July 24

I picked up a bunch of back issues this week in several locations. At Comic World, Todd had a new small collection that included Machine Man #1,2, and a couple of older X-Men books (#143, #116). He also gave me a copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey #2 (thanks Todd). At In This Issue, I picked up a bunch of Avengers Vol. 3 and Spectacular Spider-Mans. I picked up I Hate Fairyland Vol. 2 #1-7 off eBay.

Less than one week away from Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie. I will be watching it next Thursday at noon. I can’t wait. Spidey is my absolute favorite fictional character of all time. Very excited.

Comic of the Week

Dog Tag #3

This was another unexpected winner this week. I have enjoyed this Mad Cave book so far, but this week’s issue caught me off guard and I found myself reacting in an emotional way to the story. One scene in particular nearly had me tearing up. I am not sure I can recall a time when a comic book elicited tears from me, so it was unexpected.

Books this Week:

Amazing Spider-Man #33. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Ed McGuinness. Cover A art by Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz. I picked up variant cover C by David Nakayama (Bronze Medalist). Legacy number #997 means that the build to #1000 is underway. Spidey teams up with a new band from Damage Control and they take down some of the villains together. Meanwhile, May and her long lost son go for dinner. I sure hope they don’t just make May’s son a villain, but I suspect that is where this is heading.

Spider-Man: Long Way Home #2. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Adam Kubert. Cover art was done by Adam Kubert & Arthur Hesli. The pursuit for the Cosmic Cube continued with Spidey, Punisher and the Hulk all after it for their own reasons. This has not been my favorite Spider-Man book out recently. Still, anything with Spidey is down for me.

Uncanny X-Men #32. “Mars Needs Mutants” Part 3. Written by Gail Simone with art by Rogê Antonio, Jim Towe and Federica Mancin. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. The Outliers step up their game and so Rogue and Gambit redub them “The New Mutants” and give them new outfits. However, the promotion does come with some bad news. Gambit and Rogue are leaving the group for awhile to take care of business. If Deathdream cries, we all cry.

Terminal #1. Written by Robert Kirkman & Joe Casey with art by Andy Kubert. I picked up a couple of blind bags celebrating this new series and got a couple of covers from Art Adams. The new series features all new superhero characters in an all-new superhero universe. I thought this was excellent and it gave me thoughts of Strikeforce: Morituri from Marvel.

Flash #35. “The Speed was Power, and the Speed was Joy-Part IV” Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Gavin Guidry. Cover art was done by Gavin Guidry & Adriano Lucas. Wally West was using his new power, flashes of insight, to predict future problems so he could save them before the events happened. I feel as if that has the potential for bad things in the long run, but we’ll see. I have enjoyed Flash since Ryan North took over the writing chores.

Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolfman #2. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Leomacs & Pip Martin. I also picked up variant cover B by Jacob Phillips. There is a classic feel to this book as our main character Adam struggled with a possible transformation into a werewolf when he massacred a whole college party. This has been an excellent book so far, fitting nicely into the Universal Monsters books from Image.

Void Rivals #32. Written by Robert Kirkman with art by Conor Hughes. Cover art was done by Lorenzo De Felica. I have been excited for this book for a month and a half or so with the announcement that Rom is joining the Energon Universe and would make his official debut in this issue. Now, he only shows up at the very end, but I do believe that Rom is a burst of energy into Void Rivals that it has been needing for several issues now. I am looking forward to seeing Rom moving forward.

Sicko #1. Written by Tini Howard and illustrated and cover A art by Amilcar Pinna. Cover B art was done by Juliet Nneka. This is a brand new Ignition Press book featuring a character named Valentine. She has some kind of illness that she seemed to be able to weaponize. Why this is happening is still up in the air, but Valentine is not anxious to help out whomever is chasing her in the hazmat outfits. Ignition Press has had a bunch of winners in 2026 and this feels like another one.

Narco #5. Written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard & Dave Stewart. I have loved Narco and this ends the series in a satisfying way. I do think that I wanted more at the end, but that I think comes about because I have enjoyed this book so much.

Wolverine #24. “Master and Monster.” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine’s stolen healing factor is still a major problem as he has to face off with Dr. Murat Mor, who has transformed into a huge, hulking creature. Oh, and Alpha Flight is here remaining as a pain in the butt instead of a help. I have been having a lot of fun with this volume of Wolverine over the last couple of years.

Gambit: Wanted #1. Written by Chris Claremont and art by Robert Gill. Cover A art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Cover B cover art(foil) was done by Kris Anka (Gold Medalist) and Cover F (Wanted variant) art was done by Phil Noto. This takes out favorite Cajun back to pre-X-Men days and places him on the streets of New Orleans with the thieves he was leading. I am not sure who (or what) ‘Lil ‘ Ro was supposed to be. Obviously it was some form of Storm, but I do not know where she was or why she was in this kiddie form. Remy LeBeau is an awesome character and I am looking forward to seeing more of him and learning, perhaps, more info on his character that I did not know. Great covers for this issue as well.

X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1. A who’s who of writers and artists participated in this book. Writers included Saladin Ahmed, Gail Simone, Eric Schultz, Jed MacKay, Eve L. Ewing with artists including Joelle Jones, Luciano Vecchio, Aaron Kuder, Tony S. Daniel, Mark Morales, Federica Mancin, Cory Smith and Dren Junior. Sebastian Shaw is out of prison and hosting the new Hellfire Gala. Little did he know that it would be his last party as Shaw is murdered. But by whom? Wolverine and Jubilee are on the case. This is a fun book, but it felt weird as a murder case, especially since the things that were going on at the Gala. I also picked up a cover by Skottie Young for this book.

Detective Comics #1111. “Flight- Part Five” Written by Tom Taylor and art and cover art by Mikel Janin. The story of Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary, dealing with the death of their former friend, Prion, and Prion’s brainwashed assassin daughter Arabella.

Something is Killing the Children #49. “All Her Monsters” Part Nine. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’Edera. We are one issue away from #50 of this series. This brought an end to the Erica as a young girl story that has been running most of this past year.

Bad Thoughts #2. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated and cover art by Dave Wachter. Jack is back from his mission, but things are not good. In fact, things are escalating massively. Everyone is dying around Jack and he is being pursued by the organization. This was a big step up from last issue and led to an amazing story.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #6. “Midnight Sons” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Yen Nitro. In an attempt to save his friends, Moon Knight is out to recruit members of the Midnight Sons. This included Clea, Daredevil, Blade, and Robbie Reyes the Ghost Rider.

Tarzan Beyond #2. “Tarzan and the Siege of Paradise.” Written by Steve Orlando and art by Renato Guedes. Cover art is done by Agustin Alessio. Tarzan takes on Blackbeard. And it does not go well. Tarzan also now has to fight his ape father Kerchak. Oh, and his ape mother Kala is here too. Not sure how that is happening, but I am here for it.

Justice League Unlimited #21. “Escape from Powers Planet: Part Two” Written by Mark Waid and art by Dan Mora & Fico Ossio. The League is in search for the Brainiac Queen and Lex Luthor is not being helpful. Secret plans from Red Tornado and Batman are the play of the day.

Excommunicated #3. Written by Jeremy Robinson and art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Flaviano Armentaro. Josephine and her talking dog are heading to face off with a Father who has been possessed by some kind of demon. Excommunicated has been a lot of fun with this series so far and I am anxious to see where the next step goes.

Other Books This Week: Moonstar #5, Marvel Zero #1, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu #1, Godzilla Conquers the Multiverse #1, Estuary: A Ghost Story #4, Captain Marvel: Dark Past #4, Terrorbytes #8, and American Caper #9.

Quick Hits: We got a brand new Red Shirts book called Star Trek: Red Shirts-Ghost of the 21st Century#1. Interestingly, I was not into this book as most of the Star Trek books have seemingly lost my attention. Hello Darkness #23 had a bunch of great covers this week, including a silver medal for Jenny Frison. Odin #3 continues to be a weird and wild book. Gotta pay attention to it otherwise you are lost. Final Boss #8 is setting up something that feels new for the book. We’ll have to see where it goes. Bloodland #5 focuses in on the President more this issue than previously. Corpse Knight #4 saw Foy and her father finally make it to Joan D’Arc and it does not go quite the way she expected. I picked up a blind bag for the 300th issue of TMNT, which was also called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #20. I used to buy the series, but left it at the same time as Jason Aaron did. I got a nice virgin cover by Laird & Eastman in my blind bag. Speaking of blind bags, I picked up the Boys Premium Mystery Variant Blind Bag, which included three issues of separate limited-edition variants of some of the key issues of the series with unique variant covers. Absolute Wonder Woman #22 was released this week too as Diana finishes up her trip to the Underworld. Another Absolute book out this week was Absolute Superman #21, which saw the end of the Superman/Absolute Shazam match up. The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #6 wraps up the Vertigo series with Ezra taking care of business. It looked like there will be another Ezra Cain book coming up later on. Three issue number fives brought their series to a close this week with Wonder Man #5, Imperial Guardians #5 and A Quiet Place: Storm Warning #5. Imperial Guardians was my favorite of those three and I will miss that book, but it was clear they needed Carol Danvers back on earth for what was going to be happening in Marvel soon. Finally, the next issue of Hidden Spring #3 sees our old folks trying to get the alien to its parent.

June 20

New banner this week, getting rid of all those butterflies on the old one. Still very much fun making these, trying to hit upon important books from all of the publishers.

eBay sent me several Amazing Spider-Man books this week as I continue to try to complete my Vol. 2 collection. I have several more in the mail on its way, leaving me with three issues. With those three exceptions, I’ll have issue #195-today of Amazing Spider-Man soon. Too cool.

Comic of the Week

Rom #1 (Skybound)

I may be cheating this week as the Comic of the Week actually came out inside the MASK blind bags from a couple of weeks ago, but I just received my copy from eBay today and I loved it.

I was an old fan of Rom during the Marvel years and I was really excited to hear that Rom was joining the Energon Universe at Skybound. I wasn’t sure if this was just a Rom cover of the MASK#1 or if it were its own book, but when I scanned through the book after opening the packaging, I could tell that this was its own story. I loved that too. Rom has some adjustments from Robert Kirkman which work well and the new character “Carpet” is a fascinating addition. I can’t wait to see the mystery of Rom unfold moving forward in Void Rivals starting in issue #32.

Books This Week:

Land of Never #1. Written by Steve Orlando with art and cover A art by Miguel Mora. Variant cover B art was done by Sebastian Piriz. Jim Hoke’s daughter Wendy has been missing for years. Hoke believed that he saw a hulking figure take Wendy out of the window, but no one would believe him. In fact, Hoke is a suspect in her kidnapping. We’ve got some Peter Pan stuff going on here and I am here for it.

Something is Killing the Children #48. “All Her Monsters” Part Eight. Written by James Tynion IV with art and cover art by Werther Dell’Edera. We continue into the past with young Erica Slaughter trying to understand the hardest part of the House of Slaughter, killing off the witnesses, even if they happen to be children. Is the tragedy stoppable?

Amazing Spider-Man #31. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Patrick Gleason. Cover art was done by Patrick Gleason & Dean White. We get the TALK here. How can it be possible that Aunt May has an actual child with Ben Parker? This story goes back and forth between the story of May and her unknown birth and Spidey battling Vulture and Tombstone. This is one of the biggest, most major retcons to Spider-Man in the last few years. He has an actual cousin. How will this affect Peter Parker?

Uncanny X-Men #30. “Mars Needs Mutants” Written by Gail Simone with art by Rogê Antonio. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. More wild mutant action from the pen of Gail Simone. This has been one of the most consistent X-Men books of all and I have a huge respect for Gail.

Nightwing #139. “The Waterfront” Written by Dan Watters with pencils by Denys Cowan. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Nightwing is still struggling to overcome his guilt over the highway incident from a few issues ago. With the new highway going through Bludhaven, a bunch of bodies show up in the water. Nightwing found a way to investigate these deaths which leads him to a church. This was a great issue and Nightwing is struggling with himself.

Of The Earth #2. “Chapter 2: Red Zone.” Written by Andrew Ehrich & Chris Condon with art and cover art by Charlie Adlard (Gold Medalist). The oil company sent a representative to investigate the strange things at the Winters’ Ranch. Chris Condon has become one of my favorite writers in comics today. He knows how to tell a story and build that mysteriousness and tension.

X-Men United #4. “Ancient Orc Oaken Arclight” Written by Eve L. Ewing with art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. I also picked up Cover C with art by Kris Anka (Bronze Medalist). The X-Men are doing a mysterious campaign… much like D & D, only in the X-Men style, they are actually doing it. Deathdream is in the group in the campaign and I do love that character.

Dog Tag #2. Written by Mark Russell with pencils by PJ Holden. Cover art was done by PJ Holden & JP Jordan. We follow Tom into his new assignment… leading a troop of survivors of D-Day into Europe on missions. The mission, go into the town St. Lo to see if the Germans have deserted it. Once they, they have to face their own moral thoughts. Dog Tag has been great the first two issue and another awesome Mad Cave book.

If Destruction Be Our Lot #2. Written by Matthew & Mark Elijah with art by Andy McDonald. Cover art was done by Andy McDonald & Francesco Segala. The Lincoln robot is out in trouble. After seeing a “human” at the end of last issue, the belief is that he is malfunctioning and requires a reboot. Maintenance is a horror show and ABE is on the run. The creativity is off the charts with this Image book.

The Trillion Dollar Kid #1. “Who are the Unbelievables? Part 1 of 4” Written by Geoff Johns & Peter J. Tomasi with art by Stefano Simeone. I grabbed cover B and its art was done by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki & Brad Anderson. The new book from Ghost Machine debuted this week, tying together the other books from this title including Hornsby & Halo and The Rocketfellers. Tommy Townsend is on quest to find thee other “Unbelievable” and it starts in this issue. Crossover alert!

Absolute Green Arrow #2. “The Longbow Killer” Part 2. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with art by Rafael Albuquerque. Cover art was done by Rafael Albuquerque & Marcelo Maiolo. The wildness of the Absolute Green Arrow is huge. I loved this series, with how dark and mysterious it is. I am clearly not sure what is going on or who is doing this, and I love that.

Absolute Flash #16. “Gorilla City Part 1 of 2” Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Haining. Variant cover B art was done by Taurin Clarke. Wally and Grodd are reunited. Not sure that is a good thing. This Absolute Flash is excellent every issue. It is one of my favorite Absolute books every week. Good characters and fun story.

Absolute Batman #21. “The Straw Man Part 3” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. We get the Absolute version of Two-Face this issue. Two Face is seen with shadowy figures from Bruce’s friends, who all seem to be villains. Oh, and there is the Joker (I think it was Joker..)

G.I. Joe #23. Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Andrea Milana. Variant cover G (B&W) was done by Tom Reilly. The Baroness and Destro have to team up and we get the secret origin of Risk.

Redcoat #18. Creators are Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch. Variant Cover B art is done by Leonardo Colapietro. The truth comes out for Simon Pure. He tells his wife his own personal history and it might have cost him his family. Meanwhile, men of George Washington have captured Benedict Arnold. This is a dark moment for Simon and feels like the “Empire Strikes Back” part of the story. Redcoat is an outstanding book.

Wonder Man #4. “The-Four-Oh-Five” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Laura Braga. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio. So…umm… Simon Williams and Patsy Walker take their relationship to new heights. Yes, they get naked and have sex… while flying in the air among the clouds. It was not what I expected to see in this book.

Imperial Guardians #4. Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Eduardo Pansica. Cover art was done by Sean Izaakse & Nolan Woodard. The gimmick of having the members of the team addressing the world via camera, much like a reality show (like Big Brother). This is a great way to inject humor into the story as well as allowing the readers to know info that the rest of the cast does not. It is a clever addition to this comic.

The Punisher #5. “Under his Skin” Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Jose Luis Soares & Sergio Davila. Big battle issue as Frank squares off with Jigsaw. The brutality of their fight is what carries this issue through as much of the art is just panels of the two of them engaging in violence. The new Punisher book has been solid since its return to Marvel.

Drawing Blood #11. Written, drawn and cover art by Kevin Eastman. I loved this issue. Of course, I barely remember Drawing Blood, a 12-issue series, that debuted in April 2024. Issue #10 came out in January of 2026 while this issue came out in June. The length between these issues are really making it tough to maintain any real momentum for the book. It takes most of the first half of the story to refresh what everything that has happened. Only one more issue to go. I wonder what month it is scheduled to be released in?

Excommunicated #2. Written by Jeremy Robinson with art by Tiago Palma. Cover art was done by Flaviano. I also picked up the Unholy Body Bag (polybag) variant cover which was done by Tyler Crook. Former nun Josephine has to team up with the demon Edimmu to avoid an attack. That decision does not make things better for Josephine, as Vatican officials are on the case. Excommunicated, from Vault Comics, has been a welcomed addition to the horror comics that are all across the landscape of comics these days.

War Wolf #6. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Marco Perugini. Cover art was done by David Talaski. This issue gives us the true story of Bruin and how he stopped the original invasion of the Oorts. Apparently, the Bear is nowhere near as much of a hero as he had presented himself as. Can The Bear step up for earth for real this time? Who knows, but War Wolf has been a solid book from Mad Cave.

Kill Switch #2. Written by Sophia Bank & Don Handfield with illustration by Gabriel Ibarra. Cover art was done by Erwin Arroza & Gabriel Ibarra. It sure seems that everybody can figure out that Atlas is not Detective Kate Sloan. That included Agent Perez who apparently the real Kate Sloan. Mind f*cks galore in this Massive Comics series.

Other books this week: Deadly hands of K’un-Lun #5, Star Trek: The Last Starship #8, Justice League: Dream Girls: A DC Pride Event #1, The Beauty #6, Inglorious X-Force #6, Sorcerer Supreme #7, Absolute Green Lantern #15, and Supergirl: Survive #1

Quick Hits: I am a sucker for blind bags. I picked up the Marvel 616 blind bag this week, which included a black and white version of Doomquest #1 and a facsimile of Iron Man #149. There was also a Doom paper mask inside, which was fun to wear and yell “KNEEL BEFORE DOOM!” Not that I actually did that…. um… moving on. Hello Darkness #22 featured a new ongoing story from Ryan North of FF and Flash writing. I also grabbed a variant virgin cover that was the Silver medalist this week. Odin #2 came out this week and is just as wild and confusing as last time. You really have to give it James Tynion IV with forcing people to really check in with his writing. Big anniversary issue came out this week with Mad #600 with a great cover from EYG Hall of Famer Sergio Aragones. More deaths happening in Dead Teenagers #4 from Oni Press. And even more deaths in Smile: For the Camera #4. Tough time to be a model in that book. Two other Spider-Man books, besides Amazing, came out this week with Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1 where he faces off with Hulk and the Punisher for the Cosmic Cube, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day #2 where Spidey has to work alongside the Punisher. Paul Chadwick’s Concrete: Stars Over Sand #1 came out from Dark Horse this week, bringing Concrete back from Chadwick’s original series from the 1980s. We get the next What If book with What If…? The Mighty Thor #1 where Thor got the Venom symbiote in Secret Wars instead of Spidey. I like the fact that these What If books recently have Uatu back watching things. He was missed in the What If books like the Disney ones where the Watcher was not involved. What If is synonymous with the Watcher. Megalith: The Olympus Saga #2 gives us more giant megalith action from Bad Idea. When does a kidnapping become too much of a problem? When it is a kid? End of Life #5 sees h0w that plays out. A new one shot The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons #1 dropped this week and actually has a continuing story into an0ther one shot next month. I guess they were allergic to issue #2. The final issue of Magik & Colossus #5 came out and wrapped up this story for the Rasputin siblings. Then Bloodland #4 from Ignition Press has some head chopping goodness.

June 13

Another big week of books. I spent three hours at Comic World on Wednesday with no electricity. We had a couple of days of big storms in the area and the storm in Dubuque that day led to the lights going out. Thankfully, I was still able to get some read thanks to my seat by the window. Natural light worked great. The storm was quite powerful though. The lights came back on just before they intended to close up shop.

I have picked up several Marvel Team-Ups this week. Todd got me a few and I picked some up at eBay. I am still waiting on #53, but once it arrives I will have the volume one of Marvel Team-Up completed. I have been working on it over the last couple of years and now that it is nearly completed, I am excited.

Book of the Week

Wolverine #21

While there are several big time books out this week (MASK #1, Avengers Armageddon #1, D’Orc #5, Absolute Catwoman #1 etc.), I decided to pick a book that had one of my favorite stories, one that was small and enjoyable.

Wolverine #21 features Nightcrawler forcing Logan to go on vacation. While on vacation, they run across Absorbing Man and Titania, also trying to be on vacation. Of course, fisticuffs ensue.

It is such a fun little story, which felt great after such a major arc with Adamantine. Wolvie’s bone claws are not even regrown yet. Small little story among some epic books this week.

Books This Week:

MASK #1 & #2. Written by Dan Watters with art by Pye Parr. MASK (Mobile Armored Strike Kommando) joins the Energon Universe in a big way. Not only was there a number one with a cover by Pye Parr, but there was also a blind bag which had some fun covers… and some unbelievable special books. I picked up a gold foil that was not the MASK #1- it was MASK: Origins #1. I also got a foil advance copy of issue #2, which was shocking. There is also a ROM special in the blind bags that I have ordered on eBay. I love MASK in with the Transformers and GI Joe and Void Rivals.

Absolute Catwoman #1. “The Yarn” Written by Scott Snyder & Che Grayson with art and cover art by Bengal. The newest Absolute book came out this week. I also picked up a cool foil cover with Catwoman’s symbol. Once again, the Absolute books have all been great and this new one is every bit a good as the others.

Muppets Noir #4. Written and art by Roger Langridge. Variant cover B art is done by Jae Lee & June Chung. The fun series from Dynamite Comics featuring the Muppets in a noir setting came to a close with this issue. Kermit comes back to consciousness after the case of where Meringue has been. Flip Minnow is on the case, but it got solved despite that. I love the Muppets and this Dynamite series was so much fun.

Bad Thoughts #1. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated and cover art by Dave Wachter. Jack Coates can look inside people’s brains and see the bad things that they have done. This new Ignition Press book is solid, continuing a strong year for the company. This is a very creative book with some real bad things to think about.

Tarzan Beyond #1. “Tarzan and the Deathless Pirate King” Written by Steve Orlando and art by Renato Guedes. Cover art was done by Agustin Alessio. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic character Tarzan gets a bump to the present day, and seems to have found a way to maintain his age, along with his love Jane. I found this new Tarzan to be very interesting and engaging and I am excited about continuing his adventures.

D’Orc #5. “The Baths of Gore” Written, drawn and cover art by Brett Bean. D’Orc spends this issue naked and trying to stop an evil witch. Little does D’Orc know that he has an unfortunate connection to the witch that might just lead to his downfall. This has maintained the great humor and solid storytelling over the first five issues.

Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2. “Black Out” Written by Mariko Tamaki and art by Amancay Nahuelpan. Variant cover C art was done by Matteo Scalera. Barbara Gordon is having a difficult time in prison. She has gone in to the prison as a part of a plan to deal with Vandal Savage, but she has taken a beating and drugged to the point of hallucinations. Nightwing guest stars.

Black Cat #11. “Crime and Punishment” Written by G. Willow Wilson and art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Adam Hughes. This was another book I considered for the book of the week because of the lower stakes story inside. Black Cat accidentally hits the Punisher’s dog with a car and sets Frank off with an anger and a thirst for vengeance. Something seems to be wrong with Felicia’s bad luck powers too, right when she really needs them.

X-Men #31. “Anomaly” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Tony S. Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel, Mark Morales, & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. This issue sees the debut of the X-Men’s Science Team, as led by Beast. It includes Magneto (?), Kid Omega, Xorn, Animalia, and Ben Liu. This is an intriguing concept that I like, although I question a couple of those team members.

Avengers Armageddon #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio. The Avengers are assembling to go to Latveria and try and stop Red Hulk from his rampage. Red Hulk is out to destroy countries that do not follow Democracy and is threatening to just do whatever he wants. However, the Unites States government wants the Avengers to stand down and let them handle it. Good luck with that. This was also packaged in a polybag with a Magic card called “Warstorm Surge.” The Marvel Universe is gonna change…

Daredevil #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips with art and cover art by Lee Garbett. Matt Murdock’s hypersenses are going haywire and not working correctly so Spider-Man is here to try and help him train without them. It all seems to be connected to the new villain, The Omen, who had thrown Matt out the window last issue. This new arc for DD is great already and I have loved what Stephanie Phillips has done with the character so far.

Fall of the House of Slaughter #2. Written by Tate Brombal with illustrations by Adriano Turtulici. Cover art was done by Sam Wolfe Connelly. Victor St. George and his emissaries arrive at the House of Slaughter, ready to make a move. Everyone is tense because of the imminent demise of the Old Dragon. There is a lovely cover on this issue and we are awaiting the results of the political thrills.

Jay & Silent Bob: Jays of Future Past #1. Written by Kevin Smith and penciled by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & GURU-eFX. I also picked up a variant cover done by Jim Mahfood. Jay and Silent Bob make their first appearance in the Marvel Universe, interacting with a bunch of Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, X-Men, Deadpool, and the Avengers.

Jessica Jones: Alias Red Band #4. Written by Sam Humphries with art by Geraldo Borges. Cover art was done by David Mack. Things are not going well for Jessica Jones. She has been captured, put on trial for her connection to Typhoid Mary, and has seen her relationship with Luke Cage shaken, if not totally pulled apart. Then, she finds out that the demonic creature that she has been fighting is an agent of Mephisto. Rough times for the First lady of New York, for sure.

Captain Marvel: Dark Past #3. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Lucas Werneck with Eder Messias. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Captain Marvel has been captured and, after being called in by Spider-Woman, the Avengers are on her trail. Big boom though at the end of the issue. I have been really liking this new series with Carol at the center.

Mortal Thor #11. “Room At the Top” Written by Al Ewing with art by Jesus Saiz. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. Sigurd faced off with the Minotaur in the offices of Roxxon. The fight led to the CEO taking a flying crash out the window and finding him plummeting to the concrete bellow. He looked pretty dead at the end. But Sigurd has no break because Donald Blake showed up at the end.

Mark Spears Monsters #0. “All That Remains” Prelude: Have You Found the Yellow Sign? Written, illustrated and cover art by Mark Spears. We head down to Clown Town in this remastered edition of the FCB Day issue. I picked up four of the new covers for this book. Mark Spears continues to be a great artist on covers, even if he has not been as dominant in the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week competition in 2026 as he was in 2025.

Transformers #33. Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Jason Howard. I picked up cover F, the Energon Universe 3rd Anniversary variant by Tom Reilly. Optimus is trying to come to grips with the Autobot he is now, after losing the Matrix of Leadership. This is a fascinating struggle for Optimus, something we haven’t seen before.

The Sentry #4. Written by Paul Jenkins with art by Christian Rosado. Cover art was done by Alex Maleev. Bob finds a balance between the Sentry and the Void, and steps up to help save the Marvel Universe once again. He also finds a new replacement for his dog. This series ended with this issue, but I feel as if Sentry is staying around.

Fury of Firestorm #3. “The Fury-Part 3” Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Rafael De Latorre. Cover C variant art by Dustin Nguyen. We get to see the situation through the eyes of Professor Martin Stein and Stein shows himself to be not quite the good guy that we always thought he was. The angry Firestorm is on his way to Pittsburg. That does not sound good for Pittsburg.

Space Ghost #12. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Variant cover C art was done by Michael Cho. Space Ghost and Tempus the Time Master have a final face down and a major character bits the dust. Can Space Ghost get past the pain of the sacrifice or is this the end of the line for our hero?

Bishop #1. “Time After Time- Part 1” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Mario Santoro. Cover art was done by Davide Paratore. We get the beginning of some back story for Bishop and his sister Shard. Storm makes a guest appearance in this issue.

Baby Garfield #3. “Baby Garfield’s First Beach Day” by Jordan Morris and Thien Pham. “Baby Garfield’s First Thunderstorm” by Katie Cook and Jay Fosgitt. Cover art was done by Agnes Garbowska. The second story in this issue was my favorite as the first one felt like I had seen it before. Still a fun book

Ben 10 #2. Written by Joe Casey and art by Robert Carey. Cover art was done by Robert Carey and Ren Spiller. Another really enjoyable issue of Ben 10. I was not a fan of the cartoon, but this has been top notch so far. Dynamite seems to have a skill to create great books around some IPs that I don’t care much about.

Altered States: Warlords #1. “Red Sonja, Red Planet.” Written by David Avallone and art by Mariano Benitez Chapo. Cover art was done by Joseph Michael Linsner. Red Sonja gets transported to Mars and trouble ensues. The cover featured a group of characters such as Vampirella and who I assumed was Tarzan. We find out at the end of this issue that the one I did not recognize was John Carter. Such a intriguing mash-up.

Other books this week: Ghost Pepper #12, Blood & Thunder #14, Monsters in Love: A Pride Anthology #1, The Center Holds #4, The Thing on the Doorstep #5, and Lady Mechanika: The Mechanical Menagerie #2

Quick Hits: A new racing book from Image caught my attention this week as M1: Monster Racing League #1 came out. It has an intriguing premise and a fascinating new character named Dev. I saw a funny comparison that this book is like K-Pop Demon Hunters and Fast and the Furious combined. Tigress Island #4 went kind of wild this month with several of our characters biting the big one with bullets to the head. Rough for some. Speed Racer #9 saw Speed getting drugged accidentally, making him become crazed and reckless… more than normal. The final issue of Archie x The Army of Darkness #5 came out this week with Archie finally being able to finish reading from the Necronomicon. New comic from Bad Idea this week was Tankers vs. Ancient Aliens #1 and this thing was wild. Dinosaurs and military men. The Hollywood Reporter said of Tankers… “Absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible.” Speaking of ridiculous, Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater Presents: Godzilla’s the Odyssey #1 was dropped this week. Wild. Disney’s Ursula #4 continued to be a surprising read for me as I can not believe that it has engaged me as much as it has. Alien King Killer #3 conflict among the people of the story. Brotherly conflict can be some of the best in literature. The zombies are getting ready for their big hunt at the mall. Conan & Dragonero #2 sees Conan and Dragonero fight and then team up. Surprised? Not really. Dead by Deadlight #3 sees quite the slaughter this issue. Some of them I was happy to see go. The two issue mini-series from Bad Idea, Hank Howard-Pizza Detective: A Slice of Life #2 ended this week and they announced another Hank Howard book for later in the year. The Nice House by the Sea #10 feels like the series is going to be closing soon as some major things are revealing.

March 29

What a massive week. I got so many books this week. Then, there were multiple issues of Superman/Spider-Man books that I got, plus five of the new Mark Spears book. Maybe it wasn’t as big of a week if there weren’t as many variants this week.

Comic of the Week

Feral #22

Feral is one of the most consistently entertaining comic books every month. Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez have brought us one of the best horror series on the market and a thoroughly engaging and thrilling. And who would have guessed that? This issue is also huge as it ends with the shocking reveal of the upcoming crossover between Feral and Stray Dogs.

They continue to have the best horror movie themed variant covers too.

Books this week:

Superman/Spider-Man #1. “Truth, Justice and Great Responsibility” Written by Mark Waid and art by Jorge Jimenez. The big crossover between the two most iconic characters of their company is pretty cool. This first one is from DC Comics. There are a bunch of stories in the book that are all fun too. There are many covers to the book, of which I picked up seven of them.

MidKnight Man #1. Written, drawn and cover art by Mark Spears. The new comic from Mark Spears is all about a superhero who dubs himself the MidKnight Man. Again, I picked up five covers of this because I do love Mark Spears’s cover art. The book itself was okay. I was not as into it as I usually am for the Mark Spears Monsters books. There were several funny meta jokes in the book too, which I am always down for. The book says that #2 will be coming out later this year, which is funny too. When? Who knows?

White Sky #2. Written by William Harms and art and cover art by JP Mavinga. I also grabbed the Invincible special variant cover for this book, also done by JP Mavinga. Violet is removed from her father and she has to face the brutality and horrors of the world on her own. What is out there that she will run into? White Sky continued its compelling storytelling from issue one. There is a lot of visual storytelling in this book, which I enjoy tremendously.

Phantom of the Opera#2. Written by Tyler Boss and art and cover art by Martin Simmonds. The latest Universal Monsters book from Image has some absolutely tense moments in it. I have to say, the artwork of Martin Simmonds, which is definitely unlike most artists, really works well for this series. It provides that sinister tone to it and you are never quite at ease.

Ripcord #2. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Aneke. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Bronze medalist). Dillion is in search of her sister, and she is not going to let any Australian rednecks get in her way. She shows the kind of bad ass that she is in this issue with some seriously graphic moments, specifically with a rail gun. Move over Arnold, Dillion is here now!

Amazing Spider-Man #25. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ed McGuinness & Marte Gracia. While Spidey, Venom (Mary Jane) and Carnage (Eddie Brock) are trying to stop Torment, they are afraid that Torment is after their family members. They race to get to Aunt May and Aunt Anna in time… when they realize that it is not Peter and MJ’s family that they needed to worry about. Hey there, Dylan Brock.

The Punisher #2. Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Jose Luis Soares. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Guru-eFX. Microchip and Frank are looking for a doctor to help figure out what is wrong with Frank. Hint… most everything. Jigsaw is making a move too.

Fantastic Four #9. Written by Ryan North with pencils by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The Fantastic Four is facing off with another dimensional Sue Storm and she is hugely kick-ass. There are a couple of scenes with our Sue having her head turn invisible by Invincible Woman and it is disturbing as can be. No thank you, please.

Uncanny X-Men #25. “Where Monsters Dwell” Finale. Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez & Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson. The X-Men wrap up their fight with the monsters as Rogue stepped up big time as leader of this group. I loved the appearance of these monster characters that we do not get as much as we could.

Rafael Garcia: Henchman #1. Written by Peter Murrieta & D.E. Schrader with art by Ben Herrera. Cover art by Kit Wallis. This new series from Titan Comics features as character who is a member of a criminal organization as a henchman and he is looking to advance to an open position, more of a leadership role. This is the first ever henchman interview in comics. A fun first issue.

Is Ted Ok? #2. Clearly the answer is no. Written, drawn and cover art by Dave Chisholm. Ted is finding unexpected things at his work and they are playing on his psyche. Not 100% sure what is real and what might just be inside Ted’s head. And I like it that way. So far, this has been an entertaining read and I am curious to find out what is going on around Ted’s workplace. Why does he need to be watched? Questions abound.

Hyde Street #11. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Ivan Reis. Cover art was done by Ivan Reis & Danny Miki with Brad Anderson. We dive into the past of Pranky and we see how the Butcher of Hyde Street is freed from his prison. Things do not look like they are going to turn out well for the residents of Hyde Street. I loved cover A on this book and it nearly found its way into the medals this week. It just came up short.

The Flash #31. “The Speed was Power, and the Speed was Joy” Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Gavin Guidry. Cover ary was done by Gavin Guidry and Giovanna Niro. I wanted to give Flash a try this week. I have always liked the character and with Ryan North taking over the writing duties on the book, I thought I would give it a try. The book featured Wally West and it was really pretty cool, including a wild online campaign to cause trouble for the Flash. I love Ryan North’s work on the Fantastic Four, so I hope it is as excellent for the Flash.

Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #2. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Luca Maresca. Cover art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Wolverine, who is in search of a group of missing mutants, comes across David Colton, the unknown Captain America (which Zdarsky wrote about in the new Captain America series) and they have to face off with Nuke. Zdarsky has some excellent ideas about these characters and I think this is the most compelling that Nuke has been in ages.

Iron Man #3. “Forged in Fire” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. Iron Man is trying to get MODOK to lead him to Madame Masque, while trying to keep the giant head alive from AIM. Not sure Tony really wants to find her.

Detective Comics #1107. “Flight Part One” Written by Tom Taylor and art by Pete Woods. Cover art was done by Mikel Janin. Green Arrow and Black Canary move into Gotham City and immediately cause problems for Batman, messing up one of his undercover operations. Tom Taylor is another of the great writers that I feel can do no wrong and this is a great example of his solid work.

The New Avengers #10. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. The Killuminati storyline comes to a close, as does this version of the Avengers. It was fun at the end to see Captain Marvel and Iron Man chastising Bucky for putting together this team and not letting them in on the clones running around. Oh, and we almost got Baron Zemo back. Sorry Zemo. No go.

Rogue #3. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Luigi Zagaria. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. Rogue, whose powers are going bad, is in search of answers from her past. Those answers have led her to find Constrictor.

Final Boss #5. “Stage 5: Red Sands” Written by Tyler Kirkham and art by Tyler Kirkman with David Miller. Cover G art was done by Tyler Kirkman (Gold medalist). The first arc of this book ended with issue five. Tommy is in full battel mode where as he even discovers a fire wings power. I was given the G cover in my pull box for this series, which is a cool and very bloody cover with Tommy fighting Invincible.

Minor Arcana #15. “The Ballad of Budd St. Pierre: 1981-1983” Written, illustrated and cover art by Jeff Lemire. We get a back story for the character of Budd St. Pierre, told fully in a flashback to the early 1980s. It was a very difficult story with some tragedy in the tale. I like this type of issue as it helps flesh out some of the important supporting characters.

Justice League Unlimited #17. “Aftermath: Part One” Written by Mark Waid and art by Clayton Henry. Cover art was done by Dan Mora. The tournament participants return to the Watchtower, except Superman. Wonder Woman comes up with an idea… put some villains on a Justice League team. Batman ain’t too happy (course when is he…).

The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #2.Written by Chris Condon with art and cover art by Jacob Phillips. I also picked up the C Cover variant by Leandro Fernandez (Silver Medalist). Ezra Cain is investigating a couple of cases, one dealing with the missing husband of Mrs. Meyer and the missing artifact the Anvil of Hephaestus. This new Vertigo book is one of the best. Awesome noir style cover too.

Ultimate Endgame #3. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. Ultimate Carnage showed up and actually killed Peter Parker. I was shocked that they did this, complete with scenes by Mary Jane, but this certainly signals that the Ultimate universe is truly coming to an end.

Department of Truth #36. “Deviation 9: Beauty and the Beast.” Written by James Tynion IV and art by Ben Templesmith. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. We are in the early 1990s and the focus of the new arc of The Department of truth is cable TV and the media. There are some wild images through this book as we meet a character watching TV all day.

Wiccan: Witches’ Road #4. Written by Wyatt Kennedy with art by Andy Pereira. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Wiccan has lost the power of the Demiurge, but he has found himself a reunion with his mother Wanda, his brother Tommy and Storm (for some reason). Then, it looks like Kate Bishop may be on her way too for next issue. A Young Avengers reunion!

Absolute Wonder Woman #18. “Season of the Witch Part 3” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. Diana loses an arm again! And Zatanna comes to help her… leading to another conflict.

Other books this week: Dungeons of Doom #3, Inglorious X-Force #3, Marvel Knights: The Punisher #4, Fantastic Four: First Foes #1, Return to Sleepy Hollow #5, Deadly Hands of K’un-Lun #2, Generation X-23 #2, Absolute Martian Manhunter #10, and The Center Holds #2.

Quick Hits: I picked up Sherlock Holmes The Dark Detective Special: Doctor Nikola and the Soldier Legacy #1, from IPI Comics. It is always a challenge because it seems as if IPI Comics never puts a price on the cover and the shop won’t accept the fact that it means it is free. Their web site did not have a listed price either. I finally found proof of cost on the In This Issue Comics website. By the way, there is no Sherlock Holmes in this book either. Just Brutal #2 came out this week and I had pulled both the A and B covers for some reason. I must have messed up while putting it on my list, because there does not seem to be any reason why I wanted the variant cover for this. Liquidator #5 from Mad Cave ended with this issue. I had lost interest in the book a few issues ago. I read through Conan the Barbarian #30 this week. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It showed Conan’s strategy as well. Spirit of the Shadows #3 from Oni Press is such a weird book. Its art is very reminiscent of Steve Ditko to me. W0rldtr33 #19 resumed this week. It has a disturbing, yet beautiful cover that was another one that I heavily considered for the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. I watched the first three episodes of Invincible on Amazon Prime this weekend, and it feels like it is reaching the part of the story taking place in the facsimile of Invincible Returns #1, that I picked up this week. Void Rivals #28 sees part 4 of 6 in the Quintesson War story arc. Honor and Curse: Eternal #1 is new from Mad Cave. I have seen this cover several times and I was hoping it would still be on the stands. It was, and it was an interesting read. Godzilla Infinity Roar #2 sees Galactus eat Godzilla, but big purple does not have it go well. Get Galactus some Alka-Seltzer. Sai Dimensional Rivals #3 saw Sai continue to search for the Seventh Stone across the dimensions. And then, finally, it was Florida Hippopotamus Cocaine Massacre #2 which is a hugely satirical comic with lots to say about our political world these days, tucked away in this comic book.