Tag Archives: marvel

EYG Comic Cavalcade #122

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November 2, 2024

Yesterday was my 44th year anniversary in collecting comics. I remember clearly the decision I made. I was at a staying over at a friend’s house for Halloween and we spent the night after trick or treating reading comics that he collected. He introduced me to Comic World in Dubuque and that following day I declared that I was going to start collecting comics too. I have been a collector since, though there were some down years around college years when I just did not have any money. I picked up certain books on and off, but not anywhere near where I am now.

I celebrated my anniversary buying some books on eBay.

I need to congratulate the newest inductees into the EYG Hall of Fame: Hero Games NGD Comic Creators Award wing. I take nominations and votes over at Hero Games Forum every year this time looking for the top three vote getters. This year our new HoF inductees are Gerry Conway, Jim Lee, and Marc Silvestri. Congratulations to the new HoF members.

I did not get as many books this week as I normally do. I don’t know if it was the fifth week of a month but there was just not very many issues released. That was okay as it was a very busy week in real life.

Books this week:

Captain America #14. “To Be or Not To Be, Broxton” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by Carlos Magno. Cover art was done by Taurin Clarke. I liked this new direction for Cap after that last arc with the demons. This is a story of friendship as well as one of adventure as Cap, Spider-Man and Thor get involved together.

Namor #4. “The Feeding of the Beast” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Paul Davidson & Alex Lims. Alessandro Cappuccio did the variant cover B art (Gold Medalist). This continues to be a very fascinating story that splits time between the current world and flashing back to a young, pre-king Namor. I do enjoy the flashback parts of the story, seeing how Namor was then compared to how he is now. Jason Aaron always seems to bring the goods to these books.

Amazing Spider-Man #60. This is an oversized issue featuring the final writing of Zeb Wells on ASM. There are several back up stories as well. The cover I have is a variant cover B featuring Black Cast and Jackpot which was drawn by Adam Hughes. This issue had an interesting interaction between Peter and May, as May seems to finally accept why Peter is the way he is.

Venom War: Spider-Man #3. Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing with pencils by Greg Land. Cover art was done by Greg Land and Frank D’Armata. I picked this off the stand this week. I had picked up the first two issues and I did not pick up #3 when it was released recently. However, the completionist in me felt the need to keep on getting this crossover series. I am not buying the Venom War so I was a bit confused, but I do love me some Spider-Man.

Uncanny Valley #6. Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Dave Wachter. Cover art was done by Dave Wachter. This remains one of the most bizarrely creative books on the market. The cross between real world and cartoon world is impressive and this issue uses that public domain use of Steamboat Willie very well. More background on where our hero came from and the end is just mind blowing.

Deadpool Team-Up #3. Written and drawn by Rob Liefeld. Cover art was done by Rob Liefeld & Juan Manuel Rodriguez. Wait… did the Hulk just kill Crystar? That would not make me happy as Crystar was one of the selling points of this issue for me so far.

Chasm: Curse of Kaine #3. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Andrea Broccardo. Mark Bagley & Dean White did the cover art. Chasm is being manipulated by Eternal Druig and he takes on his “brother” Kaine.

Devour #1. Creators are Maytal Zchut & Leila Leiz. Cover art is a variant cover B by Leila Leiz. This was a story that happened on Hyde Street, but I did not think that I was going to enjoy this one. Just looking at the cover made me not anxious to read it. It was the last book I read this week, and it was way better than I thought it was going to be. A horror issue dealing with weight loss. Didn’t think this would be good, but it was very good.

The Nice House by the Sea #4. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Alvaro Martinez Bueno. While I have not been as into this series as I was in the first one, this continues to be interesting. This issue had a lot of discussion among the characters, feeling as if it was setting up what is next for the series.

Predator Versus Black Panther #3. Written by Benjamin Percy and penciled by Chris Allen & Sean Damien Hill. Cover art was done by Ken Lashley & Juan Fernandez. This crossover series has been okay, but I definitely enjoyed the Wolverine vs. Predator more than this one. This could be considered a Wakanda vs. Predator instead.

Redcoat #7. Creators are Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch. Cover art was by German Peralta (Bronze Medalist). We get a time shift from last issue and we get to see Simon Pure go talk to Albert Einstein. Except now, Einstein is old and on his deathbed. This is a tremendous character story featuring these two who had worked together when Albert was young. Really great.

NYX #4. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and art by Enid Balan. Sara Pichelli & Federico Blee did the cover art. Ms. Marvel is in trouble, with the traitorous Sophie and Prodigy steps up, despite not really wanting to, to help out. NYX has given me more story with Ms. Marvel and that will always be appreciated.

Feral #7. “Chapter 7: Sheltered Cats” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner. Cover variant B art was done by Trish Forstner & Tony Fleecs (Silver Medalist). We get a group of kittens living in a barn trying to avoid the Bad Kind. Feral remains to be anxious and nerve-wracking.

Other books this week: Ultimate X-Men #8, Phases of the Moon Knight #3, and Blood Squad Seven: Strikefile #1.

Agatha All Along S1 E8, E9

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“Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End”

“Maiden Mother Crone”

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

Wow, what a finale. Two long episodes of Agatha All Along that brought some serious emotion and dropped all the answers.

Let’s start with episode 8. Holy crap… what a powerful episode. We discover so much and we get a massive showdown between Agatha and Rio. Billy flying in in his Wiccan outfit was so epic.

This entire time, I was never sure about what was going to happen, and that is a great thing. That confrontation ending with Agatha’s death, sacrificing herself for Billy (though she would later deny it).

Billy returned to William’s room and figured out that the Witches’ Road was created from his mind. This was a theory that I had heard, and it really was clear going back into William’s room.

Then, episode nine, Kathryn Hahn was just astounding. Her performance as a witch who would lose her child to death was heartbreaking. Seeing the origin of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” was fun. We also meet Nicholas, Agatha’s son, and we learn that she did not trade him for the Darkholde, as the rumors indicated. It seemed as if Nicholas had something wrong with him and was going to die in childbirth, bit Rio gave her some time because of their relationship.

I’m not sure how I feel about Agatha the ghost at the very end, but I did like Billy and ghost Agatha heading off to search for Tommy.

It was great to see Jenn pull herself out of the ground just outside of Westview with her powers back. Agatha being the witch who bind her made sense. It was nice one of the coven survived.

This was one of my absolutely favorite Marvel series on Disney +. I do not think it reaches WandaVision or Loki levels but it very well may be #3. What an entertaining and well written and acted show.

Venom: The Last Dance

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The final film in the trilogy featuring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the man who would become Venom, was released this weekend. I have never been a big fan of the previous Venom movies, but I have enjoyed the character some so I was curious to see what Sony was going to present for us.

The first three minutes of this film was a huge exposition dump involving the scary villain known as Knull, who was being played by Andy Serkis. The problem, this reminded me of the opening to 2011’s Green Lantern with Parallax, which I thought completely failed to start off that movie. I was laughing at Parallax during that opening and the fact that this reminded me of that was a bad sign to start this movie.

Sadly, the film continued to be a mess after this beginning. It went back to the post credit scene from No Way Out, with Eddie in the bar, drunk and getting pulled back to his own universe.

Knull sent some monstrous symbiote hunters to earth in search of Venom, who was now some kind of McGuffin, and they were after him. The monsters had zero personality and was fairly boring.

The best part of all of these Venom movies are the relationship between the symbiote and Tom Hardy. Hardy is great as Eddie Brock and some of the best scenes of the film are when Eddie meets up with a hippie family with the father played by Rhys Ifans. I think more with this family on the road would have made this more enjoyable. However, what the family wound up doing did not make a lot of sense as the film moved on.

I did love the soundtrack to the film, with banger after banger throughout the movie.

Why did we need to introduce Knull in this movie. He was not used, and if this is the final Venom movie, why do we introduce Knull at all and not use him? I feel as if Sony wanted Knull to be their Thanos, but they brought him around too late if that is the case.

This movie is not horrendous, but it is just not very good. Tom Hardy is the strength, but the story around him is not good and the dialogue is weak. The other symbiotes have the “Michael Bay Transformers disease” as none of them have personality or any way to distinguish them.

Will there be more Venom movies? Who knows. Will Knull be involved with Kraven the Hunter? Doubt it. None of the Sony Spider-universe films seem to fit this concept. The final Venom movie is just not that good.

2.4 stars

EYG Comic Cavalcade #121

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October 24, 2024

I had a sick day from school today which gave me the opportunity to get my books from NEW COMIC BOOK DAY yesterday, read. It was great just resting and reading during the day. I feel better right now, so I want to get the EYG Comic Cavalcade out.

I have gotten a bunch of back issues this week, specifically some early Amazing Spider-Mans. The earliest was Amazing Spider-Man #47 with Kraven the Hunter. I also picked up Daredevil #52 and Avengers #19. Neither are in fabulous shape, but they are both decent enough considering they are both 1960s books.

Other New Books:

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #3. “The Heart of a Lover.” Written, drawn and cover art by Michael Walsh. This issue’s focus was around Elizabeth, who was the fiancé of Henry Frankenstein. The Monster was going to be destroyed, but got free and continued his rampage. This has been another top comic from the the Universal Monsters run.

The Tin Can Society #2. Written by Peter Warren and Francesco Mobili. The cover art was done by Francesco Mobili & Chris Chuckry. I really like this series and I have been impressed how well the writers have introduced the characters within. Many comics struggle to introduce a large cast of all new characters, but this book has been great at it so far.

The Masked Macher #2. Written by David A. Goodman and art by Alex Andres. He is the Masked Macher (which means ‘Big Shot’) and he is wrestling a bear. Oh, by the way… that bear can talk. Didn’t see that coming.

Werewolf By Night: Red Band #3. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. E.M. Gist did the cover art. Jack Russell has been losing control of his wolf form more recently, leading to a deadly problem for the people in his vicinity. He came up with a great idea… he would go to the Savage Land! Elsa Bloodstone went with him to help him. Of course, Ka-Zar was not as big of a fan of this idea. This has been my favorite issue of this series so far ( I do like me some Ka-Zar), but it continues to not feel as if it were much of a red band.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #5. Written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn and cover art by Javier Rodriguez. This mini series drew to a close and I finally figured out a time frame for it. From the last page. I enjoyed the Zatanna series, but I was never sure where this was supposed to fall in continuity (if it were at all). It’s my own fault since I am not as familiar with the DC books as I am with Marvel.

Incredible Hulk #18. “City of Idols” Part Two. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein & Danny Earles. Variant cover B by Ryan Brown. The current run of the Incredible Hulk has been fine. This book is the same way. This is way better than when he was a spaceship, but it pales in comparison to the Immortal Hulk, which this feels as if they want to use that as a homage for this run. This is okay. Big issue #800 next month, if I am correct.

X-Factor #3. “Project Paperclip.” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Greg Land, Jay Leister & Frank D’Armata did the cover art. Standout character in this issue… no doubt is Granny Smite. The immortal granny with a death wish. I loved her.

Scarlet Witch #5. Written by Steve Orlando and art by Lorenzo Tammetta. Russell Dauterman did the cover art. A fun single issue story featuring Wanda teaming up with Daredevil. It is a team-up that we have never seen before. Final page: Agatha!

The Exorcism at 1600 Penn #1. Written by Hannah Rose May and art by Vanesa Del Ray. Variant cover B art done by Jock (Gold Medalist). This is clearly a series that I was drawn to because of the great covers. I love the Jock cover, but the others were very attractive as well and so I picked this up because of them. The story was very fascinating too, although the actual exorcism part feels like a slow burn. I found the presidential stuff and the way that the president’s kids were affected to be very interesting. There is definitely something more coming with it too.

Standstill #3. Written by Lee Loughridge and art and cover art by Andrew Robinson. I am going to say, once again this week, that the layout of the panels in this comic makes this feel different than all the other books out there. There are some fun spy action in the book too, but it looks so original that it makes it a treat to read.

Void Rivals #13. Written by Robert Kirkman and art and cover art by Lorenzo De Felici. Darak goes face to face with his father and things do not go very well. And we get more from Pythona, who has some strange tie to Cobra-La.

X-Men #6. “Bark.” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Variant cover C art by Derrick Chew. Temper and Magik go to see a young girl whose mother was involved in a protest against the mutants… a young girl who may be a mutant herself.

Avengers #19. “A Desert, and a Temptation.” Written by Jed MacKay and art from Farid Karami. Valerio Schiti & Federico Blee were the cover artists. New Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, Doctor Doom, summons the Avengers for a chat and he asks them… why they are such wussies. Well, that may have been paraphrasing, but it is the gist.

Duck and Cover #2. Written by Scott Snyder and art and cover art by Rafael Albuquerque. This book is wild. It takes place squarely in the Cold War between the US and USSR, but what seems to have happened is just the beginning. This book has a B-movie/sci-fi feel to it, like it is a sci-fi film right out of the 1950. And it is a lot of fun so far.

Spirits of Vengeance #2. Written by Sabir Pirzada and penciled by Chris Campana. Josemaria Casanovas did the cover art. Johnny Blaze is struggling with his Ghost Rider persona, and a trip to Atlantis was never going to help him out.

Skin Police #1. Written by Jordan Thomas and art by Daniel Gete. Gete & Jason Wordie did the cover art. Picked this up because of a recommendation on Comics Heating Up, but it was really cold for me. I did not enjoy this issue much at all as it struggle to keep my attention. Not a huge fan of futuristic sci-fi stories in comic books.

The Bunnyman: Furry Nightmare #1. Written by Nick Bermel & Joe Brusha with art by Unai De Zarate. I do love Floyd, but I am not sure why they decided to leave Man Goat out of this book and replace him with the sidekick, Jack the Jackalope. Still, always fun with Bunnyman!

Spider-Boy #12. “The Devils’ Due” Written by Dan Slott and art by Paco Medina. Cover art was by Paco Medina & Rachelle Rosenberg. The second guest appearance of the week for Daredevil as he comes across Spider-Boy, who apparently he had trained at one point. We also get Bullseye and his own sidekick, Spider-Girl!

Hello Darkness #4. Once again, this is an anthology series with several horror shorts in it. There is a preview of the upcoming series, In Bloom in here. Variant cover art B was by Jenny Frison (Gold Medalist).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3. “The Way of the Ganges Mud Turtles.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Cliff Chiang. Cover art by Rafael Albuquerque (Bronze Medalist). We meet up with Leonardo as he is on the Ganges River trying to sync up with the Ganges turtles. Meanwhile, the ninjas are after him. These Jason Aaron TMNT books have been top quality so far and we have three of the solo turtles down with only Donatello to go.

DC Horror Presents #1. Two stories featuring the Deadly Dollhouse and Wonder Woman done by a series of creators including David Dastmalchian, Leah Kilpatrick, The Boulet Brothers, Cat Stagss, Butch Mapa, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Kristian Rossi.

Rook Exodus #6. Created by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. The final issue of the first arc of the Rook Exodus storyline comes to a close with issue six. Rook is able to finally master his control over the birds, even without the helmet by understanding what he needed to know. We meet the bird named Poe here too.

Spider-Society #3. Written by Alex Segura and art by Ruairi Coleman. Pete Woods did the cover art. Things continue to look bad for the Spider-Society as they a getting crushed by the Sinister Squadron. However, Madama Web aka May Parker, and Green Goblin, aka Gwen Stacy, have a disagreement over power which may give our spider-heroes a sliver of a chance.

Iron Man #1. “Capital Strike.” Written by Spencer Ackerman and art by Julius Ohta. Cover art by Yasmine Putri. The new Iron Man series kicks off as Tony discovered that Roxxon Oil was in a hostile takeover of Stark Industries. Poor Tony, just got his company back only to lose it again, perhaps. Melinda May appears in this issue.

Dazzler #2. “Live in Studio”. Written b Jason Loo and art by Rafael Loureiro. Terry & Rachel Dotson did the cover art. Dazzler, hot off her controversial concert which included a fight with a super villain, goes to London to appear on a TV talk show that was absolutely NOT Graham Norton. More trouble for Ms. Blaire.

Absolute Wonder Woman #1. “The Last Amazon.” Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Hayden Sherman. Variant cover C art was by Wes Craig. The second of the new DC Absolute books with a very intriguing new back story for Diana. It seemed as if they took some of Diana’s new origins from the classic tales of Hercules, but who’s complaining. Decent book.

Other books this week: Animal Pound: Pen & Ink #1, Alien Romulus #1, AEW Origins (freebee) #1, The Power Fantasy #3, Moon Man #5, and The Moon is Following Us #2.

Agatha All Along E6

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“Familiar By Thy Side”

After last week’s big reveal at the episode’s end, I figured this week would be the back story of Billy Maximoff. And I was right.

I loved this episode. We went back and discovered how Wanda’s mind reading son wound up in a teenager’s body.

I had heard this speculation before. How the car accident that was reported earlier in the series, and was the back drop to the credits when Joe Locke’s name was up, would be tied to Billy’s resurrection (or rebirth?).

That car crash they shot was spectacular.

The crash came because Billy Kaplan’s parents, from Eastview, were distracted by the Anomaly created by Wanda was disappearing. I felt bad for the Kaplans but their son was gone. When he died in that car crash, Bill Maximoff took over the body. This is a decent origin for the Teen in the MCU considering how messy Wiccan’s Marvel Comics origin is.

We also get a special guest star… everyone’s favorite… Ralph Boner! Ralph Boner was the albatross around the neck of WandaVision. When he turned out to NOT be Pietro Maximoff from the X-Men universe, that was universally hated. However, we all still love Evan Peters and having him back is always welcomed. Ralph’s appearance was a little inconsistent here. I wish they had chosen a tone and stuck with it instead of trying to do both the fearful/intense tone and the funny/silly tone. Still, it was great to see him.

The discussion between Agatha and Billy at the end was really some great writing. Interestingly, no Aubrey Plaza. Where was she? I also hope the others in the coven are not gone for good. I know they are involved in other aspects, but I hope it is not just in flashbacks.

Three more episodes. One next week and then two on Halloween eve.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #119

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October 10, 2024

Another Saturday night and I am getting the Comic Cavalcade out. It has been a very busy time as I have a bunch of new movies, a ton of TV series, the Dodgers and, of course, school. I have to look for the opportunity to squeeze the reading into my schedule.

Books this week:

Ice Cream Man #13. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. I have cover B with art by Wes Craig. This was the final issue of Ice Cream Man that I needed and it took forever for it to arrive from eBay. It is one of those gimmicky books that it seems Ice Cream Man specializes in. It is a palindrome, meaning it could be read forward or backwards. It was a fun gimmick and I love the creativity of Ice Cream Man. I am glad to have finally finished off the complete series in my collection.

Groo the Wanderer #8. This is another series that I was able to fill out as this is the final issue of Groo’s Pacific Comics run that I needed. Todd was able to obtain this book for me and I was very pleased to get it. Now I just have a handful of issues of the Marvel (Epic) run to complete my Groo collection.

Groo: Minstrel Melodies #2. Sergio Aragones & Mark Evanier are the creators on this Groo book. I have been enjoying this current take on Groo, as the story focuses on the story told by the Minstrel and his daughter, Kayli. I do love a rhyme and there is plenty of that in here.

Fantastic Four #26. “Blood Brothers” Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art was by Joshua Cassara & Dean White (Gold Medalist). Johnny and Reed come across something paranormal in Ben Grimm’s Aunt Petunia’s house, where the FF have been living. They go through a ton of trouble trying to put the genie back in the bottle, figuratively.

Exceptional X-Men #2. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Carmen Carnero. Cover art was done by Carmen Carnero & Nolan Woodard. Some mutant drama taking place at a high school soccer game and Kitty Pryde is smack in the middle. She’s not a high school student (perhaps it is a college game. Not sure). Kitty and Emma Frost are being set up as the opposites of the same coin, kind of like Xavier and Magneto were.

The Terminator #1. “Out of Time” Written by Declan Shalvey and art by Luke Sparrow with Colin Craker. Dynamite Comics has had some real winners lately and I did enjoy this Terminator book. It did not feel as if it were a story that would continue over several issues and that the next one would be a new story. Still, I am curious about what they do now.

Jonny Quest #3. Written by Joe Casey and art by Sebastian Piriz. I got cover C and the cover art was by Anthony Marques. More action with Jonny and the crew in an attempt to find their way back to their own time. Unfortunately, certain problems are blocking that from happening. Again, I am not as familiar with Jonny Quest and some of these characters are probably ones that a fan of the show would recognize. I still am enjoying the book so far.

Space Ghost #6. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Francesco Mattina did the cover art. This is the third straight Dynamite Comics book in the Comic Cavalcade. Space Ghost takes on the fires of Moltar and the dynamic between Space Ghost and Jace has been damaged from last issue. This issue deals with that relationship as the story is narrated via Jace’s journal.

Seance in the Asylum #1. Written by Clay Mcleod Chapman and art by Leonardo Marcella Grassi. Andrea Mutti did the cover art (Bronze Medalist). A fascinating new series from Dark Horse that looks at the idea of spectral therapy and the ways into the spirits beyond this world. It is a very interesting looking book with some art and coloring that really emphasizes the tone.

Amazing Spider-Man #59. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. It is a brutal throwdown between Spider-Man and Tombstone as Spidey is determined to not allow Tombstone to kill his daughter. Very brutal in the story as it is nearly all fighting in the issue.

Phoenix #4. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Alessandro Miracolo. Cover art is by Yasmine Putri. Jean Grey and Captain Marvel hang out together during a celebration of the Kree-Skrull alliance. Meanwhile, Carol gives Jean some spacefaring advice.

The Ultimates #5. Written by Deniz Camp and art by Juan Frigeri. Cover artists were Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. Captain America goes to chase after the individual who claimed the arrows Iron Lad made after Clint Barton rejected the idea. This mean there is a new Hawkeye in the Ultimates. And I liked her.

Minor Arcana #2. “The Fool: Part Two”. Written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire. Theresa tried to do a reading for one of her mother’s regular customers, and things go weird for her. She travels to a different plane of existence and meets Gene. All this was too much for Theresa as she went to hit the bottle. Jeff Lemire is right near the top of my current favorite comic book writers and just about anything he does is something I want to read.

Geiger #7. Written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Paul Pelletier. Cover art was done by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson (silver Medalist). Mister Geiger has been having some troubles lately as he has been showing how violent he could be. Still, he is out saving animals and kids. Geiger has been one of the most solid of the Ghost Machine imprint.

Sentinels #1. “Necessary Monsters.” Written by Alex Paknadel and penciled by Justin Mason. Cover art was by Mason & Federico Blee. This new X-book has a group of characters who I did not know and have some weird tie to the Sentinels. Honestly, this X-book did not grab my attention much, but I’ll probably give it another shot before skipping it. It will need to be better than this issue.

Transformers #13. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jason Howard. Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer did the cover art. I liked this book as we get an origin story for Starscream, who has always been one of my favorite Decepticons. They also tied him to Jetfire, one of my favorite Autobots. This Image run of Transformers has been very solid so far.

Blade: Red Band #1. Written by Bryan Hill and art by C.F. Villa. Cover art was done by C.F. Villa & Federico Blee. Blade returned for the first time since the Blood Hunt took over Marvel this summer and he is involved with a new baddie called Spellguard. Again, these Red band books are not that bad. It just means Blade can cut off a few heads.

Plastic: Death & Dolls #5. Story by Doug Wagner and art and cover art by Daniel Hillyard. Speaking of cutting off heads, Edwyn is back in the finale of this series, seemingly riding off into the sunset with his blow-up doll, Virginia. However, the last page of the issue really leaves a question in my mind.

Other books this week: Life #2, Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #3, X-Force #4, Public Domain #9, Crocodile Black #5, and Conquest 2099 #1.

Agatha All Along E5

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“Darkest Hour/Wake Thy Power”

This was a fairly short episode, but it was really impactful.

Alice, RIP. I think there is something more going on here though as Agatha’s trial turned deadly with the ghost of Agatha’s mother leading to Agatha draining the energy from Alice.

Dressed as a sleep over, this had a lot of the scenes from a trailer, specifically a possessed Agatha doing the backwards spider walk that you see in a lot of horror movies.

They were on the Ouija board and Kathryn Hahn dropped a fantastic Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis imitation. That was hilarious. Maybe a little mean too…

After Agatha killed Alice (which Agatha certainly seemed shaken by), Teen was very angry and he reacted in a violent way. He seemingly tossed Agatha and the others into the mud and they sunk away.

Even more significant, Agatha said to Teen that he was just like his mother. Then, after he dispatched of the coven, we see Teen with a purple crown that resembled that of the Scarlet Witch.

We all suspected that Teen was somehow tied to Billy, Wanda’s created son from WandaVision, but the show has been tempting us by making Teen Agatha’s son Nicholas. Apparently, Nicholas was part of the Ouija board thing too. We are just past the halfway point of the series and this felt like a significant hint that he is Billy Maximoff.

And during this entire Teen-Agatha trouble, there was no sign of Rio. Aubrey Plaza has been rumored to be Death, which was mentioned in the Ouija session. What part is she playing in all this?

Lots of questions:

  • Is Alice really dead?
  • Who is Teen? Is he Billy, Wanda’s son?
  • What is Agatha’s responsibility in all this?
  • What happened when they were sucked into the mud?
  • Nicholas Scratch is doing what?
  • Is Aubrey Plaza Death?

I wish this episode was longer. It felt too short. What we got was great though.

Agatha All Along E4

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“If I Can’t Reach You, Let My Song Teach You”

Whoa, this was a great episode.

Aubrey Plaza has returned, summoned to the Witches’ Road to replace the recently deceased Mrs. Hart (aka Sharon Davis).

Rio and Agatha certainly has a complicated history.

Agatha continues to show signs that she has feelings for Teen. Agatha thinks Teen is her son, you can tell. That is why Rio’s line at the end of the show about Teen not being her son hit Agatha so hard. I don’t know if that was true or just Rio’s vicious attempt to hurt Agatha.

When Teen looked like he was dying, Agatha was truly scared. Kathryn Hahn is such a great actress.

The new version of The Ballad of the Witches’ Road rocked hard. Lorna’s Ballad.

“We’re an album cover waiting to happen.”- Teen. The outfits for this trial were awesome.

The curse in demon form was very frightening too.

I am so curious about Patti LuPone’s character and the strange moments she has. It makes little sense so far, but I really love her so far.

This has been so enjoyable. The cast is tremendous and have so much chemistry with each other. There are so many questions to this story and I am into all of them.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #117

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September 28

New banner! Always enjoy making a new one of these.

Last weekend was Batman Day and there were some cool free comics given out. I picked them up which included Joker: The World #1, Batman: The Long Halloween Special Edition #1, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #1 as free books. I also picked up the book Batman/Elmer Fudd Special Noir Edition #1 too. These were cool, even though I am not the biggest Batman fan.

I also got the variant cover of Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #2 with art by Mitsuhiro Arita, which wound up as the Gold Medalist this week.

Here are the new books this week:

The Blood Brothers Mother #2. Written by Brian Azzarello and art and cover art by Eduardo Risso. It has been awhile since number one of this series so I was pleased when this new issue came out. This Western series continues to be a lot of fun and beautifully drawn. I have been enjoying several of the DSTLRY books.

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein #2. Written by, drawn by and cover art by Michael Walsh. The story of Frankenstein’s Monster continues with new pieces of story mixed with the classic original story. These Universal Monster comics at Image have been exceptional and this one is right in line with this.

Saga #69. Written by Brian K. Vaughn and drawn by and cover art by Fiona Staples. The Saga kept going on with the continual story of The Will and Gwendolyn and their personal loss of their daughter and the pair dragging each other down. There is a surprise cameo within as well that shocked me. This is just always really epic every issue.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #4. Written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn and cover art by Javier Rodriguez. John Constantine is here and trying to bring Zatanna back to the world. This series continues to be weird and wild and Zatanna seems as if she may be ready to step back to the forefront of the DC Universe.

Avengers Annual #1. Written by Derek Landry and art by Salvador Larroca. Larroca and GURU-eFX did the cover art. Thanos is here in an attempt to reclaim the infinity stones from the current Stone Bearers have different plans. The Avengers (or at least Captain Marvel and Thor) try to keep Thanos from grabbing them all from the Infinity Watch. The storyline from all of these other annuals wraps up here as Coulson and the death stone meets up with the rest of the Infinity Watch.

NYX #3. Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Francesco Mortarino. Sara Pichelli & Federico Blee did the cover art. The mutant Anole makes his way back to where he began… with the Morlocks. Meanwhile, there seems to be a traitor inside the team with Ms. Marvel and Wolverine.

Feral #6. “Patchwork” Written by Tony Fleecs with art by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was by Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs. Feral is back after an hiatus and we see more of the spread of the rabies among some of the characters that we have come to know over the first five issues. This is a surprising emotional tale of a group of cats and other animals and the danger that they are in.

Amazing Spider-Man #58. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Morry Hollowell. Spider-Man and Tombstone begin what is to be advertised as one of the most violent fights in Marvel Comics. Spidey is trying to stop Tombstone from killing his own daughter for turning him in. It does kick off with some blood and more brutality than you would expect in ASM. This is the penultimate issue of Zeb Wells ASM run.

Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Detective #1. “Claws of the Chimera”. Created by Christopher Sequeira. Phillip Cornell, Dave Elsey, and Jan Scherpenhuizen. Cover art by Dave Elsey (Bronze Medalist). I saw this on the Midtown website and I was disappointed because I missed it in Previews. So I was really excited when I saw one copy of this at Comic World. I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes and was happy to be able to pick it up.

Chasm: Curse of Kaine #2. Written by Steve Foxe with art by Andrea Broccardo. Cover art was done by Leinil Francis Yu & Dean White. Druig is here, controlling the Mole Man, as Chasm and Hallows’ Eve try and get him loose, while Kaine continues to search for his ‘brother.’ This is an interesting series with several Spider-Man adjacent characters.

Uncanny X-Men #3. “The Inside Man” Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. The four young mutants that arrived recently start their training, trying to retrieve a belt, held by Nightcrawler. Things do not go as expected.

Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #3. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Michael Dowling & Ivan Fiorelli. David Yardin & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. Silvermane and Nefaria face off with Elektra and end up sending her to attack the new Punisher.

Werewolf By Night: Red Band #2. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Sergio Davila. Elsa Bloodstone is wanting to help Jack Russell discover why he may have started his brutal killings. Elsa went to the Midnight Mission to seek help from Moon Knight, or at least look for info from Khonshu. I really do not think this comic needs a “Red Band” label, nor the bag it comes in to prevent people from looking inside. Some heads cut off, but nothing too out of bounds.

Drawing Blood #6. “The Cat’s Meow.” Script by David Avallone and pencils by Ben Bishop. Kevin Eastman did the cover art. “Books” in Hollywood with all kinds of shenanigans going down.

Deadpool Team-Up #2. Written and penciled by Rob Liefeld. Most of this issue featured the hero vs. hero battle between Deadpool and Wolverine facing off against Crystar in Weirdworld. Crystar showed himself off as a bad ass in this battle. Then, at the end of the issue, with the three heroes together finally, a dragon requires the arrival of the Hulk!

Man Goat & the Bunnyman: Beware the Pigman #3. Written by Joe Brusha and artwork by Taylor Esposito. Cover art by Mike Krome & Ivan Nunes. Phil and Floyd wrapped up their battle with Baphomet as their latest mini series comes to an end. However, there was a clear cliffhanger at the end indicating that there will be more Man Goat & Bunnyman in the future (YAY!).

Ultimate Spider-Man #9. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Checchetto & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. Peter wants to change costumes so there is no question about Tony Stark being able to trace him. Otto Octavius, who worked for the Osborns, tries to give Peter a version of the Iron Spider outfit. Peter wants something less. Ultimate Spider-Man has been the most consistently good Ultimate books so far.

Hello Darkness #3. Once again, this is a horror anthology with a variety of stories by a group of writers and artist. Erica Slaughter returned this issue with a James Tynion IV penned continuation of the story. Cover art was by Paolo Rivera (Silver Medalist).

Phoenix #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Alessandro Miracolo. Cover art was by Yasmine Putri. Jean Grey and Corsair takes on the Black Order over a group of exiled Asgardians who had attempted to overthrow Odin. I have enjoyed this cosmic Phoenix stories that we have gotten so far in this new series. I like Jean as Phoenix and not being seen as the villain.

Namor #3. “And God Moved Upon the Face of the Waters.” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Paul Davidson & Alex Lins. Alexander Lozano did the cover art. More flashbacks to the past life of Namor as we see him very brutal as the avenging warrior of Atlantis. I am finding this series to be very well done. Jason Aaron has done some wonderful writing in this series.

Standstill #2. Written by Lee Loughridge and art and cover art by Andrew Robinson. This is such a cool comic. Spy action but what I really love about the book is the size of the panels in the book. These panels are extra large and it really makes the story jump off the page more than a typical comic.

X-Force #3. “The Walking Man” Written by Geoffrey Thorne and art by Marcus To. Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo did the cover art. X-Force vs. Nuklo. Nuklo is a giant and he was truly difficult to battle.

Dead Eyes: The Empty Frames #1. Written by Gerry Dugan with art and cover art by John McCrea. I really enjoyed this issue. It was an unsuspecting protagonist that the story seemed to imply had been around awhile. It made me think that there was another series featuring this Dead Eyes. I went to eBay and, sure enough, there was a 2019 series from Gerry Duggan. I promptly ordered it. I liked this one a lot.

Plastic: Death & Dolls #4. Story by Doug Wagner and art and cover art by Daniel Hillyard. We learn more about the dark and bloody backstory of Edwyn. There is a truly disturbing scene with his mother. I can certainly see why he cuts off heads and put them in plastic bags. This has been a really wild book.

Other books this week: Phases of the Moon Knight #2, Predator vs. Black Panther #2, Black Cloak #8, Moon Man #4, Kill All Immortals #3, Nights #11, and Self Help #4.

Agatha All Along E3

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Spoilers

After all of these years, it has finally OFFICIALLY happened…

Mephisto confirmed.

Jennifer Kale confirmed Mephisto with a name drop during the second week of Agatha All Along and the mere mention of his name freaked me out. After so many weeks in WandaVision with the belief that Marvel’s head demon/devil was behind everything, this was just a slight mention by one of Agatha’s coven. And it was everything.

Then, sadly, my expectation came to fruition as poor Sharon Davis, aka Mrs. Hart, died during the first trial on the Witches’ Road. If this is truly the last we’ll see of Mrs. Hart, then I, for one, will miss her tremendously. Debra Jo Rupp got limited scenes in this show, but every one she got was amazing. She stole every moment and she brought such a wonderful humor. She will truly be missed. Here’s hopin’ that once the trip down the road ends, she will be back in Westview tending those flowers.

Boy, this show is absolutely showing Agatha to be a selfish and uncaring witch. She is our protagonist, but it feels clear that she had not reformed her wicked ways. The show also hinted at the rumor that Agatha gave up her child for the Darkhold. Then, we all thought at first that Teen would turn out to be Billy, Wanda’s child who would become Wiccan, but is he Nicholas Scratch, Agatha’s son instead? Again, the show certainly teased at that too.

I am thoroughly engaged with the rest of the coven too, especially Patti LuPone’s Lilia Calderu. The delusions she faced while poisoned were fascinating and mysterious. She is my favorite character outside of Agatha and Teen. I look forward to learning more about her as we continue down the Witches’ Road.

No sign of Aubrey Plaza this episode, but I expect her to arrive soon with the untimely death of Sharon (How cold was Agatha’s ‘Who’s Sharon?’ comment at the end?).

This has been completely entertaining so far. Can’t wait for next week.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #116

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September 21

Another big week of books. Of course, it has become a regular occurrence for me to have this amount of books as my collecting has expanded over the years. Lots of new independent books this week.

I enjoyed the two new comic based TV shows, Agatha All Along on Disney + and The Penguin on HBO Max. This will make the middle of the week all the more enjoyable moving through the spooky season.

I have received two of the final three issues of Ice Cream Man that I was missing from eBay this week, and the final issue that I need will be arriving some time soon. I have been trying to fill out the Ice Cream Man series, which I have really enjoy. Todd told me that the issues have been elevating in price recently because a potential TV show based on the IP. I did drop some $ on these final three issues that I was missing, but I am happy to have the series filled out.

Books this week:

The Tin Can Society #1. Story by Peter Warren & Rick Remender. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. My favorite new book of the week. This is a murder mystery among a group of old friends…the victim which was a handicapped man with a power armor that was missing. I was hooked immediately.

X-Men #4. “Upstarts” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Variant cover art by J. Scott Campbell & Tanya Lehoux. The X-Men face off with Trevor Fitzroy and the Upstarts. The issue ends with the reappearance of an old Age of Apocalypse villain that I used to have an awesome action figure of… Sugar Man!

The Moon is Following Me #1. Written by and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Cover art is done by Mike Spicer. This new Image book is interesting. It has a strange. kind of fantasy-like setting, but there is something at the end that throws everything that happened in the story into a different thought.

Dazzler #1. “Out and Proud” Written by Jason Loo and art by Rafael Loureiro. Cover art by Terry & Rachel Dodson. Dazzler is back from the dead and back on the stage and an attack by Scorpia gets worked into the show. This is a nice return to the world of mutants for Alison.

The Masked Macher #1. Written by David A. Goodman and art by Alex Andres. An actor on his way to an audition winds up in the wrestling ring as the Masked Macher, a hooded wrestler who had just died. His wife needed someone to step through the ropes… and here we are.

Deadpool #6. Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Rogê Antonio. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. As Wade is slow to heal, Taskmaster takes Deadpool’s daughter Ellie and Princess on a mission. Then bad things are happening to Deadpool.

X-Factor #2. “We Could Be Heroes” Written by Mark Russell and art by Bob Quinn. Greg Land, Jay Leisten & Frank D’Armata do the cover art. Havok and Polaris had issues between the Mutant Underground. Is Polaris a spy? Which direction will Havok go? This new series is focused on this couple’s story through the first couple of issues.

Spider-Society #2. Written by Alec Segura and art by Scott Godlewski & Andres Genolet. Pete Woods did the cover art (Silver Medalist). The Sinister Squadron is up to take on the Spider-Society and we see an evil version of Madame Web leading them. And it was a familiar face beneath that Madame Webb mask… it was who everyone thought of when we first met Madame Web way back when.

Avengers #18. “Impact” Part Two. Written by Jed MacKay and art by Valerio Schiti. Joshua Cassara & GURU-eFX did the cover art. Hyperion is on a literal crash course with earth and the Avengers look to try and stop him in any way they can. Thor resigns from the Avengers this issue too.

Spider-Boy Annual #1. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Carlos Nieto. The individual Infinity stone holders are coming together as the arch across the various annuals are to its penultimate annual. And how cruel to take poor Coulson’s burger.

Ice Cream Man #41. “Spy Story (Or My Best Graham Greene Impression).” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art is done by Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran (Gold Medalist). A secret agent story with some weird monstrous creature involved. Ice Cream Man is some of the most creative comic horror stories around.

The Graveyard Club #1. Written by R.L. Stein and illustrated by Carola Borelli. Cover art was done by Miguel Mercado. This is a big first issue of this Boom! comic. A group of outcasts are involved in a ton of strangeness centered around the graveyard. Some of these characters are not very likable.

Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #2. There are three shorter stories in this issue centered around the time when Peter wore the symbiote. Daredevil guest starred in one of the stories as they take on Bullseye in a snow storm. This cover art is done by Giuseppe Camuncoli & Edgar Delgado.

Incredible Hulk #17. “City of Idols” Part One. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art and cover art by Nic Klein. The Hulk is on his way to try and save Charlie, but he did not know that approaching the Eldest mean that Hulk could not save Charlie without sacrificing himself. This was a much better issue of the Hulk than the last few have been.

Ultimate X-Men #7. Written, drawn and cover art by Peach Momoko. This is a very different book than anything else in the Ultimate Universe and I really like that. Peach Momoko is quite a talent with the cover art, but I do enjoy her work on this series too.

Dark Knight of Steel: Allwinter #3. “Bat Country.” Written by Jay Kristoff and art and cover by Tirso (Bronze Medalist). This Elseworlds series continues along with Slade taking the kid to the city and running into a Batman-Superman type of amalgam. I’m not sure why Bruce seems to have Superman powers. I wonder if this is a return to this setting from another series where some of these things have been introduced prior. I have been liking this a lot though.

Sam and Twitch Case Files #6. Script/plot by Todd McFarlane and Jon Goff was the co-plotter. Art was done by Szymon Kudranski. Cover art was by Mark Spears & Thomas Nachlik. Twitch is in deep trouble as there are dead bodies everywhere. I do like this down to earth take on a detective series in the Spawn universe.

Spirits of Vengeance #1. Written by Sabir Pirzada and art by Sean Damien Hill. Kendrick “Kunkka” Lim does the cover art. Ghost Rider returns as does Vengeance. Vengeance was hanging in a corm field as a scarecrow? That has to be the scariest scarecrow of all time.

Other books this week: Wolverine: Deep Cut #3, Deathlok #50, Gilt Frame #2, Lawful #4, and Huge Detective #2.

Agatha All Along E1, E2

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Spoilers

“Seekest Thou The Road”

“Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate”

The last live-action Marvel Television show was Secret Invasion. It was such a letdown that one has to wonder what was going on. The animated X-Men ’97 was brilliant, and that led us to the beginning of the spin-off of WandaVision, called Agatha All Along.

Agatha Harkness was the big bad in WandaVision and Wanda left her trapped in her Agnus character. That was three years ago and it seems that Agnus has found herself inside a police procedural.

The Agnus of Westview section of the first show was awesome, clearly a take on the Mare of Easttown series from HBO. However, the arrival of Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke helped break Agatha out of the trance cast upon her by the now deceased (?) Wanda.

Agatha still has no power, but Joe Locke, who seems to be unable to say his name or any specifics about him, wants Agatha to lead him down the Witches’ Road.

The mystery of “Teen,” which is what Agatha begins calling Joe is one of the biggest of the early part of the show. We comic fans believe that we know who he is… Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan. In the comics, Wiccan was one of Wanda Maximoff’s children (or so I think… this is a really convoluted piece of Marvel history). Could this be Billy from WandaVision? Who or what is preventing Agatha from hearing his name?

The second episode had Agatha and Teen recruiting other witches to put together a coven so they could open the door to the Witches’ Road. Patti LuPone, Ali Ahn, Sasheer Zamata are three of the witches that they recruited. Agatha also brought in Debra Jo Rupp, reprising her role from WandaVision in a brilliant piece of casting. Debra Jo played Mrs. Hart in WandaVision, but is actually named Sharon Davis and not a witch. Her part in the show was absolutely hilarious.

The group of them wound up singing “The Ballad of the Witches Road” in Agatha’s basement. This was an amazing song and it sounded awesome. Sharon’s line “Am I supposed to know this song” was just tremendous.

The cast is fantastic. I loved how this started off. Some may claim that it was too slow of a build, but I disagree. I was fully engaged from the first, as Agnus was investigating the death of a mysterious woman (sure being hinted as it being Wanda Maximoff).

The show had a very scary tone as the coven started to head down the road. In particular, the arrival of the Salem Seven was some of the creepiest moments of the first two episodes. I expect these are the witches we see Agatha betray and kill in WandaVision.

Agatha All Along has a vibe of The Wizard of Oz as well as plenty of Easter eggs from WandaVision. Several supporting cast members from that show appeared here.

I can’t wait to see where the Witches’ Road will lead us. Agatha All Along seemed to be a lot of fun and the perfect show to watch during the spooky season.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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September 18, 2024

I am anxiously awaiting the debut of Agatha All Along tonight (in about 30 minutes from now) and tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day (always one of my favorite times of the year). It is a busy time of the year.

Honestly, I did not have any covers this week that blew my socks off. There were several decent ones, but nothing that was obviously going to medal. Todd said that the variant cover of Spider-Man: Black Suit and Blood would be the automatic winner, but I did not get that cover. It was sold out when I went to look for it.

So here are this week’s winners.

Bronze Medalist

Dark Knights of Steel #3

Cover art by Tirso

I love this action filled cover as the battle is falling right into the title. I am a fan of white backgrounds too and the grey blur behind the characters really look great.

Silver Medalist

Spider-Society #2

Cover art by Pete Woods

Miguel standing strong as the rest of the Spider-people are scattered on the ground behind him. Miguel’s webbing cloak floating in the air behind him. Just a strong looking cover with the question about what is exactly going on.

Gold Medalist

Ice Cream Man #41

Cover by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran

Ice Cream Man has had all kinds of fun covers over the years. This parody of a James Bond cover is yet another fun satirical cover. The secret agent is holding an ice cream cone.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #115

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September 14, 2024

Not much to say this week. Jumping right in to the books I picked up.

Duck and Cover #1. Written by Scott Snyder and art and cover art by Rafael Albuquerque. An interesting new book from Dark Horse. This gives us an alternate reality of 1955 and the story of a group of teenagers, that have been instructed to “duck and cover” as a way to protect themselves from a nuclear bomb. When the bomb goes off and the teens come out from beneath those life-saving desks, they find a post-apocalyptic world that they need to survive. Pretty good start to this new series. Hope you’re happy, Todd.

Groo: Minstrel Melodies #1. Written by Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier and illustrated and cover art by Sergio Aragones (Bronze Medalist). The Minstrel and his daughter Kayli are traveling the land, singing about the misadventures of Groo. I love the Wanderer.

Amazing Spider-Man #57. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Cover art was done by Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Morry Hollowell. Tombstone is in jail. He does not stay there long. He is out trying for revenge on the person who put him there… his daughter Janice.

Time Waits #1. Written by Chip Zdarsky and David Brothers and illustrated by Marcus To & Marvin Sianipar. Marcus To was the cover artist. I have been enjoying the books coming out of DSTLRY, and the new Time Waits is another excellent start. This is told in a fascinating manner, with flashbacks that just appear in the narrative and kind of do not make sense. I am looking forward to the next issue.

Geiger #6. Creators Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Cover art by Gary Frank & Brad Anderson (Gold Medalist). A story focusing on Barney, the two headed dog that has been an important piece over the last couple of issues. Barney and a bunch of the other animals involved in this issue. Good stuff.

Transformers #12. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson and art by Jorge Corona. Cover art by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer. Optimus Prime makes a major decision. Cybertron or Earth? There are some major issues among the Autobots here too.

Spider-Man: Reign 2 #3. Written, drawn and cover art by Kaare Andrews. MJ has the Venom symbiote. Miles and Peter face off. I have to say that Peter’s gigantic white beard is somewhat distracting, but the discovery of what happened was powerful. This has been a good series, even though I am not a huge fan of these alternate stories.

Captain America #13. “The Last Stand of the Front Door, Part 2” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Carlos Magno. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. I have not been a fan of this arc of Captain America, but this finale of that arc was okay. Cap was definitely kick ass here, but I am glad the comic moves on to another storyline next issue (which looks like it will co-star Thor and Spidey).

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #9. “The Killing of Moon Knight” Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Devmalya Pramanik. Davide Paratore did the cover art. This issue brings to a close the “new” Moon Knight, aka Shroud. Khonshu wants Shroud dead and he ordered Marc Spector to do it. This is the final issue of this series as we get a new Moon Knight title coming soon.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2. “Super Mutant Turtle Power Go!” Script by Jason Aaron and art and cover art by Rafael Albuquerque. I really loved the first issue of Jason Aaron’s TMNT book, but issue two is not as amazing. It is still good as we focus on Michelangelo and his new career as an action actor.

Red Before Black #2. Written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Goran Sudžuka. Val and Leo have a throwdown in a cafe over breakfast. Yet they end up somewhere completely different. This new book has some cool moments and some originality.

Uncanny X-Men #2. “Red Wave” Part Two. Written by Gail Simone and art by David Marquez. Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art. We get introduced to the Outliers, a new group of mutants that Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Jubilee and Nightcrawler have to deal with. We also have a new character named Sarah that is somehow tied to an early Charles Xavier. Gail Simone is an outstanding writer and she has a cool concept working with this version of the X-Men.

Ain’t No Grave #5. Written by Skottie Young and art by Jorge Corona. Ryder challenges death in this series finale issue. It is a real jaw-dropper of an issue. I did not expect the conclusion of this story to happen the way that it did. I was very impressed with the way this mini-series concluded.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #5. “Haunted” Part 5. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Paolo Villanelli. Mark Brooks did the cover art. Gwen is out to try an help Chameleon, whose powers have gone haywire. Plus, they were being pursued by forces, as well as having to battle Vermin.

Blood Hunters #2. Written by Erica Schultz and art by Robert Gill. Ema Lupacchino and GURU-eFX did the cover art. Elsa Bloodstone seems to be fairly unhinged and she is anything but happy about vampire Miles Morales. However, she is forced to work with him against the Bloodcoven.

Jonny Quest #2. Written by Joe Casey and art by Sebastian Piriz. Chad Hardin did the cover art. The new Dynamite comic of Jonny Quest is once again a great book, as we get past Jonny and the future Jonny try and find a way to get the Quest family back where they came from. This has been a solid start to this series so far.

Space Ghost #5. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Francesco Mattina did the cover art. Another Dynamite book that has been awesome. Space Ghost is desperate as he tries to save Jan and Jace from the clutches of Zorak. Then, Jace drops a bomb at the end of the issue.

Avengers Assemble #1. Written by Steve Orlando and penciled by Cory Smith. Cover art by Leinil Francis Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr. The new Avengers Emergency Response Squad starts to assemble under the leadership of Captain America. It is nice to see Jarvis once again and it is fun to see the plethora of the heroes arriving, answering the call of the Avengers. There is also a battle with Sin.

Fantastic Four #25. “Star-Crossed” Written by Ryan North and drawn by Carlos Gomez. Joshua Cassara & Dean White did the cover art. Okay, this is a love story. And a weird one with Johnny Storm falling in love with an alien. And Star-crossed is a good example of the story here.

The Department of Truth #25. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn and cover art by Martin Simmonds. There are actually a series of other artists who worked on this issue, which details more about the life and ties of Lee Harvey Oswald and may even insinuate that the assassination of JFK was done by the fictional woman. The Department of Truth is always full of wild ideas in storytelling.

Wolverine #1. “In the Bones” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Martin Coccolo (Silver Medalist). Logan is running with a pack of wolves. The whole X-Men thing was weighing on Logan and Nightcrawler came to try and get him back. Cyber is there hunting Logan too.

Other books this week: The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #12, Profane #4, Wonderland: Return to Madness #3, Domain #3, and Ultimate Black Panther #8.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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Week of September 9

Three winning comic covers, three separate comic book companies. Nicely spread out this week. There is one variant cover and two number ones. One artist who is already in the EYG Hall of Fame, and in fact was in an early class (Class of 2012).

It is September 11th today and it is a good day for reflection.

Bronze Medalist

Groo: Minstrel Melodies #1

Cover art by Sergio Aragones

This is the EYG Hall of Famer. Sergio Aragones has been treating us with Groo books for years and Groo is one of my favorite characters and this cover really captures the humor of the character.

Silver Medalist

Wolverine #1

Cover art by Martin Coccolo & Bryan Valenza

A new Wolverine book featuring some great variants, but I think the cover A is right there with the best of them. This gives us an amazing view of Wolverine the character atop of these skeletons. I also love the snowy trees in the background.

Gold Medalist

Geiger #6

Variant Cover B

Cover art by Francis Manapul

A glowing man and his two-headed dog. What more could you want. I love the shades of green across this variant cover as Geiger seems to be relaxing with a book. Beautiful art.