there to help him.

Racer X #1. Written by Mark Russell and art by Nuno Plati. Cover art was done by Francesco Tomaselli. Another book that falls into the world of Speed Racer. Racer X is Speed’s supposedly dead brother. Racer X is a fun series and I am curious to see how it crosses over with Speed Racer.

Other books this week: Spider-Verse vs. Venom-verse #5, Imperial War- Nova: Centurion #1, Blood Type #4, Powers 25 #1, Superior Avengers #6, Blood & Thunder #5 and X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1.

Quick Hits: Todd picked me up Maria Llovet’s Artificial #1, a new romance book with robots to purchase for dates. It is kind of a sexy book. Tama #2 wound up with the Bronze Medalist this week. There were more Kong action with Return to Skull Island #3. Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #4 sees Trinity searching for Damian corgi by heading to a timeline where Batman is getting married to Catwoman. Hello Darkness #14 has its horror once again. Godzilla is busy this week with both Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #2 and Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #4. There are a bunch of Godzilla books available these days. Eddie Brock: Carnage #8 sees the problems continue to rise between Carnage and Eddie Brock. Ultimate Wolverine #9 brings out the Sentinels. Conan the Barbarian #24 has a tough loss for Conan. The book Cul-De-Sac #2 from Bad Idea came out this week too. I still have liked The Unchosen #3 more. I was not a fan of number one, but this has improved each issue.

July 18

We’ve got another big week at the Comic Cavalcade. I just might be buying too many comic books. I don’t know how long it will take me to read these books when school starts again at the end of August.

I pre-ordered a book from Amazon Prime and it arrived this week. It is called 10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir and it is from Jeff Lemire. I am a huge fan of Jeff Lemire as a writer and this is the story of his life. When I first ordered it in April, I thought it might be in graphic novel format, but it is more written than that. It was still listed in CLZ though so I added it to me graphic novel collection.

Todd also was able to get me a variant of Red Hulk #5. Last week I was reading Red Hulk #6 blissfully ignorant that I had not read #5 yet. As it wasn’t making sense, I pulled out CLZ and, sure enough, I was missing five. Thankfully, that is all taken care of now too.

Books this week:

Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Javier Garrón. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. I also picked up a foil variant with art work by Leinil Francis Yu. Godzilla is on a rampage and the heroes of the Marvel Universe is trying to stop the King of Monsters. I did not expect this to be more than a one-shot, but as the issue was ending, I realized that they were nowhere near a conclusion. I don’t know if there is more than one more issue to the series, but I am here for it regardless.

“Let it Stand #1”. Written by Gerry Duggan, Kelvin Mao and Robert Windom with art by Jae Lee. Cover art, both A and B, are done by Jae Lee. This is better known as This Ends Tonight, but we had some fun with Todd, who asked me to look for the series Let it Stand, but he actually meant this one. He knew there were three words in the title. It was a lot of fun teasing him about it. As for the series, it is an intriguing new book from Image. It is not just another revenge story. Definitely more to it.

Spider-Girl #2. Written by Torunn Grønbekk with art by Andre Risso. Variant cover art was done by Nogi San (Gold Medalist). The new Spider-Girl takes on Lady Bullseye. We also get some more of the life of Maka Akana, the Hawaiian- born Spider-Girl.

Pinupocalypse #4. Written, art and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. This has been such a hoot from Massive Comics. Roxy and Foxy are desperately trying to survive the zombie apocalypse that has been brought on by aliens, but they are able to take some time out to address their relationship… perhaps in a way that Foxy was not pleased about.

I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #4. Written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen (Bronze Medalist-tied). Rennie is ramping up her brutality as the bodies pile up. Yet, she is hoping to save her friend, Sofie, who was sold into human trafficking by their teacher. Probably not the smartest thing to do when her best friend is a serial killer. One more issue to go in this very engaging mini series that makes you root for the serial killer as your main character.

They Choose Violence #2. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. No misprint in this issue. Only Laneka, Deidre and Karen celebrating Laneka’s birthday in the way that only these three could do.

Benjamin #2. Written by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Christian Ward. Benjamin J. Carp is a robot that has had his actual intelligence uploaded into… or is he? This three-issue series has been wild so far and I have really enjoyed the originality and the difference of the book.

Ghost Pepper #1. Written and art by Ludo Lullabi. Variant cover B by Stanley “Artgerm” Lu. This is a weird book. It is like a dystopian future world meeting up with a cooking show. Mad Max meets Top Chef. There is also a bad ass named Ash who just can never finish his bowl of noodles. It is another one of those original ideas that we are getting from independent comics.

Nightwing #127. “Other Part 2” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Adriano Lucas did the art for the cover. Titans Tower has been corrupted by Nitemite and Dick has to make it through to find Oracle. Wild and weird versions of some of the worst things from Nightwing’s past show up, including Deathwing.

Imperial #2. “Two” Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Iban Coello & Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Marte Gracia. The future space epic continues with war between the Shi’ar and Wakanda Prime. Again, I have not been a fan of the futuristic stories like this, but Jonathan Hickman does a decent job of providing an intriguing story.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10. “Turtles on Trial” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferryra. Jorge Fornes did the cover art (Bronze Medalist-tied). The Turtles are on trial. Corrupt D.A. Hieronymus Haleis using his persuasion ability to make everyone hate the Turtles. What will come from this?

Phantom Road #14. “The Horrormen Part 4” Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover by Gabriel H. Walta. The next arc of this series has reached its penultimate issue. It is a weird book for sure, but I love the style of writing done by Jeff Lemire.

Absolute Batman #10. “Abomination” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. A naked Bruce Wayne has been captured and is being experimented on. However, his determination still comes through strongly as he continues his efforts to escape. Bane is lurking though.

The Tin Can Society #7. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. After a long break, Tin Can Society returned. It was quite a few months since I saw the last of this book, but the reminder of what was going on came quickly as we see John is not dead, and we learn of his story.

Detective Comics #1099. “Elixir” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Lee Garbett. Mikel Janin did the cover art. I do love Tom Taylor. His take on Batman in this run in Detective Comics has been awesome and I love the use of Harvey Bullock and Penguin in the story. Big issue #1100 next month.

Redcoat #13. Creators are Geoff Jahns and Bryan Hitch. Cover art by Bryan Hitch and Brad Anderson. Simon Pure finally chooses a side! The Northerner plays a huge role in the story set during the United States Civil War. Then it looks as if the Northerner has another guest star role coming up soon.

New Avengers #2. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover art was done by Andy Park. Bucky, Black Widow, Namor, Wolverine and Clea have to team up to battle warped versions of the Illuminati created by the Jackal.

New Champions #7. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Arthur Hesli. We get the debut of a new character, another vampire, named Nightdrifter, who aids the New Champions in their search for Hellrune.

Los Monstruos #3. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. Perry Cutter continues his search for Yvonne Veil and the truth of what is happening. Seems as if the truth is finding him. I have really enjoyed this monster noir as we progress around Los Monstruos.

Exceptional X-Men #11. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Federica Mancin. Variant cover art by Junggeun Yoon. Our young trainee X-Men meet Ironheart in a Chicago park when all heck breaks loose. Meanwhile, Kitty, Emma and Bobby wait to celebrate with the kids.

Toxie Team-Up #2. Written by Stuart Moore and art by Ryan Kelly. Fred harper did the cover art. This is not as much a team-up as a fight between as we get the Toxic Avengers one-on-one with the Jersey Devil, both with connections to their bullied pasts. This was not as much fun as the Jesus Crist issue #1 team up but it still is an enjoyable read.

Marvel Knights: The World to Come #2. “Part Two: The Host” Written by Joe Quesada with art by Priest. Cover art by Joe Quesada & Richard Isanove. Boy Joe Quesada sure knows how to stir up controversy and online rage. A white Black Panther??? Another one of those alternate future stories that do not have any footholds in the real Marvel Universe. Still interesting to see what outrage will be next.

Death of the Silver Surfer #2. “Pandora” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Variant cover art was done by Claudio Castellini. It must be the week for the alternate future stories as we get yet another one. This one is probably my favorite of the possible future stories with Silver Surfer and a Galactus who has seen better days.

Giant Size House of M #1. “A Sweet and Perfect World.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Art was done by Francesco Manna and the variant cover art was by Martin Coccolo. Ms. Marvel continues her jaunt through the X-Men history, confronting Legion where she can. Again, I am not sure what this is intended to be. Is this a reboot of the X-Men past? If so, I am not happy. If this is just another possible story, why not make these What If issues? Cool variant cover though.

Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #2. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. This has been a really solid book so far as we focus in on the feelings and anxieties of Jason Todd. Jason goes as far as to cast aside his allegiances to Batman and Nightwing to join the other side and be more proactive in the battle against the evil forces of Gotham.

Far Down Below #4. Written by Chris Condon and art by Gege Schall. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips. The trio move along beneath the surface of the earth and they find Russians, dinosaurs and relationship troubles. The one thing we now know for sure… dinosaurs do not taste like chicken. Goonies meets Journey to the Center of the Earth continues here.

Other books this week: Catacombs of Torment #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1 (Peach Momoko variant), The New Gods #8, Star Wars #2, Zatanna #6, Endless Night #2, and Ultimate Black Panther #18.

Quick Hits: I am happy to welcome back Dynamite Comics! After several months of not getting any of their books (because of the ongoing drama surrounding Diamond), we got a flood of n ew Dynamite books, several that should have come out in April. These include Gargoyle: Demona #1 (Silver Medalist), Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness #3, Space Quest #2, and the new Red Sonja Noir #1. The Ultimate X-Men #17 continues on. I am curious if this version of the X-Men will meet the other Ultimate characters soon. Blood & Thunder #3 has been a fun sci-fi romp so far. Talking guns can’t be beat. The strange one shot Dread the Hall H #1 mixes horror with comic conventions. Makes sense. Past Time #4 brings more vampire baseball action to life. This series has had some of the best collection of covers of any four issues this year without a Mark Spears variant. G.I. Joe #9 has more action with Cover Girl and the Baroness in Paris. Shocking ending to the issue too. A surprise shark week celebration showed up at Comic World this week as Aquaman: Air Jaws Allies #1 popped up. It was so unexpected that it was not even on CLZ on Wednesday. I did try again on Thursday and it was on the app. Bring on the Bad Guys: Abomination #1 is the next step of this villain arc featuring Mephisto and Sister Sorrow. I got two versions of Be Not Afraid #2, one the cover A and the other a virgin variant. There are amazing pages in this book. Deadpool/Wolverine #7 has a variant cover by the one and only Walter Simonson. Definitely the highlight of that book. Red Before Black#6 was another book, this from Boom, that had a long break between issues… only for this to be the final issue of the series. WTF. Wrap up the week with a couple of DC books: Absolute Flash #5 and Krypto The Last Dog of Krypton #2. Krypto is adopted by the sad and cruel Lex Luthor. Pet lovers may not want to read this book as there may be some triggers inside it.

April 5

It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade once again. I have to shout out to the comic company Mad Cave. I have really found that this independent company has been releasing some excellent books recently, picking up their game. I think this company is just behind Image (close to a tie with DC) for me on my current favorite company list. 1. Marvel, 2. Image, 3. DC, 4. Mad Cave, 5. Dynamite, 6. Boom! Studios, 7. DSTLRY (DSTLRY would be higher if they had a more consistent release schedule) 8. Dark Horse 9. Oni, 10. Keenspot. This list is consistently fluid, of course, as it may depend on specific books released.

Other books this week:

All-New Venom #5. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Adam Kubert & Laura Martin. In the EYG Comic Cavalcade #143, I speculated that maybe Marvel was pulling a swerve and not making this all-new Venom one of the four suspects that they were promoting as the suspects. I had a gut feeling that they were pulling out a surprise and I was right about it. I am not sure how I feel about the reveal of the All-New Venom. We’ll see how it goes.

Spider-Boy #18. “Keys to the Kingdom.” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Paco Medina and Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy has to face off with Mister Negative, despite Spider-Man’s objections.

Past Time #1. Written by Joe Harris and art by Russell Olson. Mark Chiarello did the cover art. One of those new Mad Cave books that I really liked. The story had a time frame from early days of baseball and the days of the first night game at Wrigley Field. There are a lot of things going on in this book and I loved it.

You Never Heard of Me #3. Written by Iolanda Zanfardino and illustrated by Elisa Romboli. Will is having a difficult time adjusting to his powers to see the best and worst moment of anyone’s life (which switches on a regular basis). He sees that a classmate Rory could die and he wants to figure out how it is going to happen.

I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #1. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art (Both cover A & B) by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen. Rennie has been accepted to the New York Fashion and Design Institute. She was after a certain thing, but it was not necessarily the reason one would expect. She is a serial killer. Look out, Sofie. I had to grab the cover B version along with the cover A because I loved the B, but I wanted A too.

We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #1. Written by Matthew Rosenberg and art and cover art by Stefano Landini. A brand new story that, when broken down, is really the story of a father and his daughter. Admittedly, there are more levels to this new Image book than that. This first issue was compelling though. We’ll see where it goes.

West Coast Avengers #6. Written by Gerry Conway and art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Ben Harvey. We get some Avengers on Avengers violence in this issue as some members of the Avengers face off with the West Coast Avengers over the potential dangers of Ultron. I have enjoyed this series so far.

X-Men #14. Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Ryan Stegman. Variant cover D art by Woo Chul Lee. Piper, the young girl of the mutant-hating mother, was told that she was not a mutant and turned away by the X-Men. She has disappeared into the wilderness of Alaska and there was definitely something about the girl.

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1. Dialogue by Charles Soule and art and cover art by Steve McNiven (Gold Medalist). I typical am not a fan of the possible future stories like this one. Throw that out the window. I loved this book. It might be the best book of the week. The future version of Matt Murdock is awesome and I loved everything about this series. Charles Soule is a great writer and you can see his skill here. Three issue series and it started tremendously.

Juvenile #5. Written, art and cover art by Jesus Orellana. This was the final issue of this Image series. I have enjoyed this book considerably. It has a Stranger Things meet X-Men feel to it and I think the book is set up to continue at some time in the future. Great stuff.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #32. “God War Part 1” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. Miles finds himself in the middle of a bunch of Gods, from Thor, Hercules, Anansi to Ares. Miles has to be considered a big gun at this point.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #7. “Pool Party” written by Jed MacKay and art by Domenico Carbone. Cover art by Davide Paratore (Silver Medalist). Moon Knight has a plan to attempt to draw out Hank Pym. The plan involved Pym’s daughter, Nadia. There is a lot of connections between Moon Knight and Hank Pym that they can mine for goodness here. I love when they use the characters’ background.

Absolute Superman #6. “Son of Smallville” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Carmine Di Giandomenico. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. We get the back story of what happened when an older Kal-El, more teenage than baby, arrived in Kansas with Jonathan and Martha Kent. It was a little different than what we were used to.

Let This One Be A Devil #2. Script by James Tynion IV & Steve Foxe and art by Piotr Kowalski. Gavin Fullerton did the cover art. This “True Weird Story” continues with a look at the mysterious Leeds Devil. This reminds me of a horror version of Blue Book, a series from Dark Horse penned by Tynion IV. This has some scary moments inside that really work with his style.

Immortal Thor #22. “The Edge” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jan Bazaldua. Alex Ross did the cover art. Thor and Skurge are joined by Hermod in their quest that may be leading to a major event in this series.

Those Not Afraid #3. Script by Kyle Starks and art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Cover art was done by Glenn Fabry. Turned out that out two serial killers, competing with each other for most kills, were able to squirm their way out of trouble from last issue.

Hyde Street #5. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Francis Portela. Cover art by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. Miss Glee Goodbody is our focus this issue of Hyde Street. She was a horrendous woman. Very unlikable. Hyde Street still has that Twilight Zone feel to it and it delivers a strong story each issue.

The Lucky Devils #3. Written by Charles Soule and art and cover art by Ryan Browne. Charles Soule seems to be very busy lately with a bunch of Marvel books and this one that definitely has that Eight Billion Genies vibe to it. No genies, but demons from Hell instead. This continues to be a fun title with some of the more creative ideas you are going to find.

Pop Kill #2. Story by Jimmy Palmiotti & Dave Johnson and art by Juan Santacruz. Variant cover B art by ark Chiarello. What happens when you get James Bond fighting villainous agents over a pop formula? You get Pop Kill. Another new Mad Cave book that has a lot going for it. I love this cool variant cover too. Probably could have competed for the medal if I had gotten it earlier in the week.

Darkwing Duck #2. Written by Daniel Kibblesmith and art by Ted Brandt & Ro Stein. Cover art was done by Tad Stones. This issue of the Disney character Darkwing Duck featured Gosalyn and her school play. She is manipulated by a super villain posing as her substitute teacher. Ah, if I had a nickel for every substitute teacher who was truly a super villain.

Plague House #1. Written by Michael W. Conrad and illustrated and cover art by Dave Chisholm. Another good new independent book, but this time it is from Oni Press. An online ghost hunter group, looking to debunk the false houses, go into a house where it is anything but fake. There are some very dramatic moments in this issue.

Concert of Champions #1. Written by Jason Loo and art by Rafael Loureiro & Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Javier Garrón & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Dazzler, Luna Snow and Lil Cheney are putting on a concert. That means there will be trouble coming. Here in the form of a super villain heavy metal band. Hmm.

Hello Darkness #9. Variant Cover art by Jenny Frison. Once again, there is a group of intriguing horror/thriller stories inside this anthology series. “Teacher’s Pet” from Cullen Bunn is probably my favorite of the issue. That has some personal connection as a teacher.

Psylocke #6. “House of Ghosts.” Written by Alyssa King and art by Vincenzo Carratù and Moises Hidalgo. Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. What is happening to Kwannon? And can a trip to see the Uncanny X-Men, in particular Deathdream, help out. Will Rogue think it is a good idea? More conflict between the two X-teams.

Absolute Green Lantern #1. “The Black Hand.” Written by Al Ewing and art and cover art by Jahnoy Lindsay. Al Ewing is everywhere these days. How many books is this guy writing in a month? He hits another home run with this new version of Green Lantern. I love the way he weaves these other Lanterns into this story. Another strong Absolute DC book.

Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #1. “This Body Holding Me.” Written by Ram V and art by Anand RK and Jackson “Butch” Guice. Jeff Dèkal did the cover art. This is a solid book from DC Comics’ Black Label. I did not know this character before, though Todd said he used to love him. I am intrigued by what I read here and, with a grumble, will pick up yet another DC book.

Hornsby & Halo #5. Storytellers are Peter J. Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Zach and Rose are reeling from the things that have been happening to them so far, but this issue takes that to another step. Pinch each other to see if they are dreaming.

The Atom Project #4. “Catalyst.” Written by Ryan Parrott and John Ridley and art by Mike Perkins. Variant cover B art by Mark Spears (Bronze Medalist). Captain Atom vs. Zmeck. The Atom Project has been a solid series so far, and I believe it is coming to an end soon. It shows that you can have a good series with any characters as long as there is good writing.

Deadpool #13. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antônio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. Deadpool and Daughters are on the path to find Death Grip. On the path, they must fight Solem, he with the adamantium skin. If you haven’t had enough of them together yet, Wolverine makes a cameo with Deadpool.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe One Last Time #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and art by Dalibor Talajic. Cover is the April Pool’s Day Variant cover with all white. Remember when I mentioned earlier about how I usually did not like possible future stories but I loved the new Daredevil one? This is an example of the other way around. I did not care for this at all and liked it even less when I learned it was more than just a one shot.

Two-Face #5. “Roll the Dice and Die!” Written by Christian Ward and art by Fabio Veras. Cover art was done by Baldemar Rivas. Two-Face’s daughter? Die. Rolls her way into this issue, trying to find her father. This penultimate issue of the book sets up the next issue with Batman.

Olympians: Hades-Lord of the Dead Graphic Novel. Created by George O’Connor. I picked this up off of Amazon this week because my 8th grade class will be reading an excerpt from this graphic novel out of their HMH curriculum this coming week and I wanted to see the whole thing. I did the same thing with Monster: A Graphic Novel by Walter Dean Myers. I do like how this program includes some graphic novels in their units.

Other books this week: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 10th Anniversary Special #1, The Terminator #6, Red Before Black #5, Ironheart: Bad Chemistry #1, Rivals #1, Secret Six #2, Money Shot: Big Bang #0, Ripperland #3, Sam and Twitch Case Files #12, and Ultimate X-Men.