Tag Archives: reviews

True Detective: Night Country S4 E5

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“Part Five”

I had forgotten that True Detective: Night Country was releasing its penultimate episode on Friday night instead of its typical Sunday night because of the inevitable competition of the Super Bowl. I did not think of it until tonight as I was watching American Nightmare on Netflix. After that was over, I pulled up Max and loaded up episode 5.

What an episode.

The confrontation at Danvers’ home between Hank Prior, Danvers, Otis and Peter was just shocking. Watching Peter put a bullet into his father’s head to protect Danvers after his father had shot and killed Otis was an unbelievable scene. 

The scene between Peter and Danvers at the police station was compelling as hell and really set up what was to come.

It was a tough episode for Peter, ending with one of the most tragic things that he had to do. He could not stand there and watch his father execute Danvers and so his hand was forced.

Hank did confess that he did not kill Annie, but he did move the body. I guess you can scratch him off the suspects list. With Navarro and Danvers on their way to the cave where Annie was killed, I expect all kinds of drama coming next week in the finale.

By the way, the Tsalal deaths have been deemed an accident by way of an avalanche by the medical examiners in Anchorage. This, of course, is fairly coincidental as Pete had just found evidence linking Silver Sky Mining with Tsalal. Silver Sky Mining’s exec Kate McKittrick is clearly crooked and had ordered Hank to make sure Otis could not take Liz and Navarro to the caves.

Something is in those caves and the reveal next week could be epic.

The Greatest Night in Pop

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A great new documentary arrived on Netflix that featured the story of the recording of the classic 80’s song, We are the World.

There was a lot of recorded sections of the actual archive recordings with all of the artists involved in the amazing night. Starting after the American Music Awards were done, the recording session went the rest of the night and into the morning hours. 

Lionel Richie was one of the first interviews the doc had as he was a major factor behind the creation of the song. He and Michael Jackson wrote it, despite trying to get Stevie Wonder to be a part of it.

The artists interviewed for the doc included Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, and Dione Warwick.

One of the interesting tidbits in the doc included the section with Sheila E talking about Prince and the desire of the people in charge to have Prince as a part of the song. 

Watching the process of these legends of music trying to put together this epic song in the limited time they had was fascinating. Seeing Bob Dylan struggle to get the line of the song out was amazing. You had Huey Lewis and Cyndi Lauper express their doubts and insecurities over being included with people that they looked up to for their whole lives.

Another awesome moment was when Quincy Jones thanked Harry Belafonte, whose idea led to this night’s work, and the whole crew broke into a version of The Banana Boat Song. That was an excellent moment from the doc.

This was a fantastic peek behind the curtain of one of the most amazing nights in music history. 

4.3 stars

EYG Comic Cavalcade #79

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January 28, 2024

Welcome to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. 

Grabbed some back issues this week for the collection. There were some fun stuff including Champions #1 (that’s Vol. 1), A couple of older Marvel Team-Up including one with Spidey and the Cat, and an old X-Men issue that was a reprint of Along Came a Spider.

I picked up a couple of variant covers of Howard the Duck #1, the newest version of the character that came out last year. The cover included one by Skottie Young.

The highlight of the eBay adventures this week is grabbing the entire run of Groo at Image, issues #1-12. I won a bid on that just last night and discovered that I had won it just a few minutes ago. 

I also picked up a couple of comics that had been graded by CDC. I’m excited to share those when they arrive.

Books this week: 

Punisher #3. ”The Other Side of Terror.” Written by David Pepose and art by Dave Wachter. The cover art was done by Rod Reis. I thought this was the best issue of the new Punisher so far. It was spooky and scary and the Fearmaster felt like a cool villain for him and the end with a new version of Jigsaw looks promising.

Universal Monsters: Dracula #4. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Martin Simmonds. The series starring the Universal Monster’s Dracula concluded with this issue. It was a wonderful four issues, and you just had to feel for poor Renfield. 

Crashdown #1. Written by “Comic Tom” Garcia and Ryan Sargeant with art by Ben Templesmith. Picked this one up off the stand. It is from the company Whatnot Publishing, which I had never heard before. It is a fun book that has some kind of sea creature. 

Resurrection of Magneto #1. ”The Lightning Path“ Written by Al Ewing and art by Luciano Vecchio. The variant cover (which was the Cover of the Week) was by Stefano Caselli & Jesus Aburtov. Interestingly enough, the issue was more about Storm than Magneto as Storm was on the way to try and find him.

Superior Spider-Man #3. ”Plot Armor“ Written by Dan Slott and penciled by Mark Bagley. Spidey tries to impersonate Superior Spider-Man with Doc Ock in his headset in hopes of saving Anna Marie. This has been a decent series so far, though I am not sure I love where it’s heading.

Spider-Woman #3. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Carola Borelli. Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Gho did the cover.  Gang War continues as Jessica finds her son in a place where she least expected him. Shocking.

Immortal Thor #6. ”The Teller of the Tale.” Thor and Loki talk about a tale from their distant past and Thor sees the adventure in a new light. Thor does battle with a giant and something dealing with Marvel Comics is being set up. 

G.O.D.S. #4. Written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Valerio Schiti/ Mateus Manhanini did the cover art. This has been a weird ride so far. The Inbetweener is involved. Wyn and Doctor Strange make a fun pairing.

Daredevil: Black Armor #3. Written by D.G. Chichester and penciled by Netho Diaz. Mark Bagely and Romulo Fajardo Jr did the cover art. Matt Murdock has to try to survive the dangers of Baron Von Strucker. The flashback series has been decent so far.

Tenement #8. Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Andrea Sorrentino. The latest in the horror building story by Jeff Lemire kept going on with the potential sacrifice of Isaac. The crew heads to the second floor.

Other books read: Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #4, Newburn #14, Project: Cryptid #5, The Schlub #6, Power Pack: Into the Storm #1, Damn Them All #12, Hexagon Bridge #5 and Slow Burn #4.

Once (2007)

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Today’s Genre-ary DailyView film is 2007’s Once, an Irish musical/drama that is about as charming and sincere of a movie that you are going to find.

According to IMDB, “An unnamed guy (Glen Hansard) is a Dublin guitarist/singer/songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his Dad’s Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. An unnamed girl (Markéta Irglová) is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her Mom and her daughter by night. Guy meets girl and they get to know each other as the girl helps the guy put together a demo disc that he can take to London in hope of landing a music contract. During the same several day period, the guy and the girl work through their past loves, and reveal their budding love for one another, through their songs.”

This was a beautiful film. Simple and well-told, Once had an amazing group of songs performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová are wonderful together. Hansard is a more experienced actor than Irglová, but she was every bit as excellent as he was.

The music was a major star of this film. A more modern musical, part of the movie was the creation and recording of these songs but our characters. I found those moments the most intriguing. The relationship in the film between guy and girl was different and surprising.

Written and directed by John Carney, Once is real, gritty and warm. Thoroughly entertaining, Once is a low-budget success that is exceptional to watch. 

EYG Comic Cavalcade #78

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January 20, 2024

Welcome to EYG Comic Cavalcade #78. 

I got a whole bunch of books from eBay this week. The eBay books I pick up are usually those odd ball books that you may not find anywhere else. In fact, I picked up three different series of The Tick. One was The Tick Color #1-4. Then Tick and Arthur #1-6 and finally The Tick: Big Blue Destiny #1-5. I do love the Tick and my Tick collection is sparse at best. 

After that, I was able to pick up Howard the Duck Vol. 3 #2, 3,and 4. Number one is actually on the way separately as this seemed as if the conditions were better than the one set on eBay that had all of the volume 3 in it. I think there was also a variant cover coming with that #1. When that arrives, I do believe that I have all of the Howard the Duck volumes in my collection, leaving only those stranger ones.

Not from eBay directly, via Todd actually, is Ice Cream Man #20. I had a second printing of this already, but this is the Local Comic Shop Day edition of the book. This was very much like the Swan Song #6 from last week and it was a ton of fun and yet still quite creepy.

New books this week:

Invincible Iron Man #14. ”Here Be Mandarin Rings“ Written by Gerry Duggan and art by guest artist Andrea Di Vito. Kael Ngu was the cover artist. Tony Stark and Emma Frost get busy!!! Then Ironheart and Forge face dangers in space.

The Colonized: Zombies vs. Aliens. Written by Chris Ryall and drawn by Drew Moss. Cover art was by Fran Cavil. This was a lot of fun. Aliens arrive on earth, trying to collect specimens. Unfortunately, their ray brought the dead back, reanimating them into zombies. 

Deviant #3. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Joshua Hixson. Who knew an axe to the face might not be a final blow? This story of serial killers and those investigating it has been thrilling so far.

Jackpot #1. Written by Celeste Bronfman and art by Joey Vazquez with Eric Gapstur. Pablo Villalobos & Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. Mary Jane Watson in her new Jackpot identity joins in on the Gang War storyline running through the Spidey and street level books. I’m still not sold on MJ as a superhero, but this was enjoyable enough.

Cobra Commander #1. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. One of the biggest surprises of the week, I really enjoyed this first issue starring Cobra’s head cheese. And the surprise captive that Cobra Commander has is worth the price of the book alone.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4. Written by Brian Buccellato and art by Christian Duce and Tom Derenick. Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajardo Jr. did the cover art. We head to Atlantis for some watery battles and Aquaman is able to unleash the Kraken!

Avengers: Twilight #1. ”The Best of Us” Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Daniel Acuna. Alex Ross and Daniel Acuna did the cover art. This was another surprise of the week as I typically do not love these potential future stories very much, but I was totally engaged with this one. Sad Spider-Man scene though.

Fantastic Four #16. ”Exalt Imagination“ Written by Ryan North and art by Francesco Mortarino. Cover art this week is the EYG Cover of the Week and it is by EYG Hall of Famer Alex Ross. Franklin and Valeria have to go to school in the FF’s new home of Arizona and they try to do something amazing for their science report. It might have backfired on them. Fun issue with these characters who have been gone for awhile. 

Daredevil #5. ”Introductory Rites” Part Five. Written by Saladin Ahmed and drawn by Farid Karami. Cover art by John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz. Father Matt and She-Hulk are out on the town and are eating food everywhere. Something is going on with Jen Walters and it’s going to take Father Matt to figure it out.

Amazing Spider-Man #42. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. Beetle and Madame Masque have a stare down as the Gang War continues. Then. sides are forming for the big thrown down. 

Cable #1. ”United We Fall“. Written by Fabian Nicieza and penciled by Scot Eaton. Whilce Portacio & Alex Sinclair did the cover art. Okay, I tried to get into this, but honestly Cable has never been a personal favorite of mine and this book was meh for me. 

Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #3. ”Beware… The Werewolf By Night of 2099“ Written by Steve Orlando and art by Jason Muhr. This was the Legacy issue #100 for Miguel as he has to deal with a Werewolf from 2099.

The Enfield Gang Massacre #6. ”Chapter Six: An Occurrence.” Written by Chris Condon and artwork by Jacob Phillips. This limited series comes to a close with a great sequence involving Enfield and a hangman’s noose. It was a sequence right out of an old Twilight Zone episode and it was well done.   

Other books read this week: Phantom Road #8, Superman: Lost #10, White Widow #3, Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #4, X-Men #30, Black Panther #8, Kill Your Darlings #5, and Guardians of the Galaxy #10. 

Eric Idle’s What About Dick (2012)

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Today’s Genre-ary DailyView has put me in a joyous mood. I had such a blast with this film on Netflix from 2012. Eric Idle of Monty Python fame brought together a crew of amazing comedic actors from the British Isles for a one of a kind comedy event.

The crew presented a story in the manner of a radio play, on stage in front of a live audience, reading, singing and performing with a script in hand and sound effects from behind. As one would come to expect from a Python alum, the writing of the play is sharp and witty, filled with a ton of double entendres. Historically, I have not been a fan of this type of humor, but when it is as well written and clever as this, well, it works extremely well.

The cast is spectacular. It included Eric Idle, Eddie Izzard, Tim Curry, Billy Connolly, Russell Brand, Jane Leeves, Tracey Ullman, Jim Piddock and Sophie Winkleman. Seeing these amazing performers playing multiple characters and desperately trying to keep from laughing was some of the most enjoyable aspects of it. Billy Connolly was on the verge of losing it seemingly every time he started speaking.

According to IMDB, “This movie begins with the birth of a sex toy invented in Shagistan in 1898 by Deepak Obi Ben Kingsley (Eddie Izzard), and tells the story of the subsequent decline of the British Empire as seen through the eyes of a Piano (Eric Idle). The Piano narrates the tale of Dick (Russell Brand); his two cousins: Emma Schlegel (Jane Leeves), an emotionally retarded English girl; her kleptomaniac sister Helena (Sophie Winkleman) and their dipsomaniac Aunt Maggie (Tracey Ullman) who all live together in a large, rambling, Edwardian novel. When the Reverend Whoopsie (Tim Curry) discovers a piano on a beach, a plot is set afoot that can be solved only by a private Dick, the incomprehensible Scottish sleuth Inspector McGuffin (Sir Billy Connolly), who, with the aid of Sergeant Ken Russell (Jim Piddock) finally reveals the identity of the Houndsditch Mutilator.”

Tracey Ullman is brilliant in this play. Tim Curry is always a joy. Billy Connolly is amazing with his Scottish dialect. The entire cast does a sensational job voice acting, with knowing looks and glances at the camera on the stage show. 

Without the Genre-ary, I would have never watched this film, and I would have missed out on one of the most engaging and enjoyable 86 minutes I have seen in a long time. This was a wondrous piece of entertainment.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #76

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January 6, 2024

The first EYG Comic Cavalcade of the new year! Happy New Year! 

Kicking off things this week, I have completed my collection of Howard the Duck Vol. 1 with issues #5 and #8. There are more Howards to get from future volumes, but I am pleased that I’m done with that one. I have a bunch of Vol. 2 What Ifs on the way from eBay as well. 

I have been working on inventorying my comics with the app CLZ. I have passed 5300 comics at this point with plenty of boxes remaining. It has been fun going through the collection. 

Books this week:

Captain America #5. ”Sigils, Moxie and Chopped Demon Liver.” Written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Lan Medina. Cover art was done by Taurin Clarke. The story continued with the present day battle with the demon and the past time against the Nazis. This has been a great story arc so far. 

Pine & Merrimac #1. Written by Kyle Starks and illustrated by Fran Galán. The new Boom! Studios book with Linner & Parker. They are the married couple at the heart of the book. Pine & Merrimac happens to be the street corner where their detective agency was found. I enjoyed this debut very much. It was a good read and I loved the relationship with Linner and Parker.

Amazing Spider-Man #41. Written by Zeb Wells and penciled by John Romita Jr. John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Marcio Menyz did the cover art. The Gang War continues as Kingpin and Tombstone battled with each other over their respective children. Spidey and She-Hulk were funny with the interactions with Typhoid Mary.

Ghostlore #7. ”Babe at the Threshold.” Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leomacs. The cover art (which was the cover of the week) was from Reiko Murakami & Vincenzo Riccardi. A storm is coming. And it is going to be a danger for Harmony.

Thanos: Smash of the Titans #2. ”Yesterday’s Lovers Never Make Good Friends.” Written by Christopher Cantwell and art by Luca Pizzari. Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Gho did the cover art. The Illuminati recruited the Hulk to take on Thanos, to keep the Mad Titan away from Roberta. And the ending was a shock.

Silver Surfer: Rebirth Legacy #5. ”The Devil You Know.“ Written by Ron Marz and penciled by Ron Lim. The Silver Surfer does battle with Mephisto with help from Eve Warlock and Genis-Vell. This flashback series came to a conclusion, but there seems to be something being set up for Eve Warlock and Nova (Frankie Raye). 

Love Everlasting #11. ”Just West of Love” Written by Tom King and art by Elsa Charretier. This new arc seems to be revealing to us the origin of the Cowboy. 

Fall of the House of X #1. ”The Trial of Cyclops“ Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Lucas Werneck. Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia did the cover art. The Orchis storyline is coming to a head as Cyclops refuses to put up a defense. This are definitely happening in the X-verse.

Doctor Strange #11. ”Circus.“ Written by Jed MacKay and art by guest Danilo S. Beyruth. Alex Ross did the cover art. Dr. Strange and Clea take Clea’s new sister to the circus and all kinds of chaos breaks out. 

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1. ”Reese.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. David Finch did the cover art. Marc Spector is dead. Or is he? Quite an intriguing new issue with the staff of the Midnight Mission stepping up for the loss of Moon Knight. Who is the new Moon Knight? I am excited to find out.

Fantastic Four #15. ”The China Brain.” Written by Ryan North and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art by Alex Ross. The Baxter Building and the children make their return after a year of absentee. This run of FF has been excellent and I am glad to see the group happy once again.

Beware the Planet of the Apes #1. Written by Marc Guggenheim and art by Alvaro Lopez. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. A prequel to the original Planet of the Apes movie from 1968. It was an interesting issue. I’m not sure if I plan on continuing with the series, but I did like the first issue. I may have to try issue #2.

Kid Venom Origins #1. Written & drawn by Taigami. This is a collected version of the original five-page sections of the Kid Venom story from Death of the Venomverse series. I enjoyed the art of the book and I kind of liked the character. There is another series coming from this character. I’m not sure whether I liked this enough to read it, but I will certainly see number one.

Other books read this week: Miguel O’Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #1, Marvel Meow #1, Destiny Gate #4, Nights #4, Marvel Zombies: Black, White & Blood #4, and The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #6. 

Picket Fences S4 E18

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“Three Weddings and a Meltdown”

It is official. I have decided that Jill Brock is one of my least favorite characters on Picket Fences. I am not sure how she has gotten away with all the things she has said or done over the last three and a half season, especially during season four, and still acts as pretentious as she does. 

Jimmy finally called her out about her behavior from a few episodes ago, but it was dropped immediately as Jill promptly made it about him. She then she took off her wedding ring and left him, telling people that she and Jimmy had split up. 

Of course, it was over before the end of the episode and they were back together, thanks to Jimmy’s words.

Douglas and nuMiriam apparently got back together as well. It happened off screen, I guess [EDIT: actually it looks like it happens in one of the next few episodes. It is explained below]. Max and Kenny were also back together. I’m not I remember that happening either.

Carter and Sue decided to get married and Max and Kenny and the Wambaughs joined in on the ceremony. 

Matthew was not here and we have no idea why. This is listed as the series finale on IMDB, but there are four more episodes on Prime. Not sure if they are just out of order or if there were more.

So as I was writing this, I did some research. According to IMDB: “The actual series finale was episode #18, “Three Weddings and a Meltdown”, a feel-good episode that offered happy endings all around. So how did four more episodes wind up showing after the series finale? CBS had canceled the show, and was eager to replace it with a higher-rated new series, so they officially ended its run on April 24 by airing the series finale, without having entered the previous episodes. There was a possibility that those episodes might have never been shown, once the show was canceled. But when summer arrived, CBS dug them up and broadcast them in June, probably thinking that brand new, unaired episodes of the acclaimed show get better ratings than the typical reruns that usually dominated TV in the summer time. But it’s clear from the various plots in those last four episodes that they were originally meant to be aired before the series finale, not after. Character arcs (such as Wambaugh’s troubled marriage, and Kenny & Maxine’s off & on romance) that were finally resolved in that series finale were suddenly unresolved again in these belated episodes. So, although episodes 19 – 22 are listed as the show’s last four episodes, episode 18 should really be listed as the final episode of the series, regardless of when it aired.“

That made more sense than the storylines that happened in episode 18.

The three weddings were cool. I loved Carter’s story arc. You would expect him to bail on the wedding, but he did not. And he was able to convince Kenny and Max to not give into their doubts and to go through with the wedding. 

It was a nice wrap up to the series, although it does kind of ruin the remaining four episodes of the series.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)

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Happy New Year to everyone. We start the new year off around EYG with our second annual Genre-ary DailyView. This year, the genre we are watching will be musicals, and we are starting off the month with The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. The movie was an adaptation of the stage play that came before it.

The Chicken Ranch was a legendary place in the county of Lanville, in Texas. It had been open for decades with nary a problem. When its iconic madam passed away, Miss Mona Stangley (Dolly Parton) took over. She had been in a side relationship with Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Burt Reynolds) for years. He would protect the Chicken Ranch and make sure things went well for Miss Mona.

When consumer advocate and television personality Melvin P. Thorpe (Dom DeLuise) started to investigate the Chicken Ranch, things got more troublesome for the ladies of the night. 

There is an overall silliness to this movie that, I think at times, overwhelms the film as a whole. Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds are no doubt charismatic figures and carry a heavy load of the film. When they are on screen, everything is working. 

Dom DeLuise added an antagonist that you can really root against without being a true villain. He seemed to be doing what he believed was right, even if some of the things he did would not be considered right. Charles Durning had a memorable turn as the Texas Governor and provides one of the best, most ingenious songs of the film.

I did enjoy the duet between Dolly and Burt, “Sneakin’ Around” even if Reynolds’ voice could not necessarily match that of Parton. 

Jim Nabors was the narrator, Deputy Fred Wilkins, speaking directly to the camera as the film would go on. Nabors played the basic character he did in his other TV appearances.

While there is nothing amazing about the film, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas does have some fun scenes and some decent music and dance routines. It may not be a standout of teh Genre-ary, but it was a fun way to start the month off.

What If…? S2 E8

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“What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?”

This season of What If…? has just been off the charts good. Every episode is just excellent, and then they come up with something that just transcends the rest of the season. ”What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602″ has taken that spot at the very top of the list this season and might be threatening season 1’s Dr. Strange episode as the best of the series.

We had seen Captain Carter pulled into the universe of 1602 by Scarlet Witch at the end of episode five, leaving it on a cliffhanger. We pick up here with Peggy trapped in 1602 but trying to save the universe from being destroyed.

There are some blue rift that appears in the sky that sucks characters way, and Hela, the queen, gets pulled away. Captain Carter could not save her and Thor blames her. 

Captain Carter runs from the new king, escaping from the castle. She stops to speak with the Watcher, whom she can hear narrating. She then perfectly describes, in layman’s terms, an incursion using a bubble gum analogy. Incursions are going to be important in the upcomng Multiverse saga, or at least that is what it seems.

We meet many of our favorite characters in new roles during this as we see Loki as a pretentious actor, Steve Rogers as a Robin Hood type character with Scott Lang and Bucky Barnes with him. Wanda Maximoff is the witch of the king. Nick Fury and Happy Hogan are with the king’s men. Bruce Banner is the man in the iron mask. Tony Stark as the mad scientist. Each one feels a perfect mix.

Once again, we get a Steve Rogers-Peggy Carter reunion that is both sweet and eventually tragic, as it seems as if it always is destined to be. 

The voice acting includes Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Elizabeth Olson, Jon Favreau, Hayley Atwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch along the regular voice actors covering Tony and Cap, Mick Wingert and Josh Keaton respectfully. You can tell they do a special job on this episode, bringing an amazing chemistry to the characters. It is just so joyous.

The action in this episode is just sensational and as clever as you are going to get. The writing is brilliant. The dialogue from Loki during the first scene was some of the funniest of the series. How many Shakespeare references are you going to have in a Marvel series? Poor Yorick, indeed!

Something that I have noticed in What If…? this season is that, in comparison, there is more hope in these alternate realities. Last season, characters died. Universes were destroyed. There was a dread in most every episode. Yet this year, no universes have died. A minimum amount of characters have died. Tony Stark has shown up several times and has not died yet, and it became a joke last year that Stark was killed off multiple times. 

Using the 1602 concept, from the classic Marvel book by Neil Gaiman, is an excellent idea. This is so well planned out and it feels as if everything is working so perfectly. With Supreme Strange showing up at the end to talk with Peggy, (and a TO BE CONTINUED popping up on screen) will connect Captain Carter to Kahhori from episode 6 in some kind of finale. 

Just a remarkable episode of TV.

Up to Date Running Order:

E8  ”What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?”

E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

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

E5  ”What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper”

E6  ”What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?”

E7  ”What If…Hela Found the Ten Rings?”

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

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

What If…? S2 E6

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“What if… Kahhori Reshaped the World?”

Famously, DC character Harley Quinn made her actual first appearance in the Batman: The Animated Series TV show. Marvel Studios has taken that path with their all-new character Kahhori, a member of the Mohawk Nation, in this What If…? episode.

The creators tied Kahhori’s origin to the Tesseract, which in this universe, arrived on earth after the destruction of Asgard by Surtur during Ragnarok. 

The animation, which has been next level during this entire season of What If…?, is absolutely stunning in this episode and feels as if the animators took it even higher than they had up until this point. Everything here is just gorgeous to look at. The design of Kahhori and her people were outstanding. The fire in the background with the Spaniards was breath-taking. It truly was a beautifully constructed and drawn episode.

The story does feel rushed, but that is the format more than anything else. They have kept these What If…? episodes to a tight 30 minutes for the most part, but this is another one that could have done well with another 10 minutes or so.

The episode was practically all in a different language, which is quite the choice. Only the Watcher and Supreme Strange at the very end speak in English.

Speaking of, Supreme Strange does make an appearance at the very end of the episode, clearly there to set up for the finale. The Supreme Strange episode is listed as the 9th episode of the season, which followed the 1602 episode. Something is telling me that they may be a crossover between them much like last year’s Ultron was.

It will be interesting to see what role Kahhori will play in the MCU moving forward or if she is just a staple in the What If…? section. If she is successful, it can show that Marvel does not have to settle for the characters that are already made which would open up a whole new world of possibilities.

Up to Date Running Order:

E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

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

E5  ”What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper”

E6  ”What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?”

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

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

2023 Movie Musicals

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In honor of the upcoming Genre-ary DailyView starting on New Year’s Day 2024, I added a New Year in Review category: Movie Musicals.

I have always enjoyed a good musical, and there feels as if the genre has taken a turn back up over the last few years so this seems to be a good time to introduce this new award.

What is a musical? Well, I find this to be a little iffy of a definition that maybe everyone would not agree with, and that is okay. This is my site. To me, there is a difference between a movie that is a musical and a movie that features music. To me, a musical should have songs that just happen during scenes. This is Spinal Tap has a lot of music, but I do not consider that a musical. It is a movie with music. 

Having said that, a film like This is Spinal Tap could conceivably get this award, but I would consider any of the ‘pure’ musicals first. It is possible that there may be some years where there are no great musicals and I have to acquiesce to a movie with music instead. There are some examples below…

As a celebration of the musical genre, I have retrofitted the last ten years with honorary award winners (much like I did for the Christopher Reeve Comic Book Movie Award). These retro musical award winners are here:

Movie Musicals

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Whiplash (2014), Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), La La Land (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Rocketman (2019), Hamilton (2020), Tick, Tick… Boom! (2021), Matilda the Musical (2022)

To be fair, a few of these retro-winners would not necessarily fall into the “Movie Musical” category such as Whiplash, Inside Llewyn Davis and Pitch Perfect 2, but there were no standout musicals in those years that I could fine. Then, Mary Poppins Returns probably was selected because it was a more traditional musical over some much better Movies with music from that year. 

Anyway, for 2023:

Runners-Up: I had intended on giving this award to Wonka, but it got dethroned. It was a lot of surprising fun. Disney has a couple of entries here with Wish and The Little Mermaid, both solid musicals. Trolls back Together falls into the category and Leo was one I just watched and was surprised how much I enjoyed the music in that.

And that brings us to the winner, a film I saw TODAY…

Winner: The Color Purple

I loved this movie. It was so well done, with amazing acting across the board and some vey engaging music that had me bobbing my head and tapping my foot throughout. It came up to the final moment of my movie viewing for 2023 and ran away with this new award.

Leo

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When I started the animated film Leo on Netflix, I did not know it was an Adam Sandler vehicle. Sandler is not one of my favorite actors, to be honest. It seems as if most of his films are the same stupid, immature jokes and he plays the same basic character in all of them. Still, he has had some moments of excellence such as Rare Gems. It wasn’t too long into Leo that I recognized his voice work.

In this movie, Sandler gives his voice to the lizard named Leo. Turned out that all of the animals could speak. Leo, along with Squirtle (Bill Barr), were classroom pets in a 5th grade class. When Leo starts being taken home with the students, he starts talking to them, telling each that he could only speak to them and that they were special.

There are some funny moments. The film does a good job of avoiding the immature humor that I associate with Sandler. There are some heart-warming moments through as well. 

I was surprised that it turned out to be a musical. Most of the songs were catchy and some were clever lyrically. There was nothing very serious, but fun matching the film.

As I said, this was fun and enjoyable. It certainly could have been much worse. There were some childish moments, but nothing that made me cringe as an adult. 

3.75 stars

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. 

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.