Tag Archives: marvel

2023 Best and Worst Animation

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EYG Frame Award- Best Animation

Previous Winners: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

There was another good year in animation. There is a considerably longer list on the best side than there is on the worst side. It is possible that some of the worst animated films this year I did not see. 

I only have two films on the worst list so I will give them both here. They were Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Legion of Superheroes. I saw one in the theater (Ruby) and one online (Legion). Neither were very good. I might say that Legion is a step better for me because I have a connection to those characters, but Ruby looked much better. 

Having done the worst, here are the runners-up.

Runners-Up: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was very artistic and had a great voice cast, especially those young actors who did the turtle voices. Super Mario Bros. was another fun film that made a bunch of money at the box office. A film that did not make as much at the box office was Disney’s Wish, which was decent, but not awesome. Another Disney film that did not do as well as they were used to was Elemental. At the beginning of that movie I did not like it, but it won me over as it progressed. Trolls Band Together was fun and had some good music to it. We had a new film from EYG Hall of Famer Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli called The Boy and the Heron. It was the typically high quality from that studio. Merry Little Batman approached its topic with a flair and if you could get past the characterization of Damian Wayne, you should have enjoyed this. Migration was okay, another film that ended better than it started. Then today I watched the Netflix films Nimora and Leo, both were very enjoyable.

After seeing the runners-up, it should not be a surprise which animated film receives the Frame Award this year…

Winner: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

This was a no-brainer for me. Spider-Man is my favorite character and this movie was such a beautiful film, the art design was spectacular and the animation was as creative as any film you will ever see, 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a masterpiece.

What If …? S2 E4

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“What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Gamemaster?”

What If…? takes a step back to give some background on an event from last season. There were reports that indicated that one of the episodes from season one had been removed and potentially sent to season two. It was the episode featuring Gamora, the Gamora from the Guardians of the Multiverse episodes.

This episode kicked off with the Watcher reminding us of the Guardians of the Multiverse and saying how Gamora was a member that we had not been introduced to prior, and that her story began in someone else’s.

He meant Tony Stark. The episode takes place after the events of Avengers 1, when Tony took the nuke through the portal and he did not find his way back to New York. Instead, he ended up on Sakaar to face off with the Grandmaster, voiced once again with an over-the-top flair by Jeff Goldblum. 

This episode is meant to be in the Mad Max style, and it does a lot with the concept of racing that can’t help but make people think of NASCAR or Mario Cart.

Special affirmations should go to Mick Wingert, who voices Tony Stark, replacing Robert Downey Jr. in the MCU, which cannot help but be a huge task. He does a wonderful job of sounding like RDJ, but not just being an imitation. 

Overall, this episode was a little messier for me than the others from season two. It did have some good humor in it, but the races were too hectic for my tastes. I have been a huge Mad Max fan so I can see this one being a little lesser in my view.

Up to Date Running Order:

E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

E1  “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E2  “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

E4  ”What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Gamemaster?”

EYG Comic Cavalcade #74

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December 24, 2023

Happy holidays. Merry Christmas! As I write this, it is Christmas Eve and over 50 degrees outside. Clearly no white Christmas this year, and that does not bother me even a little bit. 

With a hectic schedule at EYG, I am getting last week’s books finished up. One of the best things about Christmas break is that next Wednesday, I get to go spend time at Comic World reading my pull list. 

I have a group of back issues being held for me in my box, from a collection that may be sold to Comic World. It includes the Demon in a Bottle issue of Iron Man. It could still fall through, but if it comes through, I’ll have that plus some Tomb of Draculas. Cool stuff.

This is the books from last week…

Amazing Spider-Man #40. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz did the cover. We are in the Gang War storyline and The Rose is making his presences known. So the new alliance between Spidey and Tombstone is bringing in another big hitter.

Spider-Boy #2. “`Twas the Fight Before Christmas” and “X-Mas Ex Machina.” Written by Dan Slott. First story drawn by Paco Medina and second story drawn by Ty Templeton. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado. Spider-Boy teams up with Captain America in a battle with the Taskmaster. 

The Original X-Men #1. Written by Christos Gage and penciled by Greg Land. The cover art was done by Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer & Brad Anderson. A futuristic Phoenix comes back in time to see the young X-Men (who had, at one point, come to the present day Marvel Universe) for help with another universe Phoenix. This was really great and book that I wished had more than the one shot. 

Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #3. Written by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Juan Ferreyra. This horror story continues to be one of the best books on the market. Spidey comes across Mysterio in this horror house and figures out, with the help of Spidercide, the man behind the terrors. The Jackal!

Superior Spider-Man #2. ”Suit Up“ Written by Dan Slott and penciled by Mark Bagley. I was not sure if I was going to get this series. After issue #1, I was still on the fence. This book cleared that up for me as I loved this issue. Doc Ock and Spidey team up, if reluctantly, to try to save Anna Marie. This solidified this book for me.

The Deviant #2. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Joshua Hixson. Hixson did the cover, which was our cover of the week. This book has been so great so far. Set during the Christmas holiday, it follows the story of a comic book writer researching a serial killer from the past. This has been so awesome so far.

Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #3. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Carlos Magno. Ryan Brown did the cover art. Capwolf continues to fight in the World War II battle. Looks as if old Nick Fury may be coming back to the action.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #3. Written by Brian Buccellato and art by Christian Duce. Drew Johnson & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did cover art. Superheroes vs. monsters are filling these pages. Is Superman dead? Since this is not in continuity (or at least, so it seems) anything is possible. It does look like Atom Smasher bit the big one (thanks Godzilla).

Animal Pound #1. ”Chapter One: The Proud Dog Dies.“ Written by Tom King and illustrated by Peter Gross. The first issue of the new Tom King book follows the adventures of a group of animals at an animal pound and their attempted coup of the pound. First issue had a lot of dialogue but I think it will improve as it moves along. Tom King has earned the patience.

Astonishing Iceman #5. ”Out Cold Part Five“ Written by Steve Orlando and art by Vincenzo Carratù. Jesus Saiz did the cover art. Iceman has his final conflict with Clean and sees if he can reform himself without help from Romeo. This short series ended with a solid conclusion. 

The Incredible Hulk #7. ”Spirits of Vengeance” Part Two. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Nic Klein. Hulk fights an undead Ghost Rider and then teams up with him as dangers abound. This version of the Hulk is interesting, but I do think it is going to pick up soon.

Uncanny Avengers #5. ”Unmasked“ Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Javier Garrón. This series closes up after a final conflict with Captain Krakoa, aka Steven Grant Rogers, the Captain America who joined Hydra a few years ago.

Killadelphia #32. ”Death Be Not Proud Part II: Whatever Happened to Blake Edwards?“ Written by Rodney Barnes and art by Jason Shawn Alexander & German Erramouspe. We have Spawn. And at the end of this issue, another independent all-star showed up… Savage Dragon. Wild series so far. 

Daredevil: Black Armor #2. Written by D.G. Chichester and penciled by Netho Diaz. Mark Bagley & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. Daredevil has to deal with a bunch of villains such as Hobgoblin, Sabretooth, Mole Man and Baron Strucker.

Uncanny Spider-Man #5. “Fade to Blue” Written by Si Spurrier and drawn by Lee Garbett & Simone Buonfantino. Another short series that comes to an end this week. Kurt finally brings down the Vulture and frees Warlock. 

Doctor Strange #10. ”Nebraska Pt. 2” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Pasqual Ferry. Alex Ross did the cover art. Dr. Strange and General Strange end their war and Doctor Strange shows the compassion of a doctor. 

Other books read: The Plot Holes #5, Project Cryptid #4, Hunt for the Skinwalker #4, Newburn #13, Kill Your Darlings #4, G.O.D.S. #3, Hexagon Bridge #4, and Rare Flavours #3. 

What If…? S2 E3

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“What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

What a delight.

‘Twas the morning before Christmas

And I couldn’t sleep

So I popped on What If…?

Season two just for keep.

The Avengers were tussling

With a purple freak,

Inside Avengers Tower

Things looked really bleak.

The Watcher took us back

Before things got too charred

And we realized the show

Was a nod to Die Hard.

With Happy and Darcy,

And Maria Hill, too

While Justin Hammer dances

As he is wont to do.

From a purple “Hulk” Hogan

Whose punches are stiff,

Merry Christmas to all

From the world of What If…?

This was an unbelievably fun episode that filled me with joy… and not just Christmas joy. Die Hard is one of my all-time favorite movies, so seeing Marvel put an Avengers-spin on it was so epic. 

And then, the actual writing of the episode was so good. Christmas puns and tropes scattered throughout and great use of two secondary characters in Happy and Darcy that we all love. There was some great comedy in this episode and the use of the actual Avengers was just perfect as well. Was this the first What If…? episode that included Tony Stark where Stark did not die?

This was the first episode this season that did not feel as if it had a rush to finish. I thought the pacing of this was spectacular. 

And the return of Justin Hammer, voiced by the one and only Sam Rockwell, as a stand in for Hans Gruber, was inspired. Sam Rockwell sounded as if he was having a blast with the character. You could hear the lilt in his voice. The fact that Marvel is able to get these huge stars to come back and voice their characters in this animated series never fails to blow my mind. Sure there are some who are voice actors (hiya Lake Bell), but the fact is this episode had Mark Ruffalo back for like two lines of dialogue. Jon Favreau, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Kat Dennings, Cobie Smulders were all here for this episode.

And that Happy Hulk Hogan fight with the Iron Man suits/robots in the hallway was amazing. The oil splatter, replacing blood, as the purple hulk rampaged through the suits was some special visual storytelling. There were plenty of visual jokes/bits that helped tell this story. 

Legitimately, this is probably my second favorite What If…? episode of the entire series, only behind the S1 E4 Supreme Strange episode, and that is just barely ahead of this.

Merry Christmas to all…

Up to Date Running Order:

E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

E1  “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E2  “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

What If…? S2 E2

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“What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

Episode two is a bit of a step back from the excellent first episode of season two. 

Peter Quill gets taken by Yondu and given to Ego. They go about on the Expanse and Peter comes back to earth, leading Peggy Carter to bring together the best heroes the earth could muster at the time.

It was sort of a different style Avengers formation, including Bill Foster, King T’Chaka, The Winter Soldier, Hank Pym, and Dr. Wendy Lawson (Mar-Vell). Things picked up when Thor arrived too.

As with all of the What If…? episodes, one of the cool things is that the most actors who played these characters in the MCU films reprise their roles on the animated show. That led to an astounding cast for an animated show including Chris Hemsworth, Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne, Kurt Russell, John Slattery, Sebastian Stan and Hayley Atwell all on the call list for episode two. 

There were some good things that happened in the episode. It is not as if I hated this one. It just felt too rushed in some places. I did not love some of the character choices and a lot of what could have made the episode stronger was left out.

The animation continues to be a highlight of the show so far. Everything looked awesome and feels like a step up from season one. 

Running Order:

Definitely…

E1  “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E2  “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

2023 Comics Year in Review

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2023 was the year that I really got back into comics, big time. I had been buying books and reading a few here and there, but I was having piles of comics at my house that I was not getting to and some that were still in the bag I bought them in at Comic World. And Todd is always hording those bags.

Anyway, with the beginning of the Comic Catch-Up post, I started working through those piles of books, getting them bagged and boarded. Once the piles were basically done, I switched the post to EYG Comic Cavalcade and here we are.

I have also expanded my collecting of books from just Marvel to Marvel, Image, Boom! Studios… and even DC (a little). I have a very wide swath of comics I get in a month.

So I have given out some of the year awards for EYG Year in Review for the world of comics.

Best Marvel Series: Daredevil. Daredevil was consistently one of the most enjoyable books each month. Chip Zdarsky created an amazing tale for Matt Murdock and Saladin Ahmed has continued the thrilling arc for the character in his new series. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, She-Hulk.

Best Independent Series: No/One. This was a tough choice. I loved a lot of independent books this year, and I bought a bunch of them. However, I guess No/One got a bit of a push when I found the podcast that is tied to it. I have truly enjoyed this book so far. Runners-Up: Something is Killing the Children, Something Epic, Void Rivals, Killadelphia, The Great British Bump Off.

Best DC Series: Knight Terrors. This is a bit of a cheat, but this summer storyline lead me to buy the entire run of books, including all the crossovers. I liked more of this than not, with the main limited series being some great stuff with Batman and Deadman involved. Runners-Up: Peacemaker: Tries Hard, Superman: Lost.

Best New Character: Spider-Boy. Dan Slott’s latest creation in the world of Spider-Man is the young Spider-Boy who remembers being Spider-Man’s sidekick. Problem is that he is the only person who remembers that happening. Spider-Boy has been fun so far. Runners-up: No/One, Danny Dillon, Hunter’s Moon, Hallows’ Eve, Red Goblin

Best Writer: James Tynion IV. Tynion has been one of the best and most prolific writers on the independent scene all year. With Something Killing the Children being awesome every month, there was also Blue Book, Universal Monsters: Dracula, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, W0rldT33, The Department of Truth, The Deviant etc. It has gotten to a point that when I see James Tynion IV on a comic, I want to buy it. Runners-Up: Jeff Lemire, Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky, Szymon Kudranski, Jed MacKay, Saladin Ahmed

Best Artist: Szymon Kudranski. His work on Something Epic was absolutely astounding. His art of those issues stuck with me and made me think of him for this book. It is so realistic that it looks photographic and I find it absolutely beautiful. Runners-Up: Lee Bermejo, John Romita Jr., Elena Casagrande, Werther Dell’Edera, Martin Simmonds.

Best Graphic Novel: Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes. A creative book featuring the iconic detective. Runners-Up: Parasocial, Killadelphia trade paperback. 

Best Issue #1: Something Epic #1. This book inspired me to head out and actually search down as many of the variant covers that I could find. It was such a great issue I felt excited after reading it. Runners-Up: Hellcat #1, Predator versus Wolverine #1, The Deviant #1.

Best Surprise: Predator vs. Wolverine #1. I could not believe that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. While the next couple issues were okay at best, this first issue really shocked me with how much I enjoyed it. Runners-Up: Killadelphia, Void Rivals, Transformers

Most Underappreciated: Hellcat. I loved this limited series. I know it did not have the best following, but Patsy Walker had an exciting and enjoyable mystery to solve involving her ex-husband Damian Hellstrom. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Peacemaker: Tries Hard

Best One Shot: Hellfire Gala #1. Big things happened in this book and I was really enjoying it. The Orchis storyline kicked into high gear and the X-Men have yet to recover. Runners-Up: Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1, The Original X-Men #1, Howard the Duck #1.

Best Older Series I Started this Year: Gideon Falls. I absolutely loved this series and it was a big reason why I dove into the independent scene as much as I did. Jeff Lemire created a classic with this 28-issue masterpiece. Runners-Up: Omega the Unknown, Planetary, Ice Cream Man, Howard the Duck, That Texas Blood

Cover of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #35, Cover D. Drawn by Elena Casagrande. 

Comic Character MVPs for 2023: Spider-Man, Optimus Prime, Deadman, Erica Slaughter, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, and Moon Knight.

2023 Best Documentary

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Best Documentary

Previous Winners:  Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Scientology Movie, Tickled, Finding Neverland, Tiger King, The Beatles: Get Back, Lights & Magic

I have not actually seen a lot of documentaries this year. I usually enjoy seeing documentaries, and there is no real reason why I have not seen very many. 

So here are my top four…

#4. Stan Lee. This Disney + film was a nice doc about Stan the Man. Almost too much of a puff piece, but enjoyable for fans of the icon. Best part was a radio confrontation between Stan and Jack Kirby. Wanted more like that.

#3. Taylor Swift: The ERAs Tour. Not really a documentary, but a lot of fun. I have never considered myself a Swiftie, but I enjoyed the concert film.

#2. American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes. This Peacock special was really well done. The WWE always puts together the best docs about their wrestlers. This story of Cody Rhodes’ journey was compelling and gave us some true insight on the American Nightmare.

#1. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. An Apple TV + film that brought us into the story of Michael J. Fox and his struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, and how his life was affected from it. Michael J. Fox was interviewed extensively for the doc. 

2023 The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year

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The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

Previous Winners:  Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), In the Heights (2021), Mass (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

This year had a few solid ensemble casts. I generally consider an ensemble cast here as a cast without a main lead, although some of the previous winners did have lead performances too.

Runners-Up: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. A great finale for this franchise within the MCU. Everybody got their awesome final moments. Dungeons & Dragons was a surprise hit of the year, at least critically. Their group of actors worked so well together. Air was another film that did great earlier in the year. The third Poirot film with Kenneth Branagh was the best of the three, A Haunting in Venice. Saltburn had a leading performance, but the ensemble around him was part of the weird film’s strength. 

Winner: Oppenheimer

Sure, you could make an argument that Cillian Murphy is the lead of the film. I mean, it is named after his character. However, there are so many rich and complex characters populating this film that you could argue that this might be one of the best ensemble casts of all time. Oppenheimer was a huge hit and should be heard from again come Oscar time.

The 2023 Anna Devane Kick Ass Female Award

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The Anna Devane Kick Ass Female Award

Previous winners:  Rey (Star Wars), Mockingbird (Marvel Comics), Wonder Woman (DCEU), The Shirewolves, Captain Marvel, Kamala Harris, Wanda Maximoff, Pearl 

I loved Anna Devane when I was younger and watched General Hospital. I loved how she could kick the butt of anyone placed in front of her. That is where this award came from.

You can call it a woke award if you wish. It doesn’t matter to me. I love a great female asskicker. Here are some of the best of 2023.

Runners-up: M3GAN kicked off the year in a great movie, although she is a robot technically and not necessarily a female. Spider-Gwen is a major star from the Across the Spider-Verse film and she has had a couple of series at Marvel Comics this year. I don’t care what anyone says, I loved The Marvels (Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau). They re definitely in this category. Barbie dominated the box office and found her way into the real world. Another one I will debate till the end is Hope, aka the Wasp, from Quantumania. Yes, she did not have as much to do, but she came up big a couple of times. Another comic character is Daredevil, aka Elektra Natchios. She was a major figure in Matt Murdock’s life and now is still in the DD costume during the Gang War story. Julia Page is a reporter from the No/One comic and she probably wouldn’t have made this list had it not been for the podcast that I listened to tied to this series. The podcast was inspiring to me and Julia was a great character. The biggest tour of the year kicked a lot of ass as Taylor Swift made ALL the money. The Last of Us debuted on HBO and gave us a perfect version of Ellie. Her confrontation with the cannibals was absolutely mind-blowing. Donna Noble returned with The Doctor for three specials on Disney + and showed why she was one of the best companions the Doctor ever had. Juliette Nichols battled through the first season of Silo on Apple TV + trying to solve a death inside the dystopian silo. Lucy Gray Baird dominated the screen in the new Hunger Games film. She was the winner of the Games and of our hearts. One of the top characters in the new D& D YouTube series Bonus Action was Bar’B Mourdusa, a barbarian, as played by Amanda Nicholas. 

And our winner among this massive list of powerful and dominant females is…

Winner: Dorothy “Dot” Lyon. 

Aka Nadine Tillman, played by Juno Temple on FX’s Fargo. 

Dorothy has been the main protagonist in Fargo season five and she has been just so awesome. Being pursued by her ex-husband, Sheriff Roy Tillman, Dorothy had to fight off his flunkies while still trying to maintain her new life from crashing around her. She has been absolutely brutal all year and her wits and intelligence shone through everything. I am excited for her final showdown with Roy, which is clearly coming soon.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #73

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December 17, 2023

Good day all. This is our #73 post of the EYG Comic Cavalcade. I was just thinking that it was about time to get a new header for this, but I am not sure that I have the time right now. With school wrapping up, plus all the movies, TV shows, rewatches, and the Year in Review, time is sparse.

Still, it is on the to do list for soon.

My friend Todd picked up a couple of comics from England featuring Spider-Man and thought of me. He knows I am a huge Spider-Man fan and he asked if I was interested in these books. I was. They included Spider-Man Comic #320 and The Spectacular Spider-Man weekly #361. These are cool, oversized books to add to the collection. 

Here are the rest of the books from this week:

White Widow #2. Written by Sarah Gailey and art by Alessandro Miracolo. David Marquez did the cover art. I think this was the best cover of the week. I actually enjoyed the story much more than I did in issue #1, which was okay. I liked the characterization of Yelena in this book and it gave me a bit of the flavor of Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye series. 

The Enfield Gang Massacre #5. ”Chapter Five: Death & Reasons.“ This continues to be one of the most original comic books on the market. I love how it feels like an old time comic book and it keeps on being a fun read.

Blade #6. ”Mother of Evil” Part Six. Written by Bryan Hill and drawn by Lee Ferguson. Elena Casagrande & Jordie Bellaire did the cover art. Blade gets training from Dracula. Yup. That’s what I said. The ultimate odd couple plays out as Blade prepares for what he has to face.

The Bloody Dozen: A Tale of the Shrouded College #1. Written by Charles Soule and art by Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque. Will Sliney did the cover art. An intriguing and unlikely trio is recruited to go into space after…vampires? An interesting start to this book that I did not remember ordering. 

Antarctica #6. Written by Simon Birks and art by Willi Roberts. It’s Christmas time and seven year old Hannah is hoping to spend the holidays with her father. However, there is more here than what is being told. Antarctica continues to be a compelling, mind-twisting book.

Immortal Thor #5. ”Caveat Emptor” Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Martin Coccolo. Cover art was by Alex Ross. Thor and the reassembled Thor Corps has to take on Toranos and Thor has a different idea on how to stop the rampage of the god.

Moon Knight #30. ”The Terminal Seconds of Moon Knight“ Written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio. Stephen Segovia & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. Moon Knight aka Marc Spector has been on this path for quite a while now, and he has finally died… and will not come back. It seems that his work will carry on, though.

Spider-Gwen: Smash #1. Written by Melissa Flores and penciled by Enid Balám. Gwen and the Mary Janes go on a tour, opening for Alison Blaire, the Dazzler! That is, until a hulk-creature crashes the party.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #13. Written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Federico Vicentini. The Gang War continues in these pages as Miles takes on the Buzz Boys. Hobgoblin is around as well.

Punisher #2. ”The Negotiation“ Written by David Pepose and art by Dave Wachter. Rod Reis did the cover art. Joe Garrison is after information on what happened to his wife and who may have ordered the attack. He found out that his wife was the actual target. That did not make him too happy.

Daredevil: Gang War #1. Written by Erica Schultz and penciled by Sergio Davila. Davila, Sean Parsons & Ceci De La Cruz did the cover art. Daredevil, aka Elektra Natchios, is out to protect Hell’s Kitchen so she has to team up with Spider-Man and the others in the Gang War. She does not like that much and is happier on her own. 

Luke Cage: Gang War #2. Written by Rodney Barnes and art by Ramon F. Bachs. Caanan White did the cover art. Luke, in his new costume to protect his identity, along with Cloak & Dagger, Danny Rand, and Jessica Jones take on Smythe during the Gang War, all the while trying to avoid the law against costumed vigilantes.

Captain America #4. ”A Series of Unexpected Attacks” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Lan Medina. Jesus Saiz did the cover art. Cap gets messed up by the demon he was facing called The Emissary. We also see back in Steve Rogers’ past the dangers of a hidden bomb. Love this series.

Guardians of the Galaxy #9. ”The Magnificent Mantis” Written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and penciled by Kev Walker. Emilio Laiso & Bryan Valenza did the cover art. Mantis and Gamora head to earth in search of the Soul Gem so they could retrieve Drax’s human soul.

Other books read: Silver Surfer: Rebirth Legacy #4, Phantom Road #7, Batman: Robin Lives #1, Superman: Lost #9, Damn Them All #11, A Haunted Girl #3, House of Slaughter #20, and Marvel Zombies: Black, White & Blood #3. 

2023 I Am Groot Voice Acting Award

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“I am Groot” Voice Acting Award

Previous Winners:  Robin Williams (Aladdin- honorary), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes),  Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War), Ryan Reynolds (Detective Pikachu), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Jeffrey Wright and Chadwick Boseman (What If…?), Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish)

Every year, there are talented voice actors who create characters with their voices. In this category, we include animated movies, CGI characters, and even live action characters whose face you never see.

There are always a lot of great choices. Here are the Honorable Mentions…

Honorable Mentions: A couple of actors from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse included a great performance from Hailee Steinfeld as Spider-Gwen and Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099. Vin Diesel does a great job as Groot both in Guardians Vol. 3 and I Am Groot animated shorts. The iconic Peter Cullen brought Optimus Prime back to the live action Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The four young actors, Micah Abbey, Shannon Brown Jr., Nicolas Canter, and Brady Noon in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem were brought together in the studio to do their voice over together. Daveed Diggs appeared as Sebastian in the live action Little Mermaid flick. If I had a basic runner-up, it would be Jack Black in The Super Marion Bros. film.

And the winner: Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Rocket was the emotional heart of that movie and Bradley Cooper brought his best work from the franchise. Though he did not record the really young Rocket, he did the majority of the character and did the most painful parts. He has been exceptional as the raccoon and he is a big reason why Rocket is a major character in the MCU.

Who is NO/ONE?

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I am taking a class for my educational license renewal on podcasts in education. I started it yesterday and one of the assignments was to basically try out a podcast. I was considering the Wolverine one, but then I remembered. The podcast that went along with Image Comics’ series No/One. I saw the ads for it at the back of the comic and I always wanted to give it a try. This gave me the perfect opportunity.

Starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Patton Oswalt, I only had to listen to the first episode for my class. I was hooked. By the end of the night, I had gone through the entire six episodes that are currently available.

I have been loving the No/One comic series. This podcast was a remarkable compendium to that book. Listening to the podcast, I had that background knowledge from the books and so when the podcast would describe something that I remembered from the comic, it was as if I was a special insider.

Rachael Leigh Cook and Patton Oswalt were great in telling the story of the Richard Roe murders and the copycats.

The comic series is ten issues so I assume there will continue to be a podcast episode for wach issue. This was a fun listen.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #72

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December 7, 2023

I was able to spend this past NEW COMIC BOOK DAY at Comic World as I used a personal day from school. Once again, it was wonderful. I was able to sit at the back table at Comic World and read most of the new books this week. I do love being able to do this.

It also appears that the curse of the number three in independent books is officially over. I have five #3s this week and they were all in my pull box. Mercifully, the long nightmare is finally over!

Books read this week:

Fantastic Four #14. Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Alex Ross did the cover art. The Fantastic Four returns to the site of the Baxter Building with the expectation that it would reappear after it was sent into the future. They discovered people (super villains actually) constructing something on the location.

Thunderbolts#1. “Worldstrike” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly and art by Geraldo Borges. Terry Dodson did the cover art. A new team of Thunderbolts head out to take on the Red Skull. Included Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter, Val and Red Guardian. I liked the interactions between these characters.

Amazing Spider-Man #39. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Gang War is underway! There were some awesome interaction between Spidey and She-Hulk. Tombstone is up. This is a great arc so far.

Daredevil #4. “Introductory Rites” Part Four. Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by German Peralta. John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Daredevil confronts the Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich. We fins out why Ben has been acting as he has been.

The Sentry #1. Written by Jason Loo and penciled by Luigi Zagaria. Ben Harvey did the cover art. The book had me immediately when Jessica Jones showed up. She is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe. The recently murdered Sentry’s power seems to have been split up among a group of other people. Intriguing for sure.

Invincible Iron Man #13. “The Mysterium Marauders” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Juan Frigeri. Kael Ngu did the cover art. Ironheart. Starfox. Tony Stark and Emma Frost. On the way to find the mysterious metal called Mysterium.

X-Men #29. “House of Doom.” Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Joshua Cassara. X-Men head into Latveria to attempt to recruit the Latverian mutants. They end up having dinner with Dr. Doom.

Blood Commandment #2. Written and drawn by Szymon Kudranski. Vampires, werewolves and absolutely beautiful art work. It is a shocking book filled with some amazing imagery. It is a remarkably designed book.

Transformers #3. Written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Big battle between Optimus Prime and Starscream. Watching Optimus beat Starscream with his own removed arm was epic. And a shocking moment with Spike.

Nights #3. “Never Knows Best.” Written by Wyatt Kennedy and art by Luigi Formisano. Vincent started off the book with a bit of a stain… it surprised me when I saw it. This book is a oddball coming of age story that looks at some supernatural as well.

Alpha Flight #5. “Divided We Stand Part Five” Written by Ed Brisson and art by Scott Godlewski with David Cutler. Leonard Kirk and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. The conclusion of Alpha Flight as they come together to save as many of the mutants from Krakoa North. I liked this book.

Avengers #8. “Twilight Dreaming” Part Two. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. The Avengers have to confront Nightmare in order to get back to Vision and Scarlet Witch who were battling the Twilight Court. I loved what Thor does near the end with Nightmare. Otherwise, I do not have a great connection with the Twilight Court.

Other books this week: Destiny Gate #3, Midlife (or How to Hero at Fifty) #3, Project: Cryptid #3, The Avengers Voices #1.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #71

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December 4, 2023

Another good week of books. I got a chance to read some of the back issues that I have as well.

Books this week:

Ice Cream Man #7. “My Little Poltergeist” Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art is by Fabio Moon. This was an excellent issue featuring a little girl named Lucy whose best friend had died of cancer, and she was dealing with grief over it. I really enjoyed this one.

Planetary #8-10. Written by Warren Ellis and art by John Cassaday. This is an interesting series. Seriously, the books are unlike any series I can remember. One of the issues had characters killed that were basically Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. It was a strange issue.

Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War First Strike #1. Written by Zeb Wells with Cody Ziglar and featuring art by Joey Vazquez with Julian Shaw. Cover art was done by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz. I am excited about the start of Gang War. Bringing Spidey back down to street level is a great idea, as is matching him up with the list of street level heroes involved in this series. Then, the return of Madame Masque was well done and surprising.

Predator Versus Wolverine #3. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Ken Lashley, Hayden Sherman and Kei Zama. Cover art was drawn by Marco Checchetto. This book continues following Wolverine’s life and seeing how the Predator fits in to the situations.

Howard the Duck #1. This is a celebration for the 50th anniversary of Howard the Duck. There are several short stories falling under the “Waugh If…” (aka What If…) with a variety of writers and artist. Things like Howard as President of the US, Howard as a mutant, Howard as a Guardian of the Galaxy.

Captain America #3. “Stand” Written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Jesus Saiz & Lan Medina. This series continues to be very compelling. I really do enjoy how the story goes back into the past to see Steve Rogers before he became Captain America.

Spider-Woman #1. Written by Steve Foxe and drawn by Carola Borelli. Leinil Frances Yu did the cover art. The new Spider-Woman series is involved in the Gang War story. And something else has happened with Jessica’s child.

Luke Cage: Gang War #1. Written by Rodney Barnes and art by Ramon F. Bachs. Caanan White did the cover art. Mayor of New York, Luke Cage, is looking for form a new super team. In order to skirt the anti-vigilante law in place from Wilson Fisk, Luke Cage got a new costume and a mask to hide his own identity.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #4. “What it Means to Be a Mutant” Written by Iman Vellani & Sabir Pirzada with art by Carlos Gomez & Adam Gorham. Sara Pichelli & Matthew Wilson as cover artist. The mini series wrapped up with Ms. Marvel taking on the Stark Sentinels.

Moon Knight #29. “The Final Hours of Moon Knight.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Federico Sabbatini. Cover art was done by Stephen Segovia & Rachelle Rosenberg. Moon Knight and Black Spectre are facing off in the final struggle.

Something is Killing the Children #35. “Showdown at the Easy Creek Corral” Part Five. The confrontation between Erica and Cutter comes to an end with tragic results. I have to say that the resolution of this story was very surprising and emotional.

Other books read this week: Miles Morales: Spider-Man #12, Marvel Zombies #2, Local Man #7, X-Men Blue: Origins #1, Swan Songs #5, Slow Burn #2, Alien #1, Grim #15, The Schlub #4