I think this is a difficult one to give out this year, and I do think that my decision is different than I have ever done before.
There are three possible films: Thunderbolts, Superman, and Fantastic Four. I usually give this award to the superhero film that is highest on my Best Films list. That is not the situation this year. In fact, of the three, this one is my least favorite of the three. They are all awesome, but it just felt right to give this award to this certain film.
The Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year
Previous Winners: Batman (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Crow (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), Men in Black (1997), Blade (1998), Mystery Men (1999), X-Men (2000), From Hell (2001), Spider-Man (2002), X2: X-Men United (1993), Spider-Man 2 (1994), V for Vendetta (2005), 300 (2006), Superman: Doomsday (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Captain America: First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: Winter Soldier & Guardians of the Galaxy [tie] (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Logan (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Deadpool and Wolverine (2024)
So, in 2025, The Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year goes to….
Superman.
This film brought the character of Superman back to the big screen and did it in a way that truly paid homage to the Christopher Reeve version back in the 1978 movie.
Director James Gunn placed this new Superman smack dab in the center of his new DCU where Superman had been around for awhile. No origin story here. We all know it.
It’s not perfect, but it is the best rendition of Superman since Christopher Reeve and that is why I gave Superman this award, despite the fact that both Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four are higher up the list for me than Superman.
Here we go with this week’s brand new EYG Comic Cavalcade. Plenty of books again this week. I’m going to jump right into it as the Dodgers are on in a few hours.
Books this week:
World of Revelation #1. There are three stories inside this book. All of them deal with this new world of Revelation that Marvel is building. The three writers involved with this book are Al Ewing, Steve Foxe, and Ryan North. This new future has started off strong so far. We’ll see how it goes.
Rocketfellers #9. Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art and cover art by Francis Manapul. This gives us a clear look at everything that happened prior to the trip of the Rocketfeller family into the past.
Avengers #31. “Prospero” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Javier Pina. Cover art was done by Cafu & Moreno Dinisio. This Avengers issue featured Kang and everything to do with Kang. No Avengers make more than a few small appearances in this issue.
Spider-Man & Wolverine #6. “Life and Death Choices” Written by Marc Guggenheim and penciled by Gerardo Sandoval. Cover art was done by Kaare Andrews. I spoke about how I have been disappointed by this book because of the way Spider-Man has been written. I think this issue was the best display of Spider-Man of the whole series. This was much better and I enjoyed this interaction of Peter and Logan.
SIKTC: A Monster Hunter Walks into a Bar #1. Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated and cover art by Werther Dell’Edera. This is the collection of the story that appeared in the Hello Darkness series. It is a nice compilation and a beautiful cover.
Transformers #25. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Dan Mora & Jorge Corona. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. I have the die cut cover too by John Amor and Andres Juarez. A new arc for the Transformers kicks off with this issue, as Robert Kirkman takes over the writing. We have the lines still being drawn between the Autobots, the Decepticons and the human race.
Amazing Spider-Man: Torn #1. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and are by Pere Perez. Adam Hughes did the cover art. It seems as if J. Michael Straczynski likes to set stories in the hero’s past. We saw him do that with Captain America, and this book is set back before Peter and Gwen even got together. I am never a huge fan of past stories, but I do like Straczynski’s writing style.
Red Book #1. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Michael Avon Oeming. The next in the Blue Book series takes a look at the UFO tales in the former Soviet Union. I have always enjoyed these books and this works very well.
Deluge #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Marika Cresta. Cover art was done by Riley Rossmo. This book is new from Ignition Press and it is pretty cool. It starts off like Orange is the New Black, with a female prison. However when the prison is getting flooded, more tragic things happen. This book has its own “Deep Blue Sea” moment (if you know, you know) as I literally gasped when it happened.
DC KO #1. “Chapter One: Into the Ring” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Javi Fernandez and Xermanico. Cover art was done by Javi Fernandez & Alejandro Sanchez. Darkseid is back. The DC Universe is desperate to try and find a way to stop him. How about a tournament? And you’ll never believe who the first one out is. This had multiple covers and blind bags too.
High Strangeness #1. “Book One: 1967” Written by Chris Condom and Daniel Noah and illustrated by Dave Chisholm. Cover art by Jock. This new series from Oni Press has a new take on UFOs and the Men in Black. It had a very X-Files feel to it and I liked it. I am not sure if this is an anthology series because it did sounds as if issue two might be different.
The Department of Truth #0. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Martin Simmonds. Second story written by Scott Snyder and art by Joshua Hixson. Cover art is done by Martin Simmonds. This special issue of Dpeartment of Truth includes a back up story with the truth about Elvis Presley.
Marvel Knights: The Punisher #1. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and art and cover art by Dan Panosian. The idea of Jimmy Palmiotti and his ability to write crime stories matched up with the Punisher. What could be better?
Strange Tales #1. Written by Jeremy Whitley and art by Bayleigh Underwood. Cover art was done by Bayleigh Underwood & Jim Campbell. Nico Minoru, chased by a dragon, finds herself getting some major help… from the Scarlet Witch.
Author Immortal #1. Written by Frank J. Barbiere with art and cover art by Morgan Beem. A literary story about a failed writer who gets pulled into his favorite childhood story. The art style makes me think about Minor Arcana with Jeff Lemire.
Spider-Man ’94 #2. Written by J.M. DeMatteis and art by Jim Towe. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. This book is extremely well written. I love how this book does feel like an advanced version of the animated cartoon. The use of Morlun is a great fit. And Aunt May’s bombshell was unexpected.
C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #2. “Chapter 2” Written by Tom Taylor and art by Daniele Di Nicuolo. Cover art by Daniele Di Nicuolo & Rain Beredo. Our new kids with their talking weapons need to face what is coming.
Batman: Dark Patterns #11. “The Child of Fire Part 2” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. Batman is in bad physical shape but fire is still causing trouble. With Batman nursing his injuries, Gordon tries to get info from Firebug.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #3. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art was done by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran. I also got the B cover with art by Juan Ferreyra (Gold medalist). Superman is currently in his Superboy form and hanging out with Billy Batson at a amusement park run by Dr. Sivana and Toyman. This has been a fun series so far with the Ice Cream Man crew manning the creative team.
Harley Quinn x Elvira #1. Written by Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Amanda Conner and Juan Samu. Variant cover art by Mark Spears (Bronze Medalist). The combination of DC Comics wild Harley Quinn and the always sensual Elvira is combustible fun. I am not sure how the DC character of Harley wound up in the Dynamite book, but I am okay with it.
Absolute Batman #13. “Abomination Part Five” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. Lots of stuff happening in the world of Absolute Batman, including the debut of the Absolute Harley Quinn.
Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #10. “The Winds of Change” Written by Gerry Duggan and art and cover art by Garry Brown. I love this series, but it is such a inconsistent comic. It feels like it just came back on a regular schedule and now it seems as if it is going on hiatus until 2026. It feels difficult to stay in it with the disruptions.
Eddie Brock: Carnage #9. Written by Charles Soule and art by Juanan Ramirez. Cover art was done by Jesus Saiz. Eddie Brock has been captured by the mysterious woman at the Green Phoenix Wellness Retreat. She has a way to end Carnage, and Eddie may be okay with it.
The Unchosen #4. Written by and art and cover art by David Marquez. This is another series that is ending with this issue, though there seems to be a suggestion that The Unchosen would be back in 2026. Not sure what that means, but I did enjoy this one more than the first issue.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers #6. Written by David Pepose and art was done by Eman Casallos. Cover art was done by Chad Hardin. This is another book that feels as if it just came to an end. Captain Planet vs. Captain Pollution.
Absolute Superman #12. “The Battle of Kansas” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulisses Arreola. Superman and Lois come to Kansas. The emo Superman is pretty cool here with his special cape.
Other Books this week: Power Fantasy #12, Blood & Thunder #6, Ancestral Recall #3, The Creeping Below #4, Death to Pachuco #1, Absolute Green Lantern #7, Ultimate Black Panther #21, Event Horizon: Dark Descent #2, and Return to Planet Hulk #1.
Quick Hits: This week, Marvel started to amp up its Age of Revelation with four new titles including Amazing X-Men #1, Binary #1, Laura Kinney: Sabretooth #1, and Longshots #1. I enjoyed all four of these new books. The new Boom Studios book Marian Heretic #1 looked interesting. We will see if I continue liking it. I can see my attention being drawn away. The GI Joe universe expanded a bit with Cold Slither #1 which was unexpected. Mary Sue #1 is another new Boom Studios book. Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #1 which uses the word cavalcade on the cover. I was not in love with the new book The Guy in the Chair #1 from Dark Horse. Cul-De-Sac #3 continue its cool vampire action in the Bad Idea comics. Conan the Barbarian #25 felt like a big deal issue. Super Creepshow #1 won the Silver Medal this week thanks to an awesome Dark Knight Returns homage cover. Masterminds #2 takes its second issue with the underground world. The World to Come #3 still confuses me of the continuity to the main Marvel Universe. So does Imperial War: Imperial Guardians #1. I do like the inclusion of Darkhawk, who I have always enjoyed as a character. Then, there were two Godzilla books out this week with Godzilla (Kai Sei Era)#3 and Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #5.
So the truth of the other world is finally revealed and the answer was just what I thought it was… although they take it another step .
Seeing that swastika on the American flag where the stars were supposed to be was a rough visual. Earth X? Some form of it? James Gunn is a wild man.
Harcourt noticed the fact immediately. As soon as Adebayo, Harcourt, Adrian and Economos arrived in the alternate earth, Harcourt spotted that there were no people of color.
It was a popular theory that had been going around the internet over the last several weeks, but it makes perfect sense. White Dragon, Chris father, a racist scumbag in the DCU, is still racist scumbag, but now… so is everyone.
The reveal of the truth was really well done and I am seriously concerned for Adebayo. Running from a mob of racists chasing her (including Keith) is shocking. It takes a big swing and sets things up for the final couple of episodes.
Economos spilling the beans to Chris’s father was very funny. Seeing Adrian go face to face with himself was also a hoot. I liked how the alternate earth Vigilante is a member of the Sons of Liberty, and now, you’ve got to reexamine everything we had thought about this world before.
Biggest surprise this episode though is easily… Lex Luthor! Rick Flag Sr. going to Luthor to make a deal to help him find the dimensional portal. I was thinking it was going to be Chris’s father, not dead, in the DCU, but when Nicholas Hoult sat down in his orange prison jumpsuit, I literally shouted out loud. I did not expect Superman’s arch enemy to make an appearance on Peacemaker.
There was a great scene between Chris and Harcourt too, as they try to figure out their relationship. Of course, there is only a limited time as this earth’s Emilia showed up demanding that Harcourt was arrested.
This has been great and now that we got this twist, I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
This will be the final Comic Cavalcade that comes out early because I return to school as of Tuesday next week for inservice work. I have enjoyed getting this column out on Fridays or early Saturday, but with the vast amount of books I get a week, the time to read will be cut with school underway. We are looking at best case scenario moving ahead as getting the post out on Sunday afternoon or early the next week.
I got my first order from Midtown Comics in the mail on Wednesday. It was just about a week from order to delivery, which I think is fantastic. I got a bunch of books that were signed by creators. This included Exquisite Corpse #1 Cover B signed by James Tynion IV, Strange Adventures #1 signed by Tom King, The Lucky Devils #1 Cover L signed by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne, You’ll Do Bad Things #1 Cover F signed by Tyler Boss, We’re Taking Everyone Down with Us #1 Cover M signed by Matthew Rosenberg and Exquisite Corpses #2 Virgin Cover D signed by James Tynion IV.
I picked up a whole bunch of back issues of Mad Magazine in the #410 range. There were some fun things in these and I think I may look into this as something new to buy. gabbed
I grabbed a few series too this week. At Comic World, I picked up Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1-3 and a Peter Parker series #1-5. Cover on issue two of that Peter Parker series is done by Skottie Young, which was lovely.
Books this week:
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1. Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art by Martin Morazzo. Cover art was done by Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran. This series introduces a new group of Kryptonite colors and Superman wants to test them out on himself so see how they affects him. He goes to get help from Batman. This is a new Superman series from the creators of Ice Cream Man and it was great.
Pinupocalypse #5. Written, drawn and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. Pinupocalypse is such a hoot. Every issue is getting better with each issue. This is the penultimate issue of this series and Foxy and Roxy are back together. I will miss this one when it is done.
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #5. Written by Doug Wagner and art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillard and Michelle Madsen. The finale of the series turned out great as Rennie wrapped things up, saving her roommate Sofie. Sofie’s discovery of Rennie’s actions may be a surprising take. I really enjoyed this series from Image.
Giant-Size X-Men #2. “What You Are.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly with art by Adam Kubert. Cover art was done by Adam Kubert & Laura Martin. The whole Ms. Marvel/Legion timeline shenanigans storyline came to an end. So the answer to whether they were changing history is answered here. Kamala remembered what happened, but the world at large does not. I am not sure why that was done. Most of these felt inconsequential. It’s fine.
Bug Wars #6. “Lost in the Yard.” Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Mahmud Asrar. Cover art was done by Mahmud Asrar and Matthew Wilson. Another series that came to an end this week as Bug Wars wrapped its story of the front yard up. Bug Wars was decent, but not my most favorite work from Jason Aaron. Lots of world building required.
Batman: Dark Patterns #9. “Pareidolia Part Four” Written by Dan Watters and art from Hayden Sherman. Variant cover B art done by Ashley Wood (Gold Medalist). This storyline wrapped up with the truth about what was happening. This issue is tremendous. Really enjoyed this arc.
The Slasher’s Apprentice #4. Written by Justin Richards and art and cover art by Val Halvorson. Riley is looking for ways to make the Hopton Valley Killer more relevant, not something that is thrilling HVK. She is online looking for ideas of other killers. One more issue of this series and I expect it to be a great finish.
X-Men #20. “A Civilized Discussion.” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia (Silver Medalist). Cyclops and Lundqvist wind up in a jail cell and have it out over their troubles. Definitely a lot of fun.
Lovestruck #1. Written by MC Foley & Don Handfield and illustrated by Alonso Molina. A surprising new series from Amp Comics (never heard of them before). The main protagonist accidentally runs down a man dressed as Cupid, and Cupid haunts her after that. It was an interesting start to the series.
Space Ghost #1. Written by David Pepose and art by Jonathan Lau. Variant cover art was done by Alex Ross (Bronze Medalist). A new volume of Space Ghost kicked off with a new arc. Space Ghost has been a great book in the first book at Dynamite and I think this started off well.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #36. “God War Part V” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Marco Renna. Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon did the cover art. I am very happy that this whole God War storyline with Miles, as well as the plot point of Miles as an avatar for the god Anansi has come to an end. It has not been my favorite arc for Miles.
The Unchosen #2. Written, drawn and cover art by David Marquez. After picking up the first issue of this series, I was underwhelmed. However, it did look good so I was going to give it another issue try. Issue two was so much better and I was much more entertained and engrossed with this issue. I am pleased with the way this has gone.
Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #3. Written by Deniz Camp & Cody Ziglar with art by Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Sara Pichelli & Tamra Bonvillain. This issue included the Ultimate X-Men in a book without the art by Peach Momoko. I do love Peach Momoko, but these characters looked so much better with them meeting Miles Morales.
Daredevil #24. “Rites of Reconciliation“ Part Five. Written by Saladin Ahmed and penciled by Jose Luis Soares. Cover art by John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna and Richard Isanove. Honestly, the story was fine, but this has the most boring cover of the week. Daredevil and Elektra are working together.
The Ultimates #15. Written by Deniz Camp and guest artist was Von Randal. Cover art was done by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon. It is the Ultimate Iron Fist! He is very much like Shang Chi too. She-Hulk is ready to do some Hulk ass kicking. The Ultimates are building towards the Maker.
Cul-De-Sac #1. “Chapter 1: All That Eat Get Eaten.” Written by Mike Carey and art by Jonathan Wayshak. New book from Bad Idea Comics and, so far, these books have been hits for me. This was a very difficult book to find. Todd was only able to find a couple of copies in all of Des Moines. I’m glad he got it.
New Champions #8. Written by Steve Foxe and art by Ivan Fiorelli. Cover art was done by Ivan Fiorelli & Arthur Hesli. This is the final issue of the New Champions. I liked this book but it was iffy with some of these characters. Too many that were just kid versions of the main heroes. Still, I would keep buying this if they continued.
Fantastic Four #2. Written by Ryan North and penciled by Humberto Ramos. Cover art was done by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. The time spanning FF adventure continues, and they try to get back to Doom. However, things do not go that well.
Other books this week: Transformers #23, The Power Fantasy #11, The Powerpuff Girls: Supervillain Summer Spectacular #1, Blood Type #3, We Don’t Kill Spiders: Season of the Witch #1, and Blood & Thunder #4.
Quick Hits: Another Godzilla book released this week with Godzilla: Here There be Aliens #3. Godzilla and Jet Jaguar team up. Captain Planet and the Planeteers #3 is working really well at Dynamite. The next book in the bad guys series is Bring on the Bad Guys: Red Skull #1. It is down to just to more of these books including Dormammu and Mephisto. Conan the Barbarian #23 came out with more excellent Cimmerian action. This week’s Zdarsky Comic News #14 was taken over by Ryan Stegman and he changed the title to Steg Man’s Health. The creepy story of Buried Long, Long Ago #4 really picked up more. I had been slipping away from this series a bit, but this issue pulled me back again. Laura Kinney: Wolverine #9 brings back Gabby for more action. Magik #8 keeps Illyana and Dani together despite some struggles. I had not planned on buying the series, but after I bought Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #1 I might have changed my mind. More corgi rescue action in Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #3. This felt like Groundhog Day. Baseball and vampire finished up in Past Time #5 with yet another great cover. Muse in Eddie Brock: Carnage #7 is great. I love Muse as a villain and he feels like a perfect villain for Carnage. I got a back issue from Todd of Silver Surfer #1 from December 1988 which is from Epic Comics. Disney/Marvel cross events continued with Uncle Scrooge: Earth’s Mightiest Duck #1. Finally, my least favorite Spider-Man book, Spider-Man & Wolverine #4 is out. I have really found this to be a weak series overall.
Happy Friday to everyone. We had some big time storms last night. So much that my house had some leakage and water came in the basement. It nearly got to some of the short boxes of comics, but thankfully, I saw it in time to prevent anything more than a short box with a little damp bottom. I was able to switch the books to another that I had free and then I had to move all the boxes off the carpet to higher ground. Not an easy task and I am still not sure what will happen with them now. It could have been way worse than what happened though.
I went to Superman, the new James Gunn movie that kicked off the DCU at Warner Brothers. It was a tremendous film. It was a lot of fun with a version of Superman that we have not seen in awhile.
Books this week:
Superman Treasury 2025: Hero for All #1. Written by Dan Jurgens and art by Bruno Redondo. Scott Koblish did the variant cover C art. In honor of the new film, Superman gets his own Treasury Edition comic original story with a large scale invasion of the earth. After Superman is sidetracked and held captive, the heroes of earth struggle to defend the planet. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, even though it is difficult to find a bag and a board to fit it. Go see Superman in theaters when you have a chance.
Detective Comics #1098, 1097, 1096, 1094, 1090. Tom Taylor has drawn me into Detective Comics after reading the Nightwing books he wrote. Taylor is one of my top five writers currently writing and this is a great couple of issues with Harvey Bullock and Penguin having to work with Batman. The three earlier books were from the stories that were reprinted last week in the soft cover book I picked up. Tom Taylor is the man.
Wild Animals #1. Written by Ed Brisson and art and cover art by Andy Kuhn (Silver Medalist). This was my absolutely favorite book of the week. The new comic from Mad Cave, who have been doing such great work this last year or so, is just emotional, powerful and I could relate fully with the character. This is a personal tale of retribution and revenge and it goes in ways that I did not expect. Loved this book.
Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob #1. Written by Kevin Smith and art by Fernando Ruiz. I picked up A & B cover and both had art done by Fernando Ruiz & Rosario “Tito” Pena. Archie Andrews gets a job at the Quick Stop and meets the cast of Clerks after Dante died (in Clerks 3). Archie then meets up with Jay and Silent Bob, the local drug dealers. Archie gets tickets for them all to go see Josie and the Pussycats. The book has that adult feel of a Kevin Smith movie as well as the silly fun of Archie. Weird and wild crossover event.
Planet Death #1. Written by Derek Kolstad and Robert Venditti with art by Tomas Giorello. Cover art by Tomas Giorello and Sunny Gho. Planet Death #0 was out in May as a preview of this new book from Bad Idea. This is full of action and excitement for a first issue.
Fantastic Four #1. “The Uncommon Era.” Written by Ryan North and art by Humberto Ramos. Mahmud Asrar did the gold foil variant. The Fantastic Four is trying to take advantage of the upcoming MCU film in a couple of weeks by restarting FF with a new number one. It is a fascinating story of time. How many families decide ahead of time what to do if they are lost in time? The FF does. I have become quite a fan of Ryan North over the last couple of years too.
Red Hulk #6. “Traitor” Written by Benjamin Pearcy and art by Geoff Shaw. Variant cover B (Retro Vision) art was done by Michael Allred and Laura Allred. I enjoyed this book, but as I was reading it, I thought to myself, why am I this confused. I thought Red Hulk was in Latveria. I after I finished reading, I checked CLZ and I was missing issue #5. I knew it felt confusing.
The UnChosen #1. Written, Art and cover art by David Marquez. This new Image book is like a fantasy adventure meets anime. There was a lot going on here and I will say that I did not love it. I do think it is interesting enough to give it another issue or so, but I expected to be grabbed more by this first issue than I was.
Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion #2. Written by Deniz Camp & Cody Ziglar with art by Jonas Scharf. Sara Pichelli & Tamra Bonvillain did the cover art. Miles has arrived in the Ultimate universe and has teamed up with the Ultimates. They head to Wakanda in an attempt to find Miles’s baby sister who has also crossed over from 616. Cool final page of the book for sure.
Return to Skull Island #1. Written by Simon Furman and art by Christopher Jones. Cover art was done by Inityuk Lee. This apparently continues on from an animated series of the same title, btu I had never seen it before. I grabbed it because of Kong’s presence and a cool looking cover. I enjoyed the sotry quite a bit too and I did not find myself confused or lost because I had not seen the animated show.
Magik #7. “Beneath the Veil” Written by Ashley Allen and art by German Peralta. Pablo Villalobos did the cover art. Illyana is attempting to save Cal, who has been taken over by Liminal. Dani took them back to the Society of Eternal Dawn, which does not go as smoothly as it could have. Magik is not sure if there are any of them she could trust.
Doctor Strange of Asgard #5. Written by Derek Landy with art by Carlos Magno. Geoff Shaw & Espen Grundetjern did the cover art. Stephen Strange has gone to Asgard to claim the mantel of Sorcerer Supreme of that dimension. He has faced several issues, including a murder mystery. He made it.
Laura Kinney: Wolverine #8. “Honor Bound.” Written by Erica Schultz and art by Giada Belviso. Elena Casagrande and Edgar Delgado did the cover art. Haymaker returned and Laura helped him to search for a young missing mutant.
Uncanny X-Men #17. “Murder Me, Mutina.” Written by Gail Simone and art by Luciano Vecchio. David Marquez & Matthew Wilson did the cover art (Gold Medalist). There is a new mutant in the spotlight. Her name is Mutina and she stars in the blockbuster movie, Murder Me Mutina. The X-Men are not pleased with the way the mutant community is being portrayed and they go to see Mutina. Fireworks come after that. This would have been my favorite book this week without Wild Animals #1. I love the concept of a big screen summer blockbuster being at the center of this story. Gail Simone has been excellent with this X-Men run. She was great at the beginning and I think she is only getting better.
Uncanny Valley #10. Written by Tony Fleecs and art and cover art by Dave Wachter. This fun comic that sees the combination of human story with cartoons comes to a close with this issue as Oliver takes his destiny and faces off with the First. Uncanny Valley has been creative and consistently entertaining. I like the originality of this series.
Trinity, Daughter of Wonder Woman #2. “A Corgi in the Family” Written by Tom King and art and cover art by Belen Ortega. I also picked up a variant cover B that is an homage to the “Death in the Family” iconic cover. This variant cover was done by Ben Oliver. In her pursuit of the missing Corgis, Trinity winds up with Jason Todd. They were really cute together as it was funny seeing them sitting uncomfortably on a couch. Trinity also wondered what would happen if she let it slip that Jason Todd was going to be killed.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #2. Written by Frank Tieri and art by Angel Hernandez. Cover art was done by Fero Pe. This issue had alien creatures, a giant robot named Jet Jaguar, and Mechagodzilla. It just was missing Godzilla. This book is fun and sets up a future battle well.
Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes & Rivals #1. Written by Tim Seeley & Tony Fleecs with art by Nick Bradshaw. Adam Hughes did the cover art. This is not just like the old days with the Marvel Swimsuit Specials. This told a story as well. Roxxon is using AI to show the superheroes off in their scanties, so the heroes decided to do their own instead. Silly book, but a lot of fun.
Batman: Dark Patterns #8. “Pareidolia Part 2” Written by Dan Watters and art and cover art by Hayden Sherman. This Dark Patterns book has been consistently engrossing so far and this new arch gives us something I am not sure I have seen before among Batman. Nice work showing us stories from Batman’s past.
Other books this week: Superior Avengers #4, The Power Fantasy #10, It’s Jeff: Infinity Paws #1, The Slasher’s Apprentice #3, Predator: Black, White & Blood #1, The Toxic Avenger #1, Transformers #22, and Life #5.
Quick Hits: Another book released this week to try and take advantage of the upcoming film is Fantastic Four: First Steps #1, which is the title of the film. This is a prequel and it was written in an interesting manner. I am really excited for the film. I picked up the Galactus popcorn bucket at Cinemark this week. It’s gorgeous. Absolute Superman #9 continues to be good. Again, Superman is in theater right now. The book from AWA that had a misprint and led to a recalling, They Choose Violence #1 came out with its corrected copy this week. Miles Morales: Spider-Man #35 (Bronze Medalist) continued their God War arc and I am not really liking it much. Cool cover though. FML #5 is back after several months. It is strange too because this cover, which is listed as cover A is not on my CLZ app. There is a different cover listed on CLZ as cover A. I did not understand why, but I did mark the cover A on the app as the one I have. The James Tynion IV short with Erica Slaughter wrapped up in Hello Darkness #12. That was my favorite in the anthology this month. Buried Long, Long Ago #3 kind of lost me last month, but this issue pulled me back in. Solid work on this one. Conan the Barbarian #22 from Titan Comics really does give me an old time Marvel feel. Todd made me buy Master of Kung Fu #60 this week as a back issue this week. I have always liked Shang Chi. Finally, Blood Type #2 is really a compelling vampire story. We get a lot of those right now, but this book with the main character Ada is different than we usually see.
The DCU is finally here as James Gunn revealed his huge blockbuster to officially kick off the DC Universe films, in a reboot that has been in the planning stages for years. They started off with their classic character, Superman.
I can state, without a doubt, that James Gunn has done an amazing job with a film that soars to remarkable heights and is loaded with a ton of comic book-y fun.
It seems as if you can’t do a comic book movies these days without a ton of controversy, and Superman is not an exception. There have been complaints flying around about the use of the term immigrant in reference to Superman as well as the movie being “woke.” Despite these criticisms and talking points looking to drum up hatred, Superman (2025) is a wonderful movie and a great time in the theater.
No origins here, which is a great thing. We all know where Superman came from and how he wound up in Kansas, so why waste time showing it once again? Gunn is right in that we do not need to see baby Kal-El land, Bruce Wayne’s parents shot or Uncle Ben be killed ever again. We know these stories.
The world of this movie is fully encompassed with metahumans already and the dangers of the world are quite clearly shown.
The opening info tells us that Superman has stopped a war between a couple of countries and this is one of the big sticking points for a lot of people involved. This is the back drop of everything that goes down.
David Corenswet played Superman and he does an unbelievable job at it. He approached Superman with the right amount of heart and joy, even if he seemed to have a bit of a temper. It is really refreshing to see a Man of Steel concerned with saving people around him. There are a bunch of scenes showing that Superman cares for the people of earth, even after they turn on him.
I won’t give away why they turn on him, but it feels like it absolutely could happen in the world we live in today.
Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane are already dating, and she knows about his true identity. There is amazing chemistry between these two and they bring sparks to the screen. Lois Lane is shown as an intelligent and strong woman who will take whatever risk she needs to take for her passions, whether that be the story she is pursuing or the man that she loved.
Superman’s iconic enemy, Lex Luthor, was played by Nicholas Hoult. This is my favorite version of Lex Luthor to ever appear in live action (or animated, btw). Hoult gave him such an evilness, but he did it without creating a cartoon. I understood Luthor’s motivations, even if they were horrendous. Nicholas Hoult was sensational in the role.
There were several other heroes appearing in the film, inside the Justice Gang, which included Guy Gardner, the Green Lantern, played with that slimy perfection by Nathan Fillion. Isabela Merced (from season two of Last of Us) as Hawkgirl, who did not have as much to do, but was pretty cool when she was involved. Mister Terrific, played by Edi Gathegi. Mister Terrific had a major part to play in this movie and he was awesome. I loved how they used these group of heroes instead of pulling out some of the more heavy hitters of the DCU.
The film looked really good, especially any scene with flight involved. The score was decent but James Gunn, who is well-known for his needle drop songs in some of his other movies, did not have many here. That did not distract me. In fact, I did not even think about it until the end credits.
When we first meet them, I was not a fan of Ma and Pa Kent (Neva Howell and Pruitt Taylor Vince), but I have to say they grew on me later in the film.
Krypto the dog was well used, even if I thought maybe he was used too much. Krypto has some solid scenes in the film. He is important and not just there to make everybody “awww” over a cute dog.
Some of the jokes did not land, which made a few scenes a touch awkward, but most of the humor worked fairly well. There were not as many jokes as some of James Gunn’s previous films, but there definitely had some humor in it.
I don’t think there is any other way to look at this other than as a triumph for James Gunn’s new rebooted DCU. Superman was colorful, exciting, dramatic, funny at times, and had so much heart that has been missing from Superman in other recent iterations. Outside of a few nitpicks (such as some of the workers at the Daily Planet… what was up with those characters?), I think this was a smashing success.
This is a season finale. Yet was it a satisfying resolution to the first season story? Absolutely not. I have to say that the ending of this season is just disappointing and a disjointed mess.
The ending does not give us any answers. It does not even hint at them. The first half of the episode was going along with Marshall, and he winds up at a strange anti-woke, anti-women meeting where there were some nastiness implied. What was any of this about? Is it indicating that this group has something to do with the Grotesquerie murders? All the male characters of the show appeared in this meeting, including some of the most important ones. Still, it was anything but clear.
The episode started to get interesting when Lois was in the mental institution and was claiming that she believed that she had died and that this was the Otherworld. Or maybe she was still in the coma. These were some intriguing ideas that I may have bought into, because I stated after last week’s penultimate episode, I really felt as if the world was imaginary. However, this idea was tossed aside quickly and does not seem to be explored any further after Megan arrived to see Lois.
Megan took Lois to another crime scene where a bunch of people were killed, including Charlie the doctor. Lois says she knows who this is, and left to go to her old office and wait for the evidence to be bagged up.
And that was the end of the season.
Really?
This show was so very odd and bounced around potential concepts, changing gears midseason dramatically. This show never felt right since that massive switch. I was willing to give it a chance, but it all still feels too surreal.
I do not mind having mysteries unsolved, as long as I think that those mysteries make sense. These do not. This was a weak ending to a show that had some solid moments and a strong performance from Niecy Nash-Betts.
An intense episode that, once again, really throws my understanding of what is going on into a confused state… and I loved that.
It felt as if Lois was on a crusade to put things to rest before she moved down to Florida. She saw Marshall and gave him divorce papers (and he was downright cruel at this point), she saw her daughter for one final slap, and she continued dream therapy.
It was here where things started to go weird once more. It was suggested that Lois’s dream, specifically about the Burnside family, which had no connection to her own life, was Lois seeing the future.
Of course, Megan was arriving at a murder scene exactly like the Burnside murder in reality. Right down to the mystery contents of the boiling pot on the stove, which feels as if it is a secret that we will be getting in the finale.
Reality? Hm, I wonder.
When Lois met Megan at the hotel, Lois had her cut her arm so she could see her blood. That was supposed to be how Lois proved to herself that this was real… and then the most surreal thing happened, with Megan’s abusive boyfriend showing up and attacking her. Lois held a gun on him but he did not stop. He tormented Lois about being the dream woman and that she knew she couldn’t kill him. He went so far as to put the barrel of the gun Lois held into his own mouth.
And then she shot him.
That was an awesome moment. A-hole got what he deserved. However, I worry for Lois.
Still, I am not convinced that everything here is real life. The background TVs kept talking about the fires that were spreading, much like the final sections of Lois’s dreams, and I feel there may be something “biblical” going down.
This episode started off with Lois being just a totally vicious bitch toward her daughter and her new fiancé, Travis Kelce. She was so cruel that I found myself hating her so much. Then she pulled the plug on Marshall. Then we found out that Father Charlie was Grotesquerie and that Sister Megan was his accomplice. Megan got into a massive fight with Lois, where she stabbed her multiple times.
Then things changed.
Lois is in the coma. Marshall is alive and in the Lois role from the beginning. Lois had been the one having the affair. Sister Megan was the police chief. Marshall decided to pull the plug on Lois. Travis Kelce wanted to say goodbye, but Marshall wanted no part of that, keeping him from the room. When they pulled the plug, Lois floated up and seemed to get her heartbeat back.
What the hell is going on?
Is this show implying that Lois has been in the coma the whole time and the first six episodes were all in her head? I think that is what is going on here.
Does that mean that everything prior to Lois waking up from her coma in this episode means nothing?
That is a massive sized twist if that is the case. It is also extremely confusing in this episode. Where does this story go from here? Is this a totally different story than the one we have been watching?
Only one episode released this week, but it was nearly an hour long, and it was totally insane. I am not sure what happened or where it goes from here. There are three more episodes remaining.
EYG Hall of Famer Christopher Reeve, who sprang to fame playing Superman in several movies int he late 70s and early 80s, gets the biographical documentary treatment going into depth about his life, his family and the horrific tragedy that changed his perspective for the remainder of his life.
The doc interviews Reeve’s children and his ex-wife, revealing the deep relationship that Reeve had and how his time as Superman affected his career and how people’s POV changed him.
There are some amazingly personal scenes and imagery of Christopher Reeve struggling post-accident that was difficult to watch at times. The emotions were in full example and heartstrings were pulled as the story moved from pre-accident to post-accident. There were plenty of times that I teared up watching the powerfully poignant moments.
Some of the toughest scenes for me was the parts including Robin Williams. Williams and Reeve were roommates during their time at Julliard, forming a lifetime friendship. The relationship had several vital moments and it nearly broke me when it was said that had Christopher hadn’t died, Robin would be alive today. Heart-breaking.
Directors Peter Ettedgui and Ian Bonhôte painted a moving portrait of the actor and how he was able to overcome his adversity to help many individuals with their own handicaps.
The fourth day of the June Swoon 3: A Cinematic Flashback brought me to HBO Max and the first animated film of the month. It is also the first disappointment of the month.
At first, I felt that Justice League: Warworld was an intriguing concept. Seeing Wonder Woman in the old West was a neat concept and watching her square off with Jonas Hex opened a lot of possibilities. I was thinking this was much like Westworld and seeing the Justice League involved in this setting would be cool.
However, it was not just the old West. After her short bit was done, we came across Batman in the world of Warlord. Wonder Woman was there too. I did not understand what was happening and, if this was the case, why was Batman not in the old West. and where was Superman?
Eventually we came to Superman as an agent of the government in a black and white alien invasion film where both Batman and Wonder Woman would appear as would King Faraday. It also borrowed heavily from a Twilight Zone episode I saw last summer during the Daily Zone rewatch.
All of these side bits seemed to be nothing more than time wasters as the real plot started up in this episode as they came across Mongul, with Lobo, who has some weird sci-fi storyline. Apparently, Warworld is a massive weapon against the multiverse and he was in search of a key. Why he brought the Trinity into the story made no sense, but that was not unlike most of the rest of this movie.
J’onn J’onzz was here too and played a role in the end of the film, but the movie made the entire thing feel unnecessary as it was being used simply to introduce the idea of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The movie brought in what I assume was Harbinger at the very end to rescue the Trinity and set up the next animated film. I am only guessing that this is Harbinger since the look of the character is nothing like I remember. She looked more like Marvel’s Frankie Raye aka Nova than she did the Harbinger from Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Jensen Ackles lead the voice cast which included Stana Katic (formerly of Castle fame) as Wonder Woman, and Darren Criss as Superman. Other actors included Ike Amadi, Troy Baker, Matt Bomer, Roger Cross, Brett Dalton, John DiMaggio, Frank Grillo, Teddy Sears, Kari Wahlgren, and Robin AtkinDownes.
The animation was fine, but did not standout in any instance. The characters did not feel right. Even in Elseworld type stories, the characters needed to feel like the characters we know in order for us to relate to them. Much of the story was convoluted and only felt as if it existed simply to put them in these specific settings. Worse yet, was it simply felt like a commercial for the next DC animation film.
Usually, the DC animated movies are very well done. This was quite a step down.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 