EYG Comic Cavalcade #216

August 15

This is the final EYG Comic Cavalcade before I go back to school next week. It has been so great being able to read the comics with plenty of time and still get this out early in the weekend. That will change as the time will become limited and, with the number of books I buy, I can’t see me getting this done until late Sunday, if not early next week. Still, I am dedicated to getting this post out as soon as possible.

Comic of the Week

Cult-De-Sac #1

This week’s Comic of the Week is the new horror based comic by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Fico Ossio for Ignition Press.

We have seen the idea of a Homeowners Association being evil before such as the X-Files episode Arcadia, but making it into a cult was a cool twist.

What I liked most about this issue is how much time they spend setting things up, including introducing characters and observing the setting. They could have immediately jumped into the cult, but the story takes time to establish what they needed to in order to build the suspense and the concern for the Hanson family, moving into this new world. Great stuff.

Books this Week:

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1. “Level 1: Sins of the Father.” Written by Bryan Edward Hill with art by Nico Leon. Cover art was done by Simone Di Meo. The foil cover variant was done by Pere Perez (Gold Medalist). Miles returned to his black outfit as a new volume kicked off for the youngster. Miles has to take the concept of the movie Speed to a whole new level to keep a person from exploding. It is great to have Miles back in his own book.

Spider-Versity #5. “Most School Spirit.” Written by Jordan Morris & Joe Kelly with art by Pere Perez. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Edgar Delgado. In order to save one of the students, Norman Osborn takes back the symbiote that turned him into Red Goblin, forcing the Spiders to stop him. The end of the book saw Jessica Drew with the remainder of the symbiote, hinting at something new for her.

Infernal Hulk #10. “The Riddle Game.” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Adam Gorham. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. I picked up a Spider-Man: Brand New Day variant cover by Mauro Cascioli. This is the final issue of the Infernal Hulk, but the story is continuing on through a series of one shots, leading to a major Hulk story arc. This monstrous Hulk has been very fascinating as this story progressed and I do like what Phillip Kennedy Johnson is building here.

Barbara Gordon: Breakout #4. “The Reason and the Why.” Written by Mariko Tamaki with art by Amancay Nahuelpan. Cover art was done by Karl Kerschl. Variant cover E art was done by Mark Spears. Officer Myrna Shelton is now in the prison for backup for Barbara Gordon. It is a good thing as Barbara needs it badly.

Absolute Batman #23. “The Straw Man Part 5.” Written by Scott Snyder with art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. Clayface makes his presence known in a brutal way, shape shifting into Batman and killing Tim Drake of the Robins. By doing so, he is framing Batman in the public eye. The book recreated the iconic moment where Batman held the dead body of Robin in his arms (though it was originally Jason Todd who he held).

D’Orc #7. “A Bit Bogged Down.” Written, drawn and cover art by Brett Bean. D’Orc is reeling form the discovery of the truth of his father and he comes across a nice woman who is seemingly wanting to help him. Sadly, she is a succubus and Bog-Men are at her beck in call. D’Orc is a consistently entertaining book that I look forward to every month.

Fury of Firestorm #5. “The Fury” Part 5. Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Rafael De Latorre. Cover art was done by Rafael De Latorre and Marcelo Maiolo. Firestorm is facing with dual time periods as Firehawk tried to reach Robbie while Hawkman and other JL members try to stop Firestorm. I think only Jeff Lemire can tell this story without it being overly convoluted.

X-Men #35. “A Gift.” Written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Tony S. Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. This issue served as a prelude to the upcoming DNX arc. We have an existential crisis for Hank McCoy, and he believed that Illyana Rasputin is someone who could help him. Hank had to face the fact that the leader of the 3K is just another version of himself and Illyana’s own Darkchilde made her the perfect foil for Beast.

The Twilight Zone #10. “A Life Well Lived.” Written by Rosemary Soule & Charles Soule with art and cover art by Sean Peacock. A couple of girls find their way to an underground bunker where their arrival puts the entire world in jeopardy. These individual stories in The Twilight Zone book have done a great job of creating the mood and the feel of the original series.

The Punisher #7. “Collateral Damage.” Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Guru-eFX. Frank Castle goes head-to-head with the new villain Collateral Damage. Collateral Damage was a victim of a shootout Frank had had in his past and C.D. was back with some awesome specialty bullets to try and finish off Frank.

Showdown #3. Written by Dave Wielgosz and illustrated by Tadd Galusha. Cover art was done by Steve Lieber & Jack Cole. Trisha is preparing for her massive showdown with Harvey, but she was beginning to doubt whether or not the revenge was worth it. I do like it that they are making this deeper than just a revenge story.

Rascal Randy #2. Written by Tyler Boss and featuring art and cover art by Dylan Burnett. Who could guess that a cartoon creation named Rascal Randy could cause such problems for its creator, Elias Friedman? The origin of the assassin from Exquisite Corpses rolls on with the second of five issues in this mini series. I like the different format of the story, with the flashbacks told in a different color/shade.

Venom #260. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank D’Armata. Cover B cover art was done by Tim Seeley. In this Queen of Black crossover, Venom #260 focused on the history of Dylan Brock and his relationship with Eddie Brock.

Seven Wives #3. Written by Zoe Tunnell with art by Tesslyn Bergin-Dicoi. Cover art was done by Keyla Valerio. The mystery of who killed cult leader Matthew Dunn wrapped up in this short mini series. It was an interesting end to the story, but I am not sure it was completely satisfying. This felt like it was too short of a series and this story could have used another issue or so.

Batman & Robin Year One: Dynamic Duos #1. Written by Mark Waid with art by Chris Samnee. Variant cover D art was done by Hayden Sherman. This issue featured the cult of Barbatos, which funny enough, I had never heard of until recently when I watched the second season of Batman: The Caped Crusader on Amazon Prime. This also included Catwoman with another girl alone on the streets.

Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #2. Written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with art by Fran Galan. Variant cover C art was done by Hayden Sherman. The Clayface book has been very solid so far, and I actually felt bad for some of the side characters we met in this issue. Of course, the book is meant to help build toward the DCU movie Clayface that comes out in October, and I think it has accomplished that goal.

Wolverine #25. “Eruption.” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. The final showdown with the doctor who stole Logan’s healing factor, Alpha Flight and Wolverine takes place on the edge of an active volcano. Never a good place for a fight. It is nice to get this story over with so Logan can be back to his normal way with his healing factor. I don’t mind stories like this, but it was so obvious that he was getting the healing factor back that it took away most of the stakes.

X-Men United #6. “Shadow Play Pt. 2.” Written by Eve L. Ewing & Evan Narcisse with pencils by Tiago Palma & Eduardo Pansica. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli & Federico Blee. The X-Men have to face off with a dark and evil version of themselves as the team is trying to reunite.

Transformers #35. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Jason Howard. Variant cover C art was done by Jason Howard & Annalisa Leoni. Optimus Prime responds to a fierce fight involving Cliffjumper, Shredhead, and the Combaticons. General Flagg and Doctor Arkeville stabilize Shredhead using spare parts from Onslaught. I have a feeling that those spare parts from a Decepticon will not turn out well.

The Trillion Dollar Kid #2. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Peter J. Tomasi. Variant cover C art was done by Stefano Simeone. The crossover with Hornsby & Halo and the Rocketfellers concluded with this issue as they are able to prevent the early start of the Robot War and the saving of Tommy’s friend robot, Sterling. Tommy has not found his parents yet, but it seemed as if he was continuing his search via other “Unbelievables.” I like Tommy, but, again, this felt a little short for a crossover event. I do appreciate Ghost Machine’s efforts to do a crossover though.

Generation X-23 #7. “Homecoming.” Written by Jody Houser and art by Marco Renna. Cover art was done by Partha Pratim Sarkar & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Wolverine (without his healing factor) showed up coincidentally where Laura and the others were hiding out. I have started to enjoy this book more with each issue and this one might be my favorite of the series so far. I like the use of Wolverine here and I like how he did not have the healing factor, keeping things in continuity.

Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #4. Written by Ande parks and illustrated by Ronan Cliquet. Cover art was done by Declan Shalvey. . In this chapter, Tyler and his team arrive in the Philippines to face a heavily fortified city controlled by a hostile adversary named Molina. Tyler Rake has been an enjoyable mercenary in this book so far.

The Dogsitter #2. Written by Jamie S. Rich and illustrated by Megan Levens. Variant cover B art was done by Cully Hamner. I grabbed the second issue of this book this week after not being sure what this book was going to be about. I expected issue one to have some twist, but it turned out to be basically a romance comic. However, I have liked reading this, and I suppose you could say that a different genre of comic that is not apocalyptic, vampire or techno is a good thing.

Other books this week: Ghost Pepper #13, Honor and Curse: Eternal #5, Blood & Thunder #16, Gastronomique #1, X-Men ’97 #3, Malevolent #6, Did You Hear About Mimi Green? #3, Planet Atmos: Exordium #4, and The Nice house By the Sea #11.

Quick Hits: Godzilla finds himself in the Roar of the Worlds #1, the latest Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theater book from IDW. I saw Gail Simone express her admiration for Godzilla books lately on BlueSky and she is right. Godzilla seems to be able to fit into any story well. Vertigo’s Bleeding Hearts #7 sees more zombie action and the strange POV of Poke. I don’t usually pick up facsimile books and I pick up even less Archie books, but the covers for this week’s Archie Facsimile Edition #16 (Laugh #166) featured two covers parodying the covers of two of my all-time favorite Beatles albums, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. I was just unable to turn them down. Of the Earth #4 was back among the medal winners in this week’s EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week with a bronze medal. Charles Adlard has been a very exceptional cover artist for that series, medaling several times. Dark Horse had a couple of books out this week that were fun and intriguing, that being The Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I. Live#2 and Beast of Boriken #2. Another number two this week was Starhenge Book Two: A Kiss for Atticus #2 by Liam Sharp. This book feels just so epic and the art is breathtaking. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little confused with the story though. Queen in Black: Thor #1 gives us a dual story of Sigurd Jarlson and Beta Ray Bill. More Asgardian adventures fill up the Doctor Strange #9 book as Strange continues his mantel as Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard. Hank Howard returned with more noir pizza adventures in Hank Howard Pizza Detective in The Fair Play #1 from Bad Idea. I grabbed a beautiful B cover of this book that came up short on the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week, but is still a lovely piece of art by Mico Suayan. More drama from beneath the earth’s surface goes down in Innards #3. Then, Just Brutal #5 from Ignition Press keeps the pressure on the ascension of these kids into the new heroes of the book.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #215

August 7

Good morning all. Here is the first August edition of the EYG Comic Cavalcade. Summer is flying by and I have been enjoying my time off. My friend Todd is off on an adventure to Connecticut to go to a comic convention in search of wild signatures ranging in price. Good luck, Todd.

This week saw a group of ashcans released at the comic shops and I picked up several of them. There was the Kai-Sei Era Preview: Godzilla, Dark Horse’s Canto: The Clockwork Chronicles, Any Given Smile/You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive from ID Dark, and Star Trek/Start Trek: Zero Point. Ashcans can be a fun little preview and, at times, surprisingly collectible.

Comic of the Week

The Omega Book #1

A new Mad Cave book came out this week with a couple of cool covers, both A and a couple of variants. Written by James Patrick and illustrated by Pauli Junquera, we have another new book that features a protagonist that is a priest. Of course, Ordained was a huge hit for Bad Idea, and if The Omega Book can reach that level of entertainment, we’ll be in great shape.

It feels very different from Ordained, however, as this deals more with a mysterious book that holds the secrets of the universe. There is a family tie in the story as well, grounding what could have been a wild cosmic ride.

Books this week:

Fantastic Four #15. “Somewhere, Something Incredible…” Chapter One. Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover A art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. I also picked up cover E by Kris Anka (Gold Medalist). IT FINALLY HAPPENED! THE REAL CELEBRATION OF THE FF’S 65 ANNIVERSARY… JOHNNY STORM GOT RID OF THE MUSTACHE!!!!!! I’ve hated that mustache and with Johnny getting rid of it, the FF book is perfect again. Okay, that may be a touch hyperbolic, but I am glad it is gone. Ryan North even used the end of the mustache as a major story bit. Hallelujah.

Endeavour #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art and cover art by Mark Laming. This might be the final DSTLRY book that started before the company’s troubles only to be delayed for months. This was one of my favorites before the shut down and I enjoyed this finale. This felt very much like Lord of the Flies on a deserted ship with a scary virus. The ending is nearly exactly like Lord of the Flies.

Uncanny X-Men #33. “Wild Ride,” Chapter One: “A Different Kind of Prison” Written by Gail Simone and art by Luciano Vecchio. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. As Rogue and Gambit go to see Gabriel, Devil Hunter for help with the evil inside Remy, the New Mutants (formerly the Outliers) are struggling with the departure of their parental figures. Another strong new story arc from Gail Simone. Uncanny X-Men has been my favorite X-book for awhile now.

Queen in Black #2. Written by Al Ewing with art by Iban Coello & Paco Medina. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, & Frank Martin. After issue number one from last week, issue two followed up on the action with the Symbiote Intelligence. Dylan Brock is also front and center in this story as there is a coming of age arc inside the giant crossover.

The Smart Division #1. Written by Zack Kaplan and illustrated and cover art by John J. Pearson. A new mystery series from Dark Horse paired up an odd couple of FBI agents to investigate what seems to be the perfect crime. How does AI factor into this story? Set five minutes in the future, this is a clever book with a great premise.

Amazing Spider-Man #34. Written by Joe Kelly and penciled by Ed McGuinness. Cover art was done by Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz. I also picked up Cover E by Simone Di Meo (Bronze Medalist). Spidey and Agent Griffyn team up again, this time to face off with Electro. Meanwhile, the new wrinkle in Peter’s life, Cormac, is getting closer with Aunt May as this series continues its march to #1000 Legacy.

Power Rangers: Green #1. “The Dragon’s Grave” Written by Paul Allor with art by Gustaffo Vargas. Cover C art was done by Chris Mooneyham and cover F foil was done by Tony Harris (Silver Medalist). I am not a big fan of the Power Rangers, but I did like the character of Tommy Oliver, so when I heard the green Ranger was getting the future apocalypse/loner treatment like Last Ronin did for the Turtles, I gave this a chance. Tommy was not as alone as I expected in the book, but it was a fun enough read to continue on with the Boom! Studios comic.

White Sky #5. Written by William Harms and art and cover art was done by JP Mavinga. Violet is in all kinds of trouble as she is in search of her father. The ghosts all around her are only getting more dangerous and the chance of a ghostly invasion increases. White Sky has been a great series so far and the personal note at the end of the issue from writer William Harms gives us even more insight into his mind when creating this story.

Chachu #1. Written by Iman Vellani and art and cover art by Marianna Ignazzi. Written by Ms. Marvel actor Iman Vellani, this is the story of a 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian girl who goes to California with Hollywood plans, only to meet up with her uncle, whose wife has disappeared. The pair team up to try and solve the mystery.

Minor Arcana #17. “The Lovers: Part Two” Written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Jeff Lemire & Letizia Cadonici. The relationship between Teresa and Missy is investigated through a series of flashbacks as they search for Brad inside the Edgewater Hotel pocket dimension.

Ripcord #5. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Aneke. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Dillon has been searching the Australian Outback for her missing sister, Janelle, and trying to avoid the creatures that had been created by the drug called “Ripcord.” The series ended with this issue, leaving us on an odd final line from Dillon, insinuating that she was not going home despite saving her sister. Not sure what that was meant to imply, but the book has been a great read, especially with some of the best art/colors of any book on the stand.

The Deadman #3. “Helter Skelter” Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art and cover art by Martin Morazzo. Deadman takes a trip to Hell. The story is told in a remarkably original fashion very much in the style of Ice Cream Man. I have mentioned that before when talking about this series, but this issue is truly one that uses that style. Looks as if Deadman is heading in the opposite direction next issue, so there could be some fireworks.

Iron Man #8. “Attack of Whiplash” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. The villainous Whiplash is back to challenge Tony. There is a second Whiplash that showed up at the end of the book. And, who is the new Citizen V? Lots of things going on with the new Iron Man book which is also building toward Legacy #700.

Royals #5. Written by Derek Kirk Kim with art and cover art by Jacob Perez. Paul and Castor have been reunited in their attempt to rescue the other twins, Minah and Minee. Royals has been a lot of fun through five issues, and next issue will be the conclusion.

Ben 10 #4. “Man of Action” Written by Steven T. Seagle with art and cover art by Robert Carey. Ben and his family go to the circus. Nothing could happen there, right? Unless there is a giant scary clown as the main attraction of the circus… along with other weird bug type creatures. Add to the trouble that Ben is having his own struggles with the band and it all comes out with trouble.

She-Spawn #4. “How We Murdered Each Other” Written by Gail Simone with art by Ig Guara. Cover art was done by John McCrea. Our hero, Jessica Priest has to deal with the problem of the Terror Angels closing in on her and young Al. She also has to deal with the conversation of the future between the two of them. She-Spawn has been one of the biggest surprises for me this year as I never thought I would be this engaged in she-Spawn.

Fort Psycho #1. Written by Matt Kindt and art and cover art done by Brian Hurtt. An elite group of agents that had been formed by the government to prevent a major act of terror from the underground network called the Seven Seals, but the final conflict resulted in a terrible tragedy. Now the former operatives were sent to an island to serve their sentences. This was different than I expected, but I liked it a lot.

From Parts Unknown #4. Written by Adriano Ariganello with art and cover art by Daniel Caval. After the murder of Pietro, Bruno explodes and brutally attacks everyone around. However, this is exactly what the vampires wanted. Little did we know that death may not have held a finality for Pietro. The penultimate issue of this series was a bloody good time.

The Accessories #1. Written by David Dastmalchian and Leah Kilpatrick with art by Patrick Piazzalunga. Cover art was done by Lukas Ketner. Igor is tired of being overlooked by Doctor Frankenstein. Renfield is trying again to escape from the clutches of Count Dracula. Can the pair team up and accomplish what they have always desired? This is a clever idea and I really like the art in the book.

Captain America #14. “Hell’s Angel” Part 3. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Steve Rogers and Victor Von Doom persist in their attempt to recruit an army to do battle with Mephisto in Hell. Cap gets the bad news in this issue that one of the head people in Mephisto’s charge is the Red Skull.

Wade Wilson: Deadpool #7. “Badpools–Part 2” Written by Benjamin Percy adn art by Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Alex Sinclair. Wade Wilson is fighting against his body pieces. This is a weird and wild arc for Wade. He is still dealing with his own loss which is the more interesting part of the issue.

Batman #12. “Verity” Written by Matt Fraction with art and cover art by Jorge Jimenez. We have the debut of Verity Pennyworth, the niece of Alfred and Verity has arrived to take her uncle’s place beside Batman. She wins over Damian, which was never a certain.

Marc Spector: Moon Knight #7. “House Hunting” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cover art was done by Paulo Siqueira & Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight recruited the new Midnight Sons to help him retrieve his friends and allies from the Mansion Ravenous. However, I guess you can never trust Moon Knight as he turned Daredevil, Blade and Ghost Rider over to Achilles Fairchild in exchange. I did not see that coming.

Absolute Superman #22. “Metallo” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferreyra. Cover art was done by Juan Ferreyra & Ulises Arreola. Superman must fight the Absolute Metallo, who was the former Peacemaker Christopher Smith and the Kryptonite in Metallo is causing all sorts of trouble for Superman. All this with Brainiac on the outside looking in. This was a strong issue with Superman having to use more than just his power to stop Metallo.

Neighborhood Watch #4. Written by Sarah Gailey and illustrated and cover art by Haining. Bianca and Val are trying to protect Jill as past lies and her abuser catch up with her. We learn that Jill’s husband Erik may have been abusing her and could be the reason she is in a coma now. Bianca got caught by him as she looked for evidence in Jill’s house.

What If…? Captain America #1. “What If Captain America was Revived in 2099?” Written by Marc Guggenheim and art by Ron Lim. Cover art was done by Lucas Werneck. Steve Rogers was not found by the Avengers in this tale from Uatu the Watcher. Instead, he is revived in 2099 with the heroes of the time battling against Alchemax Stark-Fujikawa (the A.S.F.) and Steve faces off with the president of the United States… Red Skull!

Other Books this Week: Marvel Tokon First Strike #1, X-Men of Apocalypse: Omega #1, Marvel Rivals: Origins of the Hood #1, Lost Fantasy #11, 100 Bullets: The US of Anger #2, Bludwire #2, Conan & Dragonero #4, and Absolute Green Lantern #17.

Quick Hits: This week we saw the completion of the latest BBC Doctor Who book with Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker-Dawn of the Daleks #2. It featured the iconic Doctor villains, The Daleks, and their …origin? I’m not sure the time frame of this book, but I do like this snarky Doctor. Comics! The Magazine #6 is out this week with the Violence & Mayhem issue. The magazine featured an interview Matt Kindt and Brian Hurtt about the new Oni Press book Fort Psycho. The Other/Half #4 sees the reunion of Henry and Ethan. Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook #5 concluded with a group of characters from Hyde Street. I love the handbook style Ghost Machine gave us and this issue had an interior different than the others. It is 65 years of Fantastic Four comics so to celebrate, Marvel released the Fantastic Four: 65 Years of the World’s Greatest Comic Covers #1. It is an interesting book that does give us all of the FF covers from their first issue from the 1960s. There are several stories from the life of Mary Jane Watson in Mary Jane: Face It Tiger #1. MJ is one of my favorite NPCs so I love that she gets the respect that she deserves. Bad Idea is at it again with a weird book called ReALLIGATOR #1. I did like this one more than the banana one from a few weeks ago, but this is certainly weird. Queen in Black has only one side book this week and it featured Eddie Brock. In Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #1 we follow Eddie in prison. There are just so many symbiotes in the Marvel Universe, I would not be opposed to limiting those down to one or two. Gotham Academy: First Year #6 ends its run with this book, which still sets Batman up as an antagonist for Olive Silverlock. MASK #3 was released, continuing the Energon Universe. Punchline and the Vaude-Villains vs. Violante #1 from Hero Tomorrow Comics is back, which apparently was a former book as well. Then, Babylon Cove #3 came out this week. The protagonist of this book, Heather, is not a very likeable character, and her hometown is getting a reminder of that. However, there seemed to be something more going down than just Heather’s rants. Dead Teenagers #5 wrapped its run this week with a “kind of” happy ending.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

I am a massive Spider-Man fan. I am unapologetic about that. I expected that going into Spider-Man: Brand New Day this afternoon. Maybe I am not necessarily the most unbiased reviewer you’ll see. However, I have been consciously working on being more fair and balanced about MCU movies.

Having said that, I LOVED this movie.

Peter Parker is struggling with his isolated lifestyle after the world forgets that Peter Parker exists (thanks to the Dr. Strange spell). Peter has thrown himself into his Spidey work, teaming up with NYPD to help bring down the criminal elements of the city. A mysterious powered person brings a ton of chaos to the city, Damage Control and Spidey.

I am not going to spoil anything in my review at this point. I am going to try to cover these points as generally as I can.

Performances are top notch. Tom Holland does a remarkable job as Peter Parker, playing the sadness of his life has engulfed him in. I have heard a lot of reviews calling this a much more mature performance from Holland, and that is a perfect description.

Sadie Sink, lips closed on her character, was unbelievable from the moment she was on the screen. She is such an accomplished actor and I think she is going to be an utter star in the world of the MCU.

The relationship between Peter and Frank Castle, played by the wonderful Jon Bernthal, is one of the best ones in the film. I found their pairing to be so great, unexpectedly so. Bernthal and Holland have great chemistry with each other, which you also see in The Odyssey, that Spidey and Punisher, one of the biggest odd couples you’ll see, sparkle together in dialogue, especially.

We know from the trailers that the Hulk has made a return in this film and the scenes with Hulk and Spidey are some of the best of the film. The action is spectacular. Mark Ruffalo does a fabulous job in the role as Bruce Banner, and, after so many years playing the role (since Avengers in 2012), he has such a grasp on Banner.

The special effects and action in Brand New Day is some of the best of any of the Spider-Man movies. Director Destin Daniel Cretton, who brought such a gravitas to Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, shows us once again that he can handle action and fight scenes as well as anyone. There were a bunch of shots that were spectacular.

The film uses the supporting cast of previous Spidey movies, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, just about perfectly. You can feel Peter’s grief over the loss of them as friends and how he is struggling to move on without them. This is the best performance of Zendaya in any of the Spider-Man movies.

One would think that this movie would be packed too full with all of the characters and storylines, but that is not a problem. The film has extraordinary pacing that works so well.

The film showed Spider-Man in the way that I believe he should be shown. The choices he made and the story beats with the character is just the way Spider-Man is portrayed.

I loved this movie and I will be going back to it again. There are so many fun things in the film and I can not wait to see it again.

5 stars

SDCC 2026- Friday

This post will be updated throughout the night. Friday means Eisner Award winners too, so it will be a lot to post today.

Trailers

Lanterns


Batman: Caped Crusader – Chronicles

Blade Runner 2099

DC COMICS

Batman of Two Worlds #1

DC Next Level

Batman: Bad Seeds

Rick Moranis makes an appearance at Spaceballs panel

Ignition Press celebrates their one year anniversary at SDCC, where it all began.

Eisner Awards

@cbccpodcast.bsky.social

Inductees into Will Eisner Hall of Fame

Colleen Doran, Denys Cowan, Mike Friedrich, Lee Marrs, Bud Plant, Mike Royer, Jeff Smith, Carol Tyler, Bob Bolling, Gerry Conway, Edwina Dumm, Oliver Harrington, Don Heck, Abe Kanegson, Paul S. Newman, Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Tom Palmer Sr., Go Nagai, Dave Sim, Jimmy SwinnertonAkira Toriyama, Rick Veitch, and Chris Ware.

Awards

Best Short Story

“Blood Harvest,” in Brain Damage, by Shintaro Kago, translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)

“The Curse Room,” in Brain Damage, by Shintaro Kago, translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)

“Football Is Not War,” by R. K. Russell and Wilfred Santiago, in Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project (Stacked Deck Press)

“Red Snapper in the Rea,” by Michael D. Kennedy, in Milk White Steed (Drawn & Quarterly)

“trAPPed” by Anand RK, Suparna Sharma, and Natalie Obiko Pearson (Bloomberg News)

____________________________________________________________

Best One-Shot/Single Issue

Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1, by Daniel Warren Johnson, James Harren, and Meredith McClaren (DC)

Absolute Martian Manhunter #1, by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez (DC)

Assorted Crisis Events #4, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki (Image)

Coin-Op no. 10: Wet Cement, by Peter and Maria Hoey (Coin-Op Books)

Ice Cream Man #43: “One Page Horror Stories,” by W. Maxwell Prince and others (Image)

Something Is Killing the Children: A Monster Hunter Walks into a Bar #1, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)


Best Continuing Series

Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and others (DC)

Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, and Mattia De Iulis (DC)

The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)

FML, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez (Dark Horse)

The Power Fantasy, by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard (Image)

Storm, by Murewa Ayodele, Lucas Werneck, and others (Marvel)


Best Limited Series

Absolute Martian Manhunter, by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez (DC)

Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring, by Patrick Horvath (IDW)

Bronze Faces, by Shobo, Shof, and Alexandre Tefenkgi (BOOM! Studios)

Crownsville, by Rodney Barnes and Elia Bonetti (Oni Press)

Everything Dead and Dying, by Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips (Image)

Out of Alcatraz, by Christopher Cantwell & Tyler Crook (Oni Press)


Best New Series

Assorted Crisis Events, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki (Image)

Batman Vol. 4, by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez (DC)

Black Cat, by G. Willow Wilson and Gleb Melnikov (Marvel)

Exquisite Corpses, by James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh, Pornsak Pichetshote, and others (Image)

Ghost Pepper, by Ludo Lullabi (Image)

Temporal, by Stephanie Williams and Asiah Fulmore (Mad Cave)


Best Publication for Early Readers

All the Hulk Feels, by Dan Santat (Abrams Fanfare/Marvel)

The Faraway Forest: Wally’s Route, by Debbie Fong (Chronicle Books)

The Fire-Breathing Duckling, by Frank Cammuso (TOON Books)

Night Light, by Michael Emberley (Holiday House)

Steve, A Rare Egg, by Kelly Collier (Kids Can Press)


Best Publication for Kids

The Cartoonists Club, by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud (Scholastic Graphix)

Chickenpox, by Remy Lai (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Creature Clinic, by Gavin Aung Than (First Second)

Night Chef: An Epic Tale of Friendship with a Side of Deliciousness! By Mika Song (Random House Graphic)

Oasis, by Guojing (Godwin Books/Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

A Song for You and I, by K. O’Neill (Random House Graphic)


Best Publication for Teens

Angelica and the Bear Prince, by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House Graphic)

Clementine: Book Three, by Tillie Walden (Image Skybound)

Everyone Sux But You, by K. Wroten (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Hello Sunshine, by Keezy Young (Little, Brown Ink)

This Place Kills Me, by Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux (Abrams Fanfare)

Trumpets of Death, by Simon Bournel-Bosson, translated by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe/Lerner)


Best Humor Publication

And to Think We Started as a Book Club, by Tom Toro (Andrews McMeel Universal)

Ew, It’s Beautiful: A False Knees Comics Collection, by Joshua Barkman (Andrews McMeel Universal)

The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt, by John Allison and Max Sarin (Dark Horse)

Jeff the Land Shark, by Kelly Thompson and Tokitokoro (Marvel)

Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

Spent: A Comic Novel, by Alison Bechdel (Mariner Books)


Best Anthology

Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project, edited by Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz (Stacked Deck Press)

DC Pride 2025, edited by Andrea Shea and Jillian Grant (DC)

Noir Is the New Black Season 2 (FairSquare Graphics)

2000AD 2026 Annual Featuring Judge Dredd, edited by Oliver Pickles (Rebellion)


Best Reality-Based Work

Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance, by Ben Passmore (Pantheon)

Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me, by Mimi Pond (Drawn & Quarterly)

Fela: Music Is the Weapon, by Jibola Fagbamiye and Conor McCreery (Amistad)

Globetrotters: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s World Tour, by Julian Voloj and Julie Rocheleau (Abrams ComicArts)

Muybridge, by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Daschert and Rob Aspinal (Drawn & Quarterly)

Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832, by Wilfrid Lupano and Stéphane Fert, translated by Montana Kane (ABLAZE)


Best Graphic Memoir

The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief, by Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)

My Life in 24 Frames Per Second, by Rintaro, translated by Montana Kane (Kana Manga US)

It Rhymes with Takei, by George Takei, Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger (Top Shelf)

Precious Rubbish, by Kayla E. (Fantagraphics)

Raised by Ghosts, by Briana Loewinsohn (Fantagraphics)

Talking to My Father’s Ghost: An Almost True Story, by Alex Krokus (Chronicle)


Best Graphic Album–New

Cannon, by Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)

Drome, by Jesse Lonergan (23rd St. Books)

The Fable of Erkling Woods, by Juni Ba (Goats Flying Press)

A Garden of Spheres, by Linnea Sterte (Peow2)

More Weight: A Salem Story, by Ben Wickey (Top Shelf)

Shadows of the Sea, by Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)


Best Graphic Album–Reprint

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Storybook Edition, by Patrick Horvath (IDW)

Ginseng Roots: A Memoir, by Craig Thompson (Pantheon)

Goes Like This, by Jordan Crane (Fantagraphics)

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen: The Deluxe Edition, by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)

Tongues, by Anders Nilsen (Pantheon)


Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, Book 1), by Tamora Pierce, adapted by Vita Ayala and Sama Beck (Abrams Fanfare)

The Compleat Angler: A Graphic Adaptation, by Izaak Walton, adapted by Gareth Brookes (SelfMadeHero)

Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition, by Sister Helen Prejean, adapted by Rose Vines and Catherine Anyango Grünewald (Random House)

Ghost Boys: The Graphic Novel, by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Setor Fiadzigbey (Little, Brown Ink)

Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel, by William Golding, adapted by Aimée De Jongh (Penguin Classics)

A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel, by Ursula K. Le Guin, adapted by Fred Fordham (Clarion Books)


Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Buff Soul, by Moa Romanova, translated by Melissa Bowers (Fantagraphics)

Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog, by Marc Torices, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Drawn & Quarterly)

In the End We All Die, by Tobias Aeschbacher, translated by Andrew Shields (Helvetiq)

Nocturnos, by Laura Perez, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)

Raging Clouds, by Yudori (Fantagraphics)

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, by Anaïs Flogny, translated by Dan Christensen (Abrams ComicArts)


Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia

Hirayasumi, vols. 4–7, by Keigo Shinzo, translated by Jan Mitsuko Cash (VIZ Media)

Land, vol. 1, by Kazumi Yamashita, translated by Kevin Gifford (Yen Press)

Purgatory Funeral Cakes, by Sanho, translated by Danny Lim (Dark Horse)

Tokyo Alien Bros., vols. 1–3, by Keigo Shinzo, translated by Casey Loe (VIZ Media)

Yan, vols. 1–2, by Chang Sheng, translated by Vanessa Liu (Titan Manga)


Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Arthur Ferrier’s Pin-Up Parade Box Set, edited by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)

Barnaby, vol. 5: 1950–1952, by Crockett Johnson, edited by Eric Reynolds and Philip Nel (Fantagraphics)

The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1928–1930, edited by J. Michael Catron and Bill Blackbeard (Fantagraphics)

Rea Irvin’s The Smythes, edited by R. Kikuo Johnson and Dash Shaw (NYRC)

Terminal Exposure: Comics, Sculpture, and Risky Behavior, by Michael McMillan, edited by Lucas Adams (NYRC)


Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

AKIRA Volumes 1–5 Hardcover Collection, by Katsuhiro Otomo, edited by Haruko Hashimoto, Ajani Oloye, and Lauren Scanlan (Kodansha USA Publishing)

The Atlas Comics Library No. 7: Girl Comics, edited by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo (Fantagraphics)

Comics of the Movement #1by Courtland Cox, Jennifer Lawson, Alfred Hassler, and Benton Resnik (Good Trouble Comics)

Hothead Paisan, by Diane DiMassa, organized by Anika Banister (NYRC)

Scream! The Specials 1985–2024, edited by Chiara Mestieri (Rebellion)

Weird Science Vol. 1 XXL, edited by Grant Geissman (TASCHEN)


Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Comic Art in Korea, by John A. Lent (University Press of Mississippi)

Comics of the Anthropocene: Graphic Narrative at the End of Nature, by José Alaniz (University Press of Mississippi)

Graphic Narratives of Resistance, by Jennifer Boum Make and Charly Verstraet (Edinburgh University Press)

Latinx Comics Studies: Critical and Creative Crossings, edited by Fernanda Díaz-Basteris and Maite Urcaregui (Rutgers University Press)

Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989, by Andrea Horbinski (University of California Press)


Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

CANON, by Colin Blanchette and Alex Eklund

Comic Book Creator, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

Dummy, edited by John Kelly (The Dummy Corporation)

Shelfdust, edited by Steve Morris, http://www.shelfdust.com

SKTCHD, by David Harper, http://www.sktchd.com

SOLRAD: The Online Literary Magazine for Comics, edited by Daniel Elkin, http://www.solrad.co (Fieldmouse Press)


Best Comics-Related Book

Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life, by Dan Nadel (Scribner)

Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)

How Comics Are Made, by Glenn Fleishman (Andrews McMeel)

Making Nonfiction Comics: A Guide to Graphic Narrative, by Eleri Harris and Shay Mirk (Abrams ComicArts)

Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts, by Chip Kidd (Abrams ComicArts)

Ooops…I Just Catharted!: Fifty Years of Cathartic Comics, by Rupert Kinnard, edited by William O. Tyler (Stacked Deck Press)


Best Publication Design

The Art of Manga, designed by Tessa Lee (Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco/VIZ Media)

The Essential Peanuts, designed by Shawn Dahl with Chip Kidd (Abrams ComicArts)

Fruits Basket: The Complete Box Set (Collector’s Edition #13), designed by Wendy Chan (Yen Press)

Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business, designed by Dan Goldman (Kinjin Storylab)

The Marvel Art of Michael Allred Slipcase Edition, designed by Kurtis Findlay (Clover Press)

Weird Science Vol. 1 XXL, designed by Anna-Tina Kessler (TASCHEN)


Best Webcomic

The Accidental Undergrad by Christian Giroux (Fieldmouse Press)  

Keeping Time by Kody Okamoto (keepingtimecomic.com) 

The Legend of Parvaterra by Raúl Arnáiz (WEBTOON)

Sable: A Ghost Story, by Ethan M. Aldridge (sablecomic.com) 

Superfish, by Peglo (WEBTOON) 

Terran Omega: The Ghosts of War, by PJ Holden (pauljholden.com) 

Tiger, Tiger by Petra Erika Nordlund (tigertigercomic.com) 


Best Digital Comic

DeadAss, by hakei (VIZ Media)

In the Real Dark Night, by Jimmy Gownley (G-Ville Comics)

The Lycan, by Mike Carey, Thomas Jane, David James Kelly, and Diego Yapur (Comixology Originals)

Overwatch 2: Against the Tide, by Brandon Chen and Velinxi (Blizzard Entertainment)

Practical Defense Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff (delilahdirk.com)

The World of Lublu, by Charbak Dipta (The Charbax Store)


Best Writer

Deniz Camp, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC); Assorted Crisis Events (Image); The Ultimates (Marvel)

Scott Snyder, Absolute Batman, Batman/Deadpool (DC); By a Thread: Book 2 (Comixology Originals), You Won’t Feel a Thing (DSTLRY)

Mariko Tamaki, This Place Kills Me (Abrams Fanfare)

Kelly Thompson, Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey (DC); Jeff the Land Shark (Marvel)

James Tynion IV, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd: The Power of the Blood (BOOM! Studios); Let This One Be a Devil, Red Book (Dark Horse); The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man (Image Skybound)

Stephanie Williams, Street Sharks (IDW); Roots of Madness (Ignition Press); Temporal (Mad Cave)


Best Writer/Artist

Juni Ba, The Boy Wonder (DC); The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press); Monkey Meat Summer Batch (Image)

Jamal Campbell, Zatanna (DC)

Jesse Lonergan, Drome (23rd St. Books)

Chang Sheng, Yan, vols. 1–2 (Titan Manga)

Linnea Sterte, A Garden of Spheres (Peow2)

Kazumi Yamashita, Land, vol. 1 (Yen Press)


Best Penciller/Inker

Elsa Charetier, The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY)

Sean Phillips, Giant Size Criminal #1, The Knives: A Criminal Book (Image)

Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC)

Chris Samnee, Batman and Robin: Year One (DC)

Hayden Sherman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Batman: Dark Patterns (DC)

Eric Zawadzki, Assorted Crisis Events (Image)


Best Painter/Multimedia Artist

Teddy Kristiansen, Black Hammer: Spiral City (Dark Horse)

Cathy Malkasian, Shadows of the Sea (Fantagraphics)

Qu, Slices of Life: A Comic Montage (Bulgilhan Press)

Martin Simmonds, The Department of Truth (Image)

Mika Song, Night Chef: An Epic Tale of Friendship with a Side of Deliciousness! (Random House Graphic)

Linnea Sterte, A Garden of Spheres (Peow)


Best Cover Artist

Juni Ba, The Boy Wonder (DC); The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press); TMNT Nightwatcher, TMNT Godzilla (IDW); Monkey Meat Summer Batch (Image)

Nick Dragotta, Absolute Batman, Absolute Batman 2025 Annual, Batman #1, Batman/Deadpool (DC)

Francesco Francavilla, Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars: Tales from the Nightlands (Dark Horse); Absolute Batman, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Batman: Full Moon, Nightwing variants (DC); Green Hornet/Miss Fury (Dynamite); Star Trek: The Last Starship, Twilight Zone (IDW); Dick Tracy (Mad Cave)

Mateus Manhanini, Absolute SupermanAbsolute Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific: Year One variants (DC); Doctor Strange, Ironheart: Bad Chemistry, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Phases of the Moon Knight, Star Wars: The High Republic, Storm, The Ultimates (Marvel)

Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Batman & Robin: Year One #7, The New Gods #8 (DC)

Hayden Sherman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Batman: Dark Patterns #3-12 (DC)


Best Coloring

Jordie Bellaire, Absolute Wonder Woman, The Nice House by the Sea (DC); The Exorcism at 1600 Penn (IDW); Assorted Crisis Events, The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); GI Joe (Image/Skybound); EC Catacomb of Torment, EC Epitaphs from the Abyss (Oni Press)

Ninakupenda Gaillard, Chickenpox (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)

Jesse Lonergan, Drome (23rd St. Books)

Matheus Lopes, Batman and Robin Year One (DC); The Seasons (Image)

Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC)

José Villarrubia, This Ink Runs Cold (Alan Spiegel Fine Arts); Ghostbox (Comixology Originals); Dracula Book 2: The Brides, The Witcher: The Bear and the Butterfly (Dark Horse); Hunger (The Lab Press); It Rhymes with Takei (Top Shelf)


Best Lettering

Janice Chiang, Acro and the Cat, All Upon a Time, Beyond the Aural Vault, Republica, Solarblader (Sandstorm); John Carpenter’s Blood of the Taken: Next of Kin, Pause, Tales of Science Fiction (Storm King)

Clayton Cowles, Absolute Batman, Batman, Batman & Robin: Year One, Birds of Prey, Black Canary: Best of the Best, Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman, (DC); Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #1-3 (Marvel)

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Ill Vacation, Stillman (Comixology Originals); Absolute Martian Manhunter, Challengers of the Unknown, DC K.O., The Flash, Green Arrow, Poison Ivy (DC); Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Starship Godzilla, (IDW); Author Immortal (Image); Our-Soot-Stained Heart (Mad Cave)

Nate Piekos, American Caper #1, Archie Vs. Minor Threats, Black Hammer: Spiral City, The Brood, Minor Threats: The Last Devil Left Alive, Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, The Umbrella Academy Plan B, Welcome to Twilight (Dark Horse); I Hate Fairyland (Image)

Ben Wickey, More Weight: A Salem Story (Top Shelf)

https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/

______________________________________________________________

Bill Finger Award: Jenny Blake Isabella

Russ Manning Award: Stipan Morian

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Books With Pictures in Eugene, Oregon

EYG Comic Cavalcade #213

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.

Comic Con 2026- Thursday

San Diego Comic Con for 2026 kicked off today with a series of events and news items. Here are some of the highlights from day one. I am not in attendance at SDCC so I will require the help of the internet and the wonderful websites for the news.

Hall H had peeks at upcoming series including:

  • The third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians
  • Blade Runner 2099 live action
  • Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender

Marvel’s Wolverine PS5 story trailer

Marvel Costumes- Latverian Witch

This costume reportedly caused quite a stir as it was included in the Avengers: Doomsday costumes. Many believed this was a thinly veiled hint toward the Scarlet Witch in Doomsday. Apparently, the costume switched from a green on to an orange one over night.

Avengers: Doomsday costumes display

Marvel.com

Marvel Comics

Iron Man– from marvel.com: “The journey to our epic IRON MAN #700 anniversary issue is so big that we had to split the book into two and double ship it,” continues [Joshua] Williamson. “Our amazing series artist Carmen Carnero will handle the even-numbered issues where Tony Stark is in prison. While the odd-numbered issues are taken over by the ‘War Machines.’ James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes puts together a new team of Armored Warriors to help take down Madame Masque, Adam Ware, and the new A.I.M. while Tony is locked up. For those issues we’re joined by my old partner in crime, Gleb Melnikov! I feel lucky to have two amazing artists on my team during this action-packed story!”

Avengers#1– Chip Zdarsky’s book that will follow the new team of Avengers that had been announced earlier this year.

Maximum X-Men #1– Storm steps up and recruits a new team of X-Men to replace the Avengers team that broke apart from the events of Avengers Armageddon. Strange that Wolverine is on both the new Avengers line-up and Storm’s new maximum X-Men.

Maximum X-Men will include a roster of Wolverine, Colossus, Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, Firestar, and Justice!

Avengers will include Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine and another character that has yet to be revealed.

Johnny Depp appears at SDCC as Scrooge! Promoting his new movie Ebenezer, out this fall, Johnny Depp appeared at SDCC and caused some chaos.

TMZ.com

EYG Comic Cavalcade #212

July 18

Welcome to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. I am getting tired of repeating myself every week when I call it “another big week” of comics. It seems as if every week falls into that category. I really do pick up a bunch of books every week.

In fact, when i added the Comic World batch of books to my CLZ, I realized that I was eight books away from 22,222 in my collection. So I decided to find eight more back issues to reach that number. Todd helped me pick out these eight books: Storm Vol 2 #1-6, Son of Satan #4, and Hercules #11 (from Modern Comics). I left Comic World that Wednesday with the exact number of 22,222.

It lasted one day as I bought some more books at In This Issue on Thursday.

I completed the Daily Read that I started this week with Starhenge Book One: The Dragon and the Boar #1-6. Starting on Monday, I read an issue a day until I completed the book. It was by Liam Sharp and it was a wonderful sci-fi/fantasy story with Merlin, Arthur and a woman named Amber who was from present day and she narrated it with references to all sorts of cool pop culture mentions including The Princess Bride, other comics, Grant Morrison among many others. I picked it up because I had purchased Starhenge Book Two: A Kiss for Atticus #1 a couple of weeks ago and I did not want to start it without reading the first series.

Comic of the Week

The Ring: The Man Who Beat the Man #2

This was am unexpected pick this week, but I was just really engaged with this issue of the mini-series from Gail King at Dark Horse. Issue one came out last month and, truthfully, it was fine. I was not as into that first issue as I thought I would be.

However, this issue, focusing on two different boxers, I was fully into and I was just entertained fully. It was one of the last handful of books that I read this week and it was such a treat.

Books This Week:

Mark Spears Monsters #11. “Chapter 11: The Council of Monsters” Written by Mark and Lucas Spears with art and cover art by Mark Spears (Cover C-Bronze Medalist). This issue found all of the monsters on the Council discussing who should be in charge and what they should do about Dracula. This discussion was amazing and with the arrival of Malik and the Slayer. It ended in the weirdest place though as I was just confused, wondering if they had left out a page or two.

3W/3M: Foundations #1. Written by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Spencer with art by Mike Huddleston, Mike del Mundo, and Jerome Opeña. Cover art was done by Mike Huddleston. Four of the top creators in comics band together to provide a new comics universe and some straight up science fiction. It is an interesting book and I am curious to see how it progresses moving forward. The over-sized book does make it feel more special.

A Mischief of Magpies #1. Written by Simon Spurrier and art and cover art by Matias Bergara. DSTLRY feels as if it is back on track fully as we get the first number one since the company took several months off to attempt to fix the problems they were having with Diamond and their money. A Mischief of Magpies is another sci-fi epic where our protagonist, Mar, as he slipped out of the world into a mechanical city. It is another book where the format is very original and feels like a big swing.

Kingdom of Earth #1. Written by David Dastmalchian & Leah Kilpatrick with art and cover art by Soo Lee. We have another post-apocalyptic book where humans have two paths, either as livestock or being slaughtered. Our protagonist Frankie escaped being livestock and now is trying to survive in a monstrous wasteland. Dark Horse has another winning formula here. David Dastmalchian continues his horror success.

Nightwing #140. “The Dive” Written by Dan Watters with pencils by Denys Cowan. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes. Nightwing is investigating the bar called “Divebar” while the city prosecutor has given him a deadline to turn himself in. The issue also brought us a new character called “Cannibal Colm” and this guy is creepy.

Captain America #13. “Hell’s Angel”-Part 2. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Ton Lima. Cover art was done by Valerio Schiti and variant cover (Marvel Dimensions) was done by Alex Ross (Gold Medalist). Cap and Doom are in Hell, trying to round up a crew to help them take on Mephisto. Meanwhile, Spider-Man comes to sit at the comatose Captain America’s bedside.

Something Epic #13. Written, illustrated, and cover art (all variants) by Szymon Kudranski. I loved this book, but it has been on hiatus for nearly to years. I was excited to see it back and I loved the various homage covers that the variants were displaying. Noa and D-Ductive are back and investigating the Land of Horror after a tragedy. They find yet another dead (?) body at the very end of the new issue. I am a fan of Szymon Kudranski and I love that this is back in the rotation.

Punisher vs. Amazing Spider-Man #1. “Professional Differences” Written by Dan Abnett with art by Matteo Della Fonte. Cover art was done by Jonas Scharf & Alex Guimarães. This featured the relationship between Spider-Man and Punisher, which makes one wonder why that is. They actually have some things in common, except for their methods, which is a area of contention in this book. It takes place early after Punisher and Spidey meet the first time in ASM #129.

Avengers Armageddon #2. Written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio (Silver Medalist). The big Marvel series gets its number two as the Avengers and Fantastic Four look to try and stop the Red Hulk’s democracy rampage. Colton and Red Hulk go one-on-one and Colton seemed to flip his head. There is a huge feel of danger and suspense in the series so far.

Junk Punch #2. Written by Paul Tobin with art by Carlos Javier Olivares and Lin Visel. Junk Punch continues to be a comic that makes me laugh. I still wonder if the joke of punching someone in the groin area will remain as funny, but I did like this issue. We are introduced to several new characters in the Junk Punch world. Let’s see how this moves on.

D’Orc #6. “Fate is Fickle” Written, art and cover art by Brett Bean. Speaking of consistently funny, D’Orc is one of my favorite books every month. We learn this issue why Gloinspear is, as D’Orc said, “….such a dick?” Surprise, surprise. Gloinspear is D’Orc’s father. Okay, so it wasn’t as big of a surprise as say, Vader and Luke, but it was fun.

Smile: For the Camera #5. Written by Hannah Rose May with art by Miriana Puglia. Cover art was done by Skylar Patridge. This mini-series based on the movie series, Smile, came to a close with this issue and I have to say that I really liked the wrap up of the story. It did not end as I expected and I do like to be surprised. It felt like the ending was earned for our main character.

Mister Nemo #1. Written by Mark London with art by Alden Kaye. Cover art was done by Duncan Rouleau. This new book from Mad Cave was one of the best of the week. The art was fabulous and we get a current day adaptation of Captain Nemo, including the Nautilus. The first issue was a really cool start as we are introduced to the concept and our new hero.

Inglorious X-Force #7. “As Luck Would Have It.” Written by Tim Seeley with art by Michael Sta. Maria. Cover art was done by R.B. Silva & David Curiel. Cyclops and Quentin Quire come to have a talk with Cable and the X-Force. Scott and Nathan are, of course, father and son, while Quire is still dealing with past issues with Akihiro (whom he knew as Daken).

War Wolf #7. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Marco Perugini. Cover art was done by David Talaski. Bruin goes to the leaders and tells them what he is going to do. This penultimate issue of the series is here to set up the finale, Father vs. Son, Bruin vs. Worldkiller.

Assorted Crisis Events #9. Written by Deniz Camp with art and variant cover C art by Eric Zawadzki. “The issue centers on a kid named Chuckie who uses “TEMPS”—the first cross-temporal employment app—to secure quick cash in a pointless, cross-time war where untrained temp workers from all of human history are sent to fight. ” (Brooke, AIPT). It has been six months since we had an issue of this sci-fi/satire series from Image Comics. This one is a lot of fun.

Fantastic Four #14. “Irrational” Written by Ryan North and art by Ramon Rosanas. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. This issue, featuring Jo-Venn and N’Kalla Masters-Grimm, the adopted kids of Ben and Alicia, proved the dangers of MATH, specifically the dangers of pi and its never ending digits. It is clear that math is the true villain in the world today, especially in the world of 616. We’ll see if Todd actually reads these posts.

Spider-Versity #4. “Most School Spirit” Written by Jordan Morris & Joe Kelly with art by Pere Perez. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Marte Gracia. Norman’s sneakiness is out in the open to Spider Woman, but there are more troubles than the double-dealing Osborn. The Carnage symbiote is free and has possessed one of the Spider-Versity.

X-Men #33. “Anomaly”, Part 3. Written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Tony S. Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. Variant cover C was done by Matteo Della Fonte. The X-Men’s science team discovered the answers to the anomalies that were plaguing the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It came from the unconscious mind of Schwarzchild, member of the 3K. Ben and Quentin went inside the mind to try and stop the horrific anomalies.

Minotaur #1. Written by Si Spurrier with art and cover art by Mike Dowling. Ignition Press has been hot as can be over the last six months to a year, putting out some excellent mini-series. The latest is a sci-fi series called Minotaur. Gloria Monday was the protagonist of this series as a photojournalist who does not seem to have much empathy. She is documenting people who are haunted by outbreaks of the future.

The Rocketfellers #13. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art by Francis Manapul. Variant cover C art done by Francis Portela. Tommy Townsend III and his robot Sterling, along with Rose & Zach, come to the door of the Rocketfellers, who are in the middle of trying to celebrate Rachel’s birthday. Part 3 of 4 in The Unbelievables? crossover sees our typical hero on hero fight and a betrayal by Sterling.

Absolute Green Arrow #3. “The Longbow Killer”-Chapter 3. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with art by Rafael Albuquerque. Cover art was done by Rafael Albuquerque & Marcelo Maiolo. Dinah is on the case of who exactly is the Longbow Killer, and along the way, she comes across the absolute version of Solomon Grundy. Absolute Green Arrow has been extended from six issue mini series to a 12-issue series, which is great because Green Arrow has been a great read and the mystery is engaging.

The Department of Truth #38. Written by James Tynion IV with art by Ben Templesmith. Cover art was done by Martin Simmonds. The dinosaurs living in Florida is the latest Fiction making its way around the world as Hunky is on the case. He discovered at the end of the issue that his father, Huck passed away. Is that the truth? Not sure. Who ever knows the truth in this book?

If Destruction be Our Lot #3. “I Would Rather Be a Little Nobody Than to be an Evil Somebody” Written by Matthew & Mark Elijah Rosenberg with art by Andy MacDonald. Cover art was done by Andy McDonald and Francesco Segala. Abe comes across a human being, and this little girl runs from him. Abe tries to pursue but only gets himself into more trouble.

Absolute Flash #17. “Gorilla City- Part 2 of 2” Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Haining. Cover art was done by Nick Robles. Wally keeps his search going for Grodd, as Wally convinces the Rogues, whose mission is to kill Grodd, that it was not Grodd causing the problems, but actually Grodd’s father. Unfortunately, that just meant that the Trickster wound up shooting Grodd’s father in the head, killing him.

Space Ghost Annual #1. Written by David Pepose with art and cover art by Jonathan Lau. Space Ghost is ready for it all to be over, perhaps giving up the mantel of Space Ghost. First, he and the twins need to defeat Magnus. Space Ghost has to deal with the death of future Jace, Space Spectre. This annual leads into a crossover with the Herculoids.

Infernal Hulk #9. “Flash Magic” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Adam Gorham. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. Banner and Doctor Voodoo head inside a soul cage to confront the Hulk, in an attempt to get the Hulk power back. Banner offers up Voodoo as a prize in a contest, the Riddle Game.

GI Joe #24. Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Andrea Milana. Cover art was done by Tom Reilly. Baroness has discovered the undercover Zartan, who has been posing as Hawk. This was after working with Destro to escape their troubles.

Tigress Island #5. Written by Patrick Kindlon with art and cover art by Ephk. This mini-series form Image ended with this issue, as out surviving women are able to escape form the island. There are lots of explosions and deaths in this issue as everything is wrapped up, although there’s one who floated away, potentially alive.

Other Books This Week: Dungeon Crawler Carl #0, Arcadia #6, End of Life #4, M1: Monster Racing League #2, John Le Carre’s The Circus: Losing Control #3, and Alien: King Killer #4.

Quick Hits: This week we kick off the Quick Hits with Of the Earth #3. This series from Chris Condon continues to be one of the more engaging books each month. We got an interesting What If…? Jessica Jones #1 where Jessica gets bitten by the radioactive spider. I liked this, but I did think the identity of the Green Goblin in this issue was painfully predictable. That did hurt the overall book. More inside the house drama is going down in Fall of the House of Slaughter #3. I loved the cover on this book, but since it was a huge week for covers, it did not achieve a medal. On a normal week, this cover by Sam Wolfe Connelly surely would have been in the top three. I will say that I was kind of disappointed with Banana Number One #1 from Bad Idea. It was goofy as all get out, but that was not the problem. The Banana Number One part of this book was maybe the first third. The rest of the book was other stories that I did not want to read. I wanted more banana. More anthropomorphic animals arrive with the Super Mondo Mega Mutts #1 from Oni Press. Honestly, I found this one to be average at best. I guess you can reach a limit with your anthropomorphic animals. Who knew? Antarctic Press Comics released Horror Comics #1, which I grabbed. I like horror comics, but this is really more of an art book with each page being a cool horror drawing by several artists. There was one short story in the book which went about three or four pages. The rest would be pin-ups with horror themes. It was great art, but not what I expected. Murder Podcast #8 brought this Ignition Press comic to an end. Honestly, this was another one that I found a little disappointing. For as creative of an idea this was, the conclusion felt very typical. Kill Switch #3 is placing our body jumping characters into some real troubling situations. Tankers vs. Ancient Aliens #2 still is more focused on dinosaurs, but it looked like those pesky ancient aliens are coming next issue. Megalith: The Olympus Saga #0 continued the weird trend of Bad Idea books releasing issues #1 and 2 and then releasing issue #0. Dynamite ended Ursula #5 which was one of the bigger surprises for me this year. No way I enjoyed this series… but I did. Star trek: The Last Starship is setting up a big confrontation between Kirk and Captain Sato. Finally, there is a book called The Last Ronin: Training Day #1 from IDW that takes place between gaps in the Last Ronin saga.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

July 15

This is the biggest week pf the year. I have a ton of books that made the first cut for cover of the week. It was a huge challenge to narrow it down to just three, but I have dedicated myself to not having any more ties for the calendar year of 2026.

All three of the medalists have white backgrounds, which is a weakness of mine.

This is huge Also-Ran category this week. A couple of them just barely fell short of the medal round.

Also-Ran: D’Orc #6, Fall of the House of Slaughter #3, Something Epic #13 (Cover B, C), Fantastic Four #14, What If…? Jessica Jones #1, X-Men #33, Mister Nemo #1, Mark Spears Monsters #11 (Cover A, B, D), Of the Earth #3, Space Ghost Annual #1, Minotaur #1, Absolute Green Arrow #3, Arcadia #6, Horror Comics #1, Kingdom of Earth #1, and Assorted Crisis Events #9 (Cover C).

Bronze Medalist

Mark Spears Monsters #11

Variant Cover C

Cover art by Mark Spears

Last year’s Cover Artist of the Year is back with another awesome shark cover. There was a foil cover of a shark for cover B, but this one stood out more for me. The blue color working against the white background really helped this shark to pop off the cover and the water skier in her yellow bikini… well, she is in for trouble. This is a great cover and having it in the Bronze medal tells you what this week was like.

Silver Medalist

Avengers Armageddon #2

Cover art by Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio

This one started off down the list of the books this week, but with each swipe past it, it picked up momentum until it finally placed itself as the silver medalist. The face off with Iron Man and Red Hulk inside the cloak of David Colton really is striking. Then, the white background with the slight strip of red beside the title is very attractive. When I first separated out the first round of books, this one was not my choice, but it just got better each time I looked at it.

Gold Medalist

Captain America #13

Variant Cover- Marvel Dimensions

Cover art by Alex Ross

The Marvel Dimensions covers have been awesome, but this black and white cover from Cap #13 is heads and shoulders above some of the others that I have seen. It is a stunning piece of art that I saw on the stands and, despite already having a butt load of books that I was buying today, I had to have it.

X-Men ’97 S2 E5

Spoilers

“Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs”

What do you get when you blend the movie Alien/Aliens with The Thing…. X-Men ’97?

Episode 5, “Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs” jumps into horror as we get a Wolverine-centric episode with the space alien The Brood.

The Brood was always one of my favorite story arc from the comics even if they seem to be an Aliens rip off. Having them show up was a cool nod to the characters.

I really liked the way they set this up. Wolverine brought Morph, Sabretooth, Maverick, Garrison Kane, and Lady Deathstrike along as his “team”- the team he referenced last episode with Captain America. However, Wolverine brought this team along under false pretenses. Wolverine said that Weapon X was back doing their experiments again, knowing that that piece of info would inspire these characters, but Wolverine’s main motivation was to get his adamantium back after Magneto ripped it from his body last season.

So I did love how they did not just play Logan as a straight up good guy. His lies led to the death of two of these characters (Kane and Maverick… though both could be brought back easily) and how it deals with the way that Logan sees himself in the grand scheme, which is as an animal that is only brought together inside by the adamantium.

The lies with Morph will affect this relationship down the road, at the very least, tainting the friendship. Morph was referred to by Lady Deathstrike as Tomo, which is a Japanese word meaning “friend” or “companion.” She used it as a sleight to Morph to say he is just a mindless follower, a sidekick, to Wolverine and that he can not see the reality of the situation. With the ending, Morph seems to realize that she was right.

Speaking of Morph, he throws me off all the time. In the battle with the Brood, there suddenly in Puck, member of Alpha Flight, involved with the fight and I literally said his name out loud. I thought for a second that Puck was involved in this story too. Of course, a second later, there was Ben Grimm, the Thing and I realized it was Morph. It was the same thing last week with Thor. Morph’s shape shifting never seems to catch me off guard. This week we saw his shift into Sasquatch, Spider-Man, Cyclops and Jean.

It was a bloody episode- although they made the blood green for the Brood’s blood. It was very violent and had several surprises (Omega Red, anyone?). I liked this self-contained episode very much and this is really one of the only Wolverine focused episode of the entire X-Men ’97 series.

Agents of Shield S7 E10, E11, E12, E13

Spoilers

“Stolen”

“Brand New Day”

“The End is at Hand”

“What We’re Fighting For”

The Agents of Shield completed their final mission together and I wrapped up the rewatch of the Marvel show this afternoon. Agents of Shield was my favorite TV show for quite a few years after LOST left the air and I was always mad that they were so disrespected among the MCU. Agents of Shield was a consistently entertaining and exciting hour of TV with some of the best characters you would find.

The whole timeline mess was handled very smoothly with the use of the Quantum Realm to travel between the timelines. Fitz’s return to the show in episode 12 was amazing and gave us that one thing that was missing in this season, which was otherwise near perfect.

The Daisy and Sousa relationship developed beautifully and made sense for both characters. Coulson’s LMD questions about himself led to his own path at the end. May becoming one with her own empathy, and then making that be the weapon that brings the conflict with the Chronicoms to a close, was a great arc for this character and she still gets to deliver the bad ass line, “The Calvary” in response to Sibyl’s question, “What comes next?” May crashing in through a glass ceiling was epic.

It was great that the finale was able to see all of the team working together to accomplish their plan.

I do love that the team ended up, supposedly, in the timeline of the 616 universe. They all could be brought back to the MCU if they wanted. Quake, Yo Yo, Coulson, May all could have roles in a new MCU.

It was also nice to see that the show did not just forget Piper and Flint. In fact, they placed them in an important moment in the finale.

The whole time travel element of this show was done extremely well, and Fitz explained it perfectly. The TVA’s absence was a thing (of course, the TVA does not get introduced until many years later), but one could imaging that time is at any point.

Bringing Kora to Daisy, as sisters, did not seem like it was going to work out, but, in the end, she was a nice addition to the team. Deke finally wound up with the respect that he deserved and, apparently, the new director of Shield in the timeline where he stayed to save the others.

I had forgotten about Fitz and Simmons little daughter and it was a fun surprise when we were introduced to the daughter, Alya.

The use of a young John Garrett was clever too, and the bullet to his head immediately after teleporting the team out of the Lighthouse was both funny and appropriate. James Paxton did an excellent job playing this unhinged version of John Garrett, who was originally played during season one & two by his father, Bill Paxton.

Watching Coulson fly away in Lola at the end of the final episode was both thrilling and perfectly designed as a conclusion.

This was such a fabulous series that does not get the appreciation that it deserved. The chemistry among the stars was one of the key components of the success and why this show worked. In seven seasons, the show went against Hydra, went to another planet, into the future, into the past, prevented an alien invasion, went into a fake world, met up with Asgardians, a Ghost Rider, and a bunch of Kree. Agents of Shield is one of my favorite shows of all time.

Agents of Shield S7 E1, E2, E3

“The New Deal”

“Know Your Onions”

“Alien Commies from the Future”

I kicked off season seven of Agents of Shield today with episodes 1-3. I think it might have been my favorite season of the show because of the wild time travel aspects that they have, plus the addition of Daniel Sousa, from the Agent Carter series.

The time travel of this show is different than the greater MCU, which, I choose to believe, is where the Agents of Shield show went off the wire for the MCU. Up until a certain point, it maintained continuity with the movies, but that clearly changed. It might have been when the agents came back from the future, but there is no doubt that with the whole crew back in the past, they would have been creating branch timelines all over the place.

The TVA must have been extremely busy cleaning up the sacred timeline here.

First, we landed in 1931 and we got involved in an attempted assassination of FDR… or so we thought. Instead, the Chronicons were after Freddy Malick, who we know would become the father of future Hydra leader Gideon Malick.

We also met the first of the Koenig family involved, Ernest “Hazard” Koenig. He learned a bunch about the Shield group, which probably is what started his family’s involvement down the line. Enoch got left in the past as the Zephyr time jumped on its own. I remember the first time that I saw this episode being so sad about Enoch being left behind. He had become one of my favorites, and this rewatch has only helped solidify him as a personal favorite secondary character.

In 1955, they have Simmons pretend to be Peggy Carter, which was both inspired and crazy, to infiltrate Shield base at Area 51. Coincidentally, Peggy’s old partner Daniel Sousa showed up for the testing as well. I was not a big fan of Sousa on Peggy Carter, but when he came to jo0in Agents of Shield, I found him to be an exceptional addition.

Both May and Yo Yo are having problems. May was lacking emotions, even more than before, and Yo Yo has not been able to use her Inhuman power since the alien parasite had infected her.

The show continued to have that great action mixed with laugh out loud moments and created a different brand of sci-fi genre than it had had before.

Agents of Shield S6 E11, E12, E13

Spoilers

“From the Ashes”

“The Sign”

“New Life”

The shorter season six finished off with some awesome action and a bunch of subverting of expectations.

The main expectation that is subverted is something that they teased throughout the season. The fact that Sarge was created as part of Coulson made everyone think that he would turn out to be saved by the team and we would get Coulson back yet again.

However, he turned out to be the villain after all.

I talked about Deke’s hero moment in the last block of episodes, and he has one here as well. He does disappoint his grandparents (Fitz & Simmons) with some of his motives, or at least they way the way they saw it. I loved how Mack appreciated him, he thanked Agent Shaw, for the sort of rescue. Deke is a great character with a lot of contradiction within him. He is one to show silliness on the outside, only to hide the pain inside.

The end episode sets up season 7 big time, including the time travel aspect, the Hunters chasing them, and LMD Coulson. It was an intriguing choice to do it this way and not just use Sarge, which would have been an easy choice. I like how they kept the character of Sarge in the manner in which he was.

Thinking back, whatever happened to Flint? They created him with the Monoliths and then had Piper take him to get help for his broken leg, but we never see him again and they head back into the past right away. We also never see them rescue Benson from the pod that he was dropped in. I do not recall if these are threads that are picked up again in season seven or if these are just dangling threads never to be considered again.

I do think this was a strong season, but the final few episodes felt a little messy. There were still solid results from them and I love the set up for season 7.

Agents of Shield S5 E13-E21

Spoilers

“Principia,” “The Devil Complex,” “Rise and Shine,” “Inside Voices,” “The Honeymoon,” “All Roads Lead…,” “Option Two,” “The One Who Will Save Us All,” “The Force of Gravity,” “The End”

I have set a goal that I wanted to get through the rewatch of Agents of Shield this summer break, and so I sat down to finish off season today with a binge of the last 10 episodes.

A wild season that started off in the future with the earth destroyed, supposedly by Quake, the Destroyer of worlds, revealed the answer to all of that. It wasn’t Daisy that would shake the world apart, it would be Graviton.

I really loved the use of this secondary villain who has the power to be more than secondary. Graviton could control gravity and he was always cool in the comics. In Agents of Shield, I liked how they took General Talbot and made him into a decent variation of Graviton.

Talbot was always a fringe character that was an ally/enemy for Shield during the shows entire run, and they did a great job of using the Gravitonium, which was a season one storyline, and circle it back into a major item in season five.

This season was set up to be the final season of the show, as you could tell with the ay they left Coulson behind in Tahiti to spend his last few days/weeks with May. I never believed that he would die from this when I first saw the show, expecting the whole time to see him survive again. It really set up some powerfully emotional moments surrounding Coulson.

Fitz’s death at the end was powerful, but I knew the solution to it this time through. Having Fitz in suspended animation somewhere out in space was a clever way to write in a death scene without losing the actor.

The team really felt splintered through the year, with them all suffering PTSD of some sort from their trip to the future. Por Yo Yo was the epitome of this as she was anguishing over what her future self had told her, and she did some desperate things in an effort to prevent that future.

The show did make some references to Thanos in the MCU timeline, but it did not have any dustings happen. I would have liked this to have happened to help illustrate it more. This is the start of where Agents of Shield separated from the MCU main timeline, I believe. The movies did not ever mention the show, but the show did mention things that happened in the movies at times.

On to season 6, which is a shorter season of 13 episodes.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #208

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.

Agents of Shield S5 E8. E9, E10, E11, E12

Spoilers

“The Last Day”

“Best Laid Plans”

“Past Life”

“All the Comforts of Home”

“The Real Deal”

The Agents of Shield finished up their adventure in the future with some major battling, found Robin, the little girl (now older woman) who could see the future, killed the Kree, including Kasius and Sinara and had Flint create a monolith so they could return to their own time.

Very busy.

I was not 100% in love with the future stuff, but it did provide us with some major storyline bits including:

  • Yo Yo meeting herself (without arms) and she revealed about Coulson’s sickness.
  • Deke, who seemed to sacrifice himself, arrived back in the present with Shield- and had a surprising familial connection.
  • The Lighthouse is one awesome HQ.

Once back, things got wild as the team learned of Coulson’s impending death, and they got made that he did not tell them about it. Deke was taking in all of the wonders of the earth he had never seen…including Zema. Fitz and Simmons gets married.

The Fitz and Simmons wedding led to a major reveal… that Deke is their grandchild, though no one is aware.

Deathlok came back for back up to close a dimensional riff in a lower level of the Lighthouse. It was manifesting fears from a “Fear Dimension” that was trying to kill them.

General Hale is a horrendous character. She was a clear antagonist for our team, but it does get a little old to have the generals always being the antagonists. Plus, her daughter is a weird assassin of some sort who cut off Yo Yo’s arms.

The whole earth gets blown up plotline is still active and unsolved as of yet, but I know that the series does deal with that story before the end of season 5.