Tag Archives: writing

EYG Comic Cavalcade #211

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July 12

It is time for the EYG Comic Cavalcade. We are all the way up to #211. Wow.

This week, I went to In This Issue on Thursday to kill some time before heading over to Cinemark and, one of the things I grabbed there was, Amazing Spider-Man #107. It was a splurge, but it was something I wanted. I also grabbed a variant cover of ASM #573 featuring Steven Colbert swinging around holding Spidey. I am continuing to work on getting the ASM series. I am down to three issues missing from Vol. 2.

When I picked up Starhenge: Book Two last week, I realized that this series was needing me to read a previous series. So I ordered Book One: The Dragon and the Boar off eBay. I have not gotten around to reading them yet, but it is on the list for this summer. Hopefully, I can read them before the next issue of Book Two comes out.

Comic of the Week

Operation: Iron Coffin #1

Dracula killing Nazis? How awesome is that. There is actually more to this than just that simple premise. Dracula is in a bargain for his life. He made a deal with the devil to return to earth to kill all of the vampires that he sired in exchange for his own resurrection. Of course, the Devil is never a straight shooter, as he pulled an Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) trick and gave Dracula back his empathy.

The first issue was filled with some awesome material and the cover art led to this issue winning a bronze medal this week.

Books this Week:

Black Cat #12. “Between a Glock and a Hard Place” Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by Andres Genolet. Cover art was done by Josemaria Casanovas. The team-up/fight between Felicia and the Punisher has been extremely entertaining. Even if the way they brought them into the same orbit was odd, the results have been spectacular. G. Willow Wilson, who wrote so many classic Ms. Marvel issues, has a great grasp on Felicia Hardy and her life as the Black Cat.

White Boat #3. Written by Scott Snyder with art and cover art by Francesco Francavilla. I had picked up the first two issues of White Boat together about a year and a half ago. I remembering being extremely enthusiastic about the two issues of the DSTLRY book. Then, it never came out. It was finally released this past Wednesday and I barely remembered anything about it. I sure hope that if DSTLRY is putting out series again, that they are not taking months and months between release.

Fury of Firestorm #4. “The Fury- Part 4” Written by Jeff Lemire and art by Rafael Latorre. Cover art was done by Rafael Latorre and Marcelo Maiolo. I also grabbed a variant cover by Mark Spears as well. Truth is coming out as Firehawk confronted Professor Stein over his morally questionable hand in the creation of Firestorm and herself. The Fury of Firestorm has been an excellent book so far and I am looking forward to the finale coming soon.

Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #1. Written by Jude Ellison with art and cover art by Fran Galan. I grabbed a variant cover by Dave Johnson (Silver Medalist). With a DC Studios movie coming out in October, Clayface gets his own mini-series. The book focuses on identity and looked at who this Clayface actually is. The issue includes some body horror, which is something that the upcoming film will be rumored to include.

Daredevil #4. “Tomorrow’s Devil-Part 4” Written by Stephanie Phillips with art and cover art by Lee Garbett. Stephanie Phillips has been kicking butt in this new run on Daredevil. Daredevil faces off with The Owl to get info on the new threat, Omen. I laughed out loud when DD mentioned the name Omen, and The Owl said “You named him?”

Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy #1. Written by Tyler Boss with art by Dylan Burnett. Cover A art was done by Dylan Burnett. Cover B art was done by Tyler Boss and Cover F art was done by Javier Pulido (Gold Medalist). The first spin off of the classic limited series Exquisite Corpses finds the stands this week with an origin story of Rascal Randy.

Wolverine #23. “Power Grab” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine faces off with the Taskmaster, who now has Wolvie’s healing factor. Who is behind the power switch? We find out this issue. Can Logan switch his power back before it is too late?

Uncanny X-Men #31. “The Devil I Know” Written by Gail Simone with art by Jim Towe & David Baldeon. Cover art was done by Luciano Vecchio & Matthew Wilson. This is the continuation of the story arc “Mars Needs Mutants.” We get a bunch of the Brood arriving to mess up a student dance. The Outliers remain some of my favorite new characters in all of Marvel.

Bleeding Hearts #6. Written by Deniz Camp with art and cover art by Stipan Morian. I also picked up Cover B with art by Ariel Olivetti. Big events happening in the zombie hunt as Poke and Mush have their big one-on-one conversation and Poke revealed to him that he has a beating heart. Mush did not take it well. This was the end of the first arc of this book, but there are plenty more stories to tell with these characters as Poke is reunited with Rabbit.

Witness Point #1. Written by Heath Corson with art and cover art by Soo Lee. I thought this was written by Nathan Fillion, but it seemed as if he was part of the creators for the book. A murder in a small town normally would not draw the attention of the FBI, but, what if, this was a murder that took place in a small town where a bunch of witness protection witnesses are being housed? That might make a huge change. This is an intriguing Dark Horse book.

Transformers #34. Written by Robert Kirkman with art by Jason Howard. Cover art was done by David Nakayama. The Combaticons launch an assault on the Autobots while Optimus is having a face-to-face discussion about the future with General Flagg. Flagg also gets into a fight with Doctor Henri Arkeville.

Absolute Catwoman #2. “The Yarn- Chapter Two” Written by Scott Snyder & Che Grayson. Art and cover art was done by Bengal. Catwoman sets up an auction to try and trap the thieves who stole from her. It brings her back into contact with her old crew, The Calicos.

Showdown #2. Written by Dave Wielgosz and illustrated by Tadd Galusha. Cover art was done by Steve Lieber & Dillon Shook. This issue follows Harvey Harlowe as he wades through the horrible state of his life. He was blamed for the death of Trish’s little brother and we get to see how he prepared for his showdown with Trish.

Zorro’s Legacy #1. “Dead or Alive” Written by Dan Abnett with pencils by Aaron Lopresti. Cover art was done by Aaron Lopresti & Walter Pereyra. It is present day and the mantel of Zorro has been picked up by Donny De La Vega, a relative of the original Zorro. However, when Donny was badly injured in a battle, his nephew David, who had been training with him and insisting Donny use more up to date weaponry, stepped into the role as a new Zorro for the new world. This gives us a darker, more vengeful Zorro than we have ever seen before.

Baby Garfield #4. “Baby Garfield’s First Bath” written by Ben Clayton and art by Olivia Amoah and “Baby Garfield’s First Road Trip” written by Annie Nishida and art by Kay Davault. Cover art was done by Agnes Esposito. This is the final issue of the four part Baby Garfield series from Boom! that I never would have guessed that I would have enjoyed. But I did enjoy it quite a bit.

Ben 10 #3. “Man of Action” Written by Joe Casey with art and cover art by Robert Carey. The US Army is chasing Ben in his different form and, meanwhile, another alien is landing on the earth in the form of Crab, who is an alien bounty hunter. Things look difficult for Ben and his family.

Altered States: Warlords #2. Written by David Avallone with art by Mariano Benitez-Chapo. Cover art was done by Joseph Michael Linsner. I also picked up the cover D with cosplay by Jacqueline Goehner. While it seemed as if Red Sonja was a goner, John Carter has arrived on Mars. He has a plan on how to rescue Red Sonja.

Barbara Gordon: Breakout #3. “What Am I Missing?” Written by Mariko Tamaki and art by Amancay Nahuelpan. Cover art was done by Karl Kerschl. This issue splits the story into two, with a flashback to Batgirl, Nightwing, Batwoman and Huntress on a mission and the current timeline with Barbara undercover in a prison. Things have gone very poorly for Barbara in the present.

The Rocketeer: Infiltrator #1. Written by Gabriel Hardman with art by Dean Kotz. Cover B art was done by Dave Stevens. I picked this book up off the shelf the other day. I have always enjoyed the character of Rocketeer, but I have not picked up many of his comics over the years. With this one at a number one, I grabbed it to see what it was like. I liked what I saw as we got some Rocketeer under cover at a Nazi movie set.

From Parts Unknown #3. Written by Adriano Ariganello with art and cover art by Daniel Caval. Whoa! Pro wrestling vampires are not an original thought, but they are the only ones that are real. And who saw the end of this issue coming? Not me. I have found this wrestling/horror amalgam book from Pesto Comics extremely fun and engaging.

Seven Wives #2. Written by Zoe Tunnell with art by Tesslyn Bergin-Dicoi. Cover art was done by Keyla Valerio. The murder of Matthew Dunn remains unsolved as Detectives Aguilar and Halwell are trying to figure out what has happened, and how did Dunn’s seven wives play into the case.

Dispatched #1. Written by B. Clay Moore and illustrated by Daniel Gete. Cover art was done by Daniel Gete & Lee Loughridge. Morgan Powers is living under a government-issued alias and he is now a delivery driver. However, his next delivery has more trouble than anticipated. Dispatched has a distinct Die Hard vibe and I was into the first issue. Daniel is a unlikely hero and he struggled with PTSD from his past.

Absolute Batman #22. “The Crooked House” Written by Scott Snyder with art by Werther Dell’Edera. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin. Cover C art was done by Brett Bean. Batman and Harley are forced to work together to try and avoid the Robins, who were in pursuit of them. Oh, and the Scarecrow is here too.

Tyler Rake: An Extraction Story #3. Written by Ande Parks and illustrated by Ronan Cliquet. Cover art was done by Declan Shalvey. Tyler Rake is back, heading into what seems like an impossible situation in an attempt to free an individual. Tyler Rake was hiding out, hoping just to live his life, when the government arrived, forcing him back into action.

The Twilight Zone #9. “A Day in the Day in the Life” Written, art and cover art by Juni Ba. This issue of the anthology series was not my favorite one. The art and design of the book is spectacular, but I just could not get into the story.

Vampyrates! #1. Written by Fred Van Lente and illustrated by Luca Pizzari. Cover art was done by Luca Pizzari & Adam Guzowski. I also picked up the Luca Pizzari unlimited virgin cover that supposedly glows-in-the-dark. Vampires and pirates! I mean… am I at the center of that Venn diagram, or what? This was a wild first issue and it sure sets up for a fun run at Boom! Studios.

Speed Racer #10. Written by David Pepose and art by Davide Tinto. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. Speed is out of his mind from the V-gas. He is angry and out of control and he is heading into a race through the center of a volcano. Is this the end for Speed Racer, or should all of the other racers look out for themselves?

Circuit Breaker: Adversary of the Daleks #1. Written by Dulce M. Montoya & Dan Watters with art by Roberta Ingranata. Cover art was done by Jay Anacleto. I don’t know where this version of the Doctor came from but she is not any type of Doctor we have seen before. She is bad tempered and snippy. She seems to not care for anyone or anything. Plus, she does not remember much of her Time Lord past. She does not even know the Daleks.

Other Books this Week: Blood & Thunder #15, The Seasons #11, Jeff The Land Shark: Superstar #1, It’s Symbie #1, Fantastic Four: First Foes- Shalla Bal #1, X-Men ’97 Season 2 #2, Did You Hear About Mimi Green? #2, and Strength and Ash #2

Quick Hits: Wanda continues to be a kick ass Sorceress Supreme in Sorcerer Supreme #8. She is off in search of the Extinction King and she is being accompanied by the Sorcerer Supreme of the Quantum Realm. Will sparks fly for the magicians? Bad Idea dropped a one shot called Dingoliath #1 which focused upon a giant monster. This was an easy read as much of the story was told visually. Star Crossed #1 is the new series from Dark Horse written by Mark Millar. The universe’s two best thieves are being pursued by everyone after a brazen robbery. I picked up MASK #2, even though I got a preview copy of this very issue in a blind bag last month. I grabbed a book called Calexit: Say Goodbye to Hollywood #1 but it had the inside cover saying that there were several previous issues that were before. I’m not sure yet if I am going to find these on eBay or just go with this book. Innards #2 shows us the terrors of deep-Earth mining and give us some insight into Boo Wright. I was excited to see Aladdin #1 from Dynamite, but I was not into this book. These Disney Dynamite books are strange. The books that I do not think I will care about grab my interest and those that I feel like are hit for me are not. The team up in Conan & Dragonero #3 continues as they fight a dragon. Just Brutal #4 sets our kids up to face their destiny… but are they ready? W0rldtr33 #21 keeps building intrigue as I am never quite sure what is going on. Hank Howard: Pizza Detective- The Inside Job #1 is a one-shot book from Bad Idea that has several Hank Howard short stories. The, the black and white reprints of Daniel Warren Johnson’s wrestling book Do A Power Bomb! #1 came out this week.

The Muppet Show S1 E15, E16, E17, E18

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Guest: Candice Bergen

Guest: Avery Schreiber

Guest: Ben Vereen

Guest: Phyllis Diller

Another strong run of four episodes of the Muppet Show consistently amaze me. I mentioned this earlier, but the material on the Muppet Show is so far advanced for a kids program that it goes to show you that you do not have to play down to kids.

In these four episodes, we got a song from Ben Vereen, Mister Cellophane, out of the Broadway play Chicago. Rowlf played a classical piano piece by Beethoven called Für Elise. The classic song Tenderly was performed in a distinctly rock format by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

Crazy Harry was all over these episodes. He was the running gag in the Ben Vereen episode, constantly blowing things up when someone made a comment connected to explosions.

Veterinarian’s Hospital was on all these episodes. This is a classic bit that the Muppet Show made famous with Rowlf, Miss Piggy and Janice. They told some terrible jokes and laughed at them all.

The Candice Bergen episode featured some of the songs I remember on here including “Put Another Log on the Fire” and Piggy’s “What Now My Love.” Candice Bergen was not singing, and I was thinking, “Oh so she is not a singer so they are not making her sing” and then she did “You’ve Got to Have Friends.”

Piggy tried to make Kermit jealous by pretending to have a relationship with Avery Schreiber, which seemed to work until Scooter let the cat out of the bag. During this, we learn Miss Piggy’s true name, Pigathias- which means “River of Passion.” Other running jokes included Fozzie trapped in a box, Fozzie doing the “I’ve got a ____ for Kermit the Frog” bit, and Hilda worried about her age and appearance.

Sweetums made several appearances in this block of episodes including where he ate Candice Bergen’s camera and had an insult-off with Sir Avery (Schreiber).

Agents of Shield S7 E9

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“As I Have Always Been”

Phlebotinum!

Absolute genius of an episode.

I wanted to give this episode its own post since my memory of it was that it was a great episode. I am underestimating it, because this is, by far, my favorite episode of Agents of Shield from the entire seven season run.

Season seven has been using some overall themes for the previous episodes. Their first trip into the past was played like an old school b-movie type sci-fi. We got the black and white noir episode. There was the 1970s action show (which had to have an influence on WandaVision) and the 1980s sci-fi type film including max Headroom (which Coulson hilariously namedrops in this episode).

This one was Groundhogs Day mixed with Doctor Who. The thing was, it was so much more than just re-using the trope of repeating the day over and again.

It took the situation and gave us remarkable humor, much of it coming from the exquisite Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, the LMD. It gave us a fantastic mystery about who was preventing the implant from being removed from Jemma Simmons’s head. It forwards the relationship between Daisy and Sousa. And it provided the most selfless self-sacrifice I have seen in ages with Enoch’s removal of a part from his own Chronicom body, leading to his death.

The episode is featured around Daisy, who was inside a healing pod at the beginning. She goes about the process of discovering that the Zephyr was trapped in a timestorm and was in danger of being wiped out of existence. The episode was wild, and then took another major step when she went to activate Couslon, who was recharging. He filled her in that this was not the first time that she had come to activate him and that she had died.

The frustration and annoyance of Coulson was extremely funny and delivered so perfectly by Gregg. It played right into the feelings that Coulson was having last episode where his predicament as an LMD was starting to get to him. The show added the character growth of Coulson into a list of amazing stuff this episode addressed.

Enoch was another standout of the episode. We discovered that he was the one killing the crew members to prevent the implant from being removed from Simmons’s head, and there were some of the best scenes of the episode as the team confronted Enoch and he fought back in the most amazing and hilarious ways. We did not see much, if any, of the actual fight, just the aftermath with the team scattered across the floor. They added the line “Deke’s dead” in one of them and it was such a gas.

Each time loop brought the Zephyr closer to the center of the timestorm, providing real jeopardy for the team and not just the trial and error until they figured it out. They did not have unlimited time. Time was ticking away.

There were two outstanding monologues during the episode. The first was Daniel Sousa’s explanation of why he stayed with Daisy as she slept. His explanation of wanting to be near “…people like Diasy” was such an awesome character moment and made allusions back to his time with Agent Carter, who he was clearly referencing. The second monologue was Enoch’s dying words, spoken to Coulson and Daisy, after he had pulled his electrochron displacement mechanism from out of his chest. I had tears during this moment. Who knew that I would have become so connected to this robot who was introduced in season five as a Chronicom sent to retrieve the team? Watching Enoch slowly succumb was heartbreaking and painful, while providing important healing for Coulson and Daisy. Joel Stoffer brought his amazing character to life here and you couldn’t have asked for a better heroic send off for Enoch than what he got.

Elizabeth Henstridge, who played Simmons, was the first time director of this episode, which was just a remarkable feat. She provided an exciting and energetic show despite many scenes needing to be repetitive because of the episode’s hook. Every time we got a repeat scene, something new was added. I have to shout out the entire cast as well as they had to repeat lines and adjust to the situation and they all did it wonderfully well.

I love this episode and I would put it at the top of the MCU TV show episodes along with Agatha All Along’s “Death’s Hand in Mine,” Moon Knight’s “Asylum,” WandaVision’s “We Interrupt This Program” and “Previously On,” and Loki’s “Journey Into Mystery” and “Glorious Purpose.”

Agents of Shield S7 E8

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“After, Before”

Episode eight of the final season of the Agents of Shield finds the team in major trouble aboard the Zephyr-1 as the time drive was not working properly. It was making jumps in time at a quicker and quicker intervals, leading to the potential of collapsing on them.

Yo Yo’s power becomes a key to fixing the time drive, so Yo Yo and May go on a trip of discovery to try and get Yo Yo’s Inhuman powers back… which meant going to Afterlife to ask for help from Daisy’s mom, Jiaying.

This episode becomes an internal story of Yo Yo, her doubts, her guilt and how she had been holding herself back. The episode uses both Yo Yo and May in a great interaction, but only the way that they could do it.

As Yo Yo was discovering her inner truth, other problems and tidbits popped up for the show.

  • Simmons provided Sousa with a new prosthetic leg.
  • Coulson was becoming somewhat down on his LMD-ness.
  • We find out that Enoch can keep the tempo on drums.
  • Daisy is slowly healing from her traumatic situation at Nathaniel’s hands.
  • Nathaniel arrived at Afterlife, coming to recruit Kora to his side.
  • Kora asked how Nathaniel knew about her and Nathaniel told her it was his new friend, Sibyl.
  • Nathaniel and Kora have the Inhumans at Afterlife captive.
  • Simmons sends a emotional message to Fitz.
  • Yo Yo’s efforts with the time drive did not work and the Zephyr jumped again at the end of the episode.

I chose to only do this one episode for a couple of reasons. The first one was the time available was short, but the main reason was that, in my memory, episode nine of this season may be my favorite episode of the entire seven years, and I wanted to make sure to give that episode its flowers. And since I went ahead and watched “The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D” with episodes 4,5 & 6, instead of pairing it with this one, that meant I needed to do one by itself.

With Nathaniel and Kora setting themselves up as some “big-bads” for the last few episodes, this was an important episode to connect the series to where it was going.

Agents of Shield S7 E4, E5, E6, E7

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“Out of the Past”

“A Trout in the Milk”

“Adapt or Die”

“The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D”

This continues to be my favorite season so far, and the show has been taking some gigantic swings.

How about a whole black and white, noir episode? Coulson with the monologue over the scenes (which is an internal monologue), the cool mystery and the saving of Sousa, sort of.

Daniel Sousa was supposed to die in 1955 after he delivered an object to Howard Stark. Coulson said that he was a hero and that he was taught in SHIELD history. The team decided to save Sousa, fake his death (by using Coulson) and bring him with them in the Zephyr.

All in black and white.

Turned out, the black and white came from a malfunction of the Coulson LMD.

The next episode was into the 1970s and the show had a seventies style opening theme, with voice over introducing the cast.

It was clear that the writers had a freedom to come up with remarkable situations over the time stream and that they were having a hoot. There is drama, comedic moments and some great action.

Mack goes through a lot as his parents are killed and replaced by Chronicoms. He gets left behind with Deke in 1982. He spends a year mourning in isolation as Deke tries unsuccessfully to help him. Deke created a cover band…as a cover. The Deke Squad was his covert Shield group filled with weirdos and losers. Deke shows some real character development during these episodes and Jeff Ward is just remarkably funny. His dialogue is some of the series’ best.

Coulson destroyed his body in an explosion that killed the Chronicoms. Coulson wound up a Max Headroom-type character in 1983 with Deke.

Sousa and Daisy are growing closer as Daisy was getting tortured and experimented on by Nathanial Malick, who wanted Daisy’s powers transferred to him. He was able to do it, but he could not handle the new power.

It was awesome to have General Rick Stoner, played by Patrick Warburton, in his real body in the 1970s. Warburton played Stoner as a hologram when the Lighthouse closed up a few seasons ago. That hologram was based on a past Shield executive, and now we got to meet him.

Again though, Shield and the Chronicoms were playing havoc with the Sacred Timeline and I wonder what the TVA was doing.

Agents of Shield S6 E11, E12, E13

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“From the Ashes”

“The Sign”

“New Life”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Muppet Show S1 E9, E10, E11

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Guest: Charles Aznavour

Guest: Harvey Korman

Guest: Lena Horne

I knew that there would be some huge moments of nostalgia for me by doing this Muppet Show rewatch because there are some clips that have stuck with me all these years. These three episodes of season one, nine, ten and eleven, included several of these.

In episode nine, guest starring Charles Aznavour, someone who I would have never recognized, did one of the numbers with lyrics I say all the time. “Two and two are four. Four and four are eight. Eight and eight are sixteen. Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two.” This is from the song Inchworm and I remember this since my youth.

Episode ten had a couple of iconic memories for me. First was the “Funniest joke of all time” from Fozzie Bear, who grabbed Kermit to help him and wanted Kermit to come on stage after he hears the word “Hear” and deliver the line “Good grief! The comedian’s a bear!” The homophones would be the joke of course, but this is a fabulous routine with Jim Henson and Frank Oz delivering their lines perfectly. This was on a record album of hits from the first season of the Muppet Show that I had owned.

The other amazing performance on this episode was from Robin the Frog, who sang A.A. Milne’s poem, “Halfway Down the Stairs.” I loved this growing up and it just triggers every memorberry that I have.

Most celebrities look as if they are having a great time on the Muppet Show. Some have joy and fun all over their faces. Lena Horne is a perfect example. She was so happy to be here. However, in episode eleven, it sure seemed as if Harvey Korman hated being here. He did not seem to be enjoying his time on the Muppet Show at all. Of course, he did dress in a giant chicken costume for half the show, so there is that.

This show, which was children’s show, was surprisingly high brow on many occasions. When Charles Aznavour did a dance number with Mildred as he sang “Old Fashioned Way,” there would be plenty of people who were introduced to that song for the first time here. I was surprised to see Mildred as his dance partner in this act. Later in the seasons, it would have been 100% Miss Piggy doing that. I even had to look up the name for the Muppet Mildred.

Lena Horne surprised me with a cover of “I Got a Name” by Jim Croce. I looked it up and Horne did, in fact, cover the song herself as a record. She also sang “Sing (Sing a Song)” from Sesame Street which included background singers Gonzo, Miss Piggy, George the Janitor among others. Both Kermit and Fozzie got to sing with Lena.

As I mentioned, the Muppet Show may have been targeted for children, but it did not talk down to them. It provided music and allusions to some of the greatest cultural items of all time. And, they put Harvey Korman in a chicken suit.

Silo S3 E1

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“Who Are You?”

Apple TV +’s sci-fi series Silo has returned and started its third season. The show stars Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette, who has returned from her “cleaning” without her memory and, apparently, has been elected (appointed???) Mayor of Silo 18.

Juliette is being treated like a savior, a messiah, a hero by the others in the Silo.

We left season two with Juliette and Bernard trapped inside the incinerator. Juliette does not remember anything prior to the incinerator, and she was told that she was saved by the insulation in her suit. She is told Bernard was not as lucky and he died from the exposure to the flames and the poison.

However, we see a flashback of Sims actually smothering Bernard with plastic after he had survived the incinerator.

We get a bunch of things like this, certainly implying that Sims and his wife Camille are manipulating people, including Juliette.

Juliette found a capsule in her soup that contained a message. The message stated, “Want to know the truth? Leave your bowl upside down. Go to the marketplace.” 

We had learned that Juliette was being drugged by Camille and that The Algorithm is worried that Juliette’s real memories are returning.

The show had a series of flashbacks, connected to the pair of characters that we saw in Washington, D.C. at the end of season two. This was pre-collapse times and one of the characters was Congressman Daniel Keene, who is concerned about his sister Charlotte Keene, who is scheduled to fly a mission to bomb Iran in response to the “dirty bomb” mentioned last year.

Charlotte is shown in a plane that entered a cloud that was not supposed to be there which led to a bizarre crash. Charlotte is rescued but she has suffered a brain injury and she does not recognize Daniel when he comes to see her.

These flashbacks give me definitive LOST vibes, especially the vibes of season four when we saw the Oceanic Six in present day time.

Intriguing start with a whole bunch of new mysteries to sink your teeth into. This is released every Friday night on Apple TV +.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #210

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July 4

Happy 250th Birthday to the United States of America. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July.

I picked up a lot of Mad Magazine issues from eBay this week, which included, specifically, the one issue that I went looking for. Mad #533 featured “Weird Al” Yankovic as special guest editor, and was full of fun and crazy comedy. “Weird Al” is one of my absolute favorites and I wanted to find this issue. It seemed like it was pretty high priced on eBay, but I found it included in this lot and the total for the seven books was right around the same cost for the individual book. That was a winner for me.

I picked up a few graphic novels/trade paperbacks this week. The graphic novels included a version of George Orwell’s 1984, which was pretty cool. I also grabbed a graphic novel called “Rain” which I mistakenly did not realize that I already owned. Then there was a paperback that collected an Oni Press series called Hellbreak and a DC trade called Superman: Supercorp.

Comic of the Week

Ordained #3

This was a fantastic issue of this series from Bad idea. You could tell that they originally were going to have the series end after three issues, because of the way this wrapped up. The demand for Ordained must have convinced them to tag on a fourth issue, as they have a final section at the very end, almost like a post credit scene, that sets up issue #4. I am not complaining about it at all. I would buy a full-time, ongoing series of Ordained.

The B cover of this week’s book ended up as runner up for the bronze medalist for the EYG Comic Covers of the Week.

Books this week:

The Last Starfighter #1. Written by Benjamin Raab & Deric Hughes with art by Willi Robert. Variant cover D art by Stephanie Hans (Gold Medalist). This is a new Mad Cave series that is a direct sequel to the 1984 cult-classic movie, The Last Starfighter. Alex Rogen is back and his adventures have just begun. This is an intriguing start to a series and Mad Cave has earned my trust.

The City Beneath Her Feet #3. Written by James Tynion IV and art and cover art by Elsa Charretier. I did not think that I was ever going to see the conclusion of this series. DSTLRY has been rumored to be going under and I was a big fan of a bunch of their books. DSTLRY’s downfall made me very sad, but I am excited that this one came out. Hopefully, the company can get back on course or, at the very least, release those final issues of the cool stories that had been started, much like this one.

The Dogsitter #1. Written by Jamie S. Rich and illustrated by Megan Levens. Cover art was done by Megan Levens and Nick Filardi. This seemed to be a straightforward romance story about a woman named Gemma, who has left college and is supplementing her income by walking dogs. I am not sure if there is going to be more to the story than that, but she does meet someone at a party that she takes up with. I kept waiting for the inciting incident, but it did not seem to come. Ignition Press has been doing great stuff lately, but I am not sure this is going to be my cup of tea.

Star Wars-Rogue One: Saw Gerrera #1. “The Price” Written by Marc Bernardin with art by Federico Blee. Cover art was done by David Marquez & Laura Martin. I typically do not buy a lot of Star Wars books, but I saw writer Marc Bernardin on his podcast Fatman Beyond (that he does with Kevin Smith) talking about this project he did with Marvel. I am a fan of Bernardin, so I decided to pick up a copy. I actually enjoyed the book very much, despite not being a knowledgeable fan of Saw Gerrera from the Star Wars franchise. I saw him in Rogue One and Andor, but that was the extent of my knowledge. This was a good read.

Amazing Spider-Man #32.Written by Joe Kelly with art by Patrick Gleason. Cover art was done by Patrick Gleason & Dean White. Spidey has to deal with the arrival of Cormac Crane, Aunt May’s unknown son. He is using his fists to work out some of his anger and frustrations which is a bad thing for Tombstone and the Vulture. How does the death of the Shocker play into Spidey’s rampage? It is all here.

Wade Wilson: Deadpool #6. “Badpools–Part 1” Written by Benjamin Percy and art by Alex Lins. Cover art was done by Geoff Shaw & Alex Sinclair. What happens to the pieces of Wade Wilson that get chopped off? Well, at the current time, they are regenerating into weird little Deadpool-like creatures and are causing trouble for the Merc with a Mouth.

Zorro #2. Written by Howard Chaykin and art by Jorge Fornes. Cover art was done by Stewart Moore. Zorro is on the oceans, sailing with a crew of pirates, and they are dealing with the forces of the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte. There is one more issue of this short series from Alien Books.

Royals #4. Written by Derek Kirk Kim with art and cover art by Jacob Perez. Good news! Paul and Castor are not dead! They were shot at the end of last issue, but they survived and were separated. With that, the chasm between the brothers has stretched even further. This has been one of my favorite books of the month ever time it is released.

She-Spawn #3. Written by Gail Simone and art by Ig Guara. Cover art was done by Marco Falla. Jessica Priest appeared to be in the past with a job to protect a young kid… Al Simmons??? That is a name that is familiar to the Spawn Universe. Lots of things going on in this series and it is, once again, brought to life from the writing of Gail Simone.

Killer Influences #1. Written by Joey Esposito and art by Valeria Burzo. Cover art was done by David Baldeon & Ki Diaz. A wannabe reporter is on the trail of a local serial killer, but when she finds him, there is a twist in the story that I did not see coming. This is a new book from IDW, under their Crime label.

The Mortal Thor #12. “Worldwyrm” Written by Al Ewing and art by Jesus Saiz. Cover art was done by Alex Ross (Silver Medalist). Donald Blake confronted Sigurd and revealed his “true face” which was thr serpent Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent. What can the “mortal” Sigurd do to stop it?

The Deadman #2. Written by W. Maxwell Prince with art by Martin Morazzo. I picked up three covers of this issue: first cover A by Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran, second cover D by Mark Spears and then finally, cover E, a glow-in-the-dark cover by Steven Subic (Bronze Medalist). Deadman comes to Gotham to find help. He wanted Batman, but the Caped Crusader turned out to be too difficult to possess so Deadman settled for Plastic Man instead.

Fantastic Four #13. Written by Ryan North and art and cover art by Andrea Sorrentino. I have been a huge fan of the Ryan North run of Fantastic Four, but I have to admit, this issue was a stretch. Sue and Johnny pretending to be Ghost Rider to scare their villains is an original thought, but I do not think it worked well for this book. It was funny seeing Reed and Nicki pulling the same trick just to see if they could do it.

What If…?: Secret Wars #1. “What If the Ultimate Universe Survived the Secret Wars?” 616 Peter Parker wound up in the Ultimate Universe, trapped. The battle with the Maker continued and Peter turned up with the X-Men at the end. This was not my favorite What If issues as this felt lacking.

Dead Acre: Black Badge #1. Written by Cullen Bunn and art by Riley Brown. Cover art was done by Riley Brown & Fares Maese. I also picked up a special cover by Darick Robertson hidden behind a red Spoiler/Content warning sheet. This appears to be a comic adaptation of a graphic novel of the same name. I am not sure if the graphic novel is the whole run of what this series is going to be or not. All I know is that I loved this first issue.

The Punisher #6. Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. I grabbed a variant cover D of this issue with the red bloody skull. The Punisher is out and about, doing his personal mission, but there is a sniper shooting at him. That sniper… Collateral Damage.

Iron Man #7. “Super Science.” Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Von Randal. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Frank Martin. War Machine has returned! It is great to see Rhodey once again and I hope they include him in the ongoing Iron Man book. It is where he belongs.

Sam & Twitch Case Files #25. Written by Thomas Healy with additonial script from Tidd McFarlane and art by Von Randal. Cover art was done by Ig Guara. Sam and Twitch wrap up their latest case, and it feels as if this series is done. I have not heard anything for certain, but the book sure seemed to put a final bow on everything. If this is the final issue, I will miss this book.

Neighborhood Watch #3. Written by Sarah Gailey with illustrations by Haining. Val and Bianca are trying to keep Jill hidden from the police, including her bullet wound. Jill’s “runaway” daughter returned as well and she has something that she knows about this mystery.

X-Men United #5. “Shadow Play.” Written by Eve L. Ewing with art by Eduardo Pansica. Cover art was done by Stefano Caselli and Federico Blee. While the adult X-Men are trapped in a different dimension, Lourdes Chantal and other shadowy threats approach the school, forcing the younger mutants to step up their game. Ms. Marvel is there, but I wanted her to take more charge than they did here. She has a ton of experience from the Avengers, Champions and so on.

Batman #11. “Mutineers” Written by Matt Fraction with art by Jorge Jimenez. Cover A art was done by Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey. Cover B art was done by Dustin Nguyen and Cover F art (Beefcake Batman) was done by Chris Anka. Batman has to deal with the dangerous Anarchy while discovering a criminal conspiracy that will change Gotham’s underworld moving forward.

Batman/Green Arrow/The Question; Arcadia #4. Written, drawn and cover art was done by Gabriel Hardman. I am not sure what continuity this series falls into because it seemed as if Gabriel Hardman was watching the first Iron Man movie since the final scene is reminiscent of it. Arcadia has been a long time coming with this final issue.

The Other/Half #3. Written by Jim McCann with art and cover art by Joe Eisma. Ethan is arrested for the mysterious jewel robbery, but Henry is not ready to give up on his husband. He wants to help so much that he even approached Ethan’s homophobic parents for help, against Ethan’s wishes.

The Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I. Live #1. Written, art and cover art by Geof Darrow. A fun new series from Dark Horse returned to the world of Shaolin Cowboy. From my research, this is a character that had been in several other series over the past 25 years. I enjoyed this issue from Dark Horse so I may have to look back into the history of this character moving ahead.

Beast of Boriken #1. Written by Julio Anta with art and cover art by Daniel Irizarri. Puerto Rican activist Loli Flores is involved in a protest to attempt to protect land from developers. During the groundbreaking ceremony, a creature of some sorts was awakened and set free to cause trouble.

100 Bullets: The US of Anger #1. “Chapter One: At Thee I Swing.” Written by Brian Azzarello with art by Eduardo Risso. Variant cover B art is done by Jock. I really liked this format with the black and white pages. It felt like the proper way to present this type of story. This was another one that had an earlier book.

Other Books this Week: Tales of the Shadowman #7, Nights #19, Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) #12, Catching Hell (Featuring Reggie Bannister) #1, Faceless and the Family #1, Starhenge Book Two: A Kiss for Atticus #1, Masterminds #5, and Malevolent #5.

Quick Hits: Marvel dropped another swimsuit special this week, with the title being Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day#1. It is not much. There are some great pieces of art involved which is the purpose. The story is meh. As I was going through the pile of comics I bought at In This Issue when I came across Lilo & Stitch 626 #2, which confused me. I do not collect Lilo & Stitch so I was confused as to why it was in my books. I think I figured it out because I was missing Lion King #4. So I think I went to pick Lion King off the shelf and accidentally grabbed Lilo & Stitch. Maybe I was distracted by other independent books on the shelf. I did go back to get Lion King afterward. Comics! The Magazine #5 came out this week that featured an interview with Mark Spears. The Rook universe characters make their appearance this week in the Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook #4. This is a great book to keep handy when reading rook because some of the issue I have for this series is that I am not sure which character is which. Somehow, I had missed the Energon Universe G.I. Joe #18. I was able to pick that one up to complete the run so far. Absolute Martian Manhunter #12 finished off its run with this issue. Absolute Green Lantern #15 brings us the debut of the Absolute Sinestro. It was another comic that I missed and had to pick up when I went back to In This Issue. Minor Arcana #16 continued with Teresa and her weird magic. Big shock at the end of the issue. Doctor Strange #8 has had a difficult time keeping my attention at this point. There was a lot of Angela in this book. Challengers of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1 came out and showed a beginning of the relationship between Doom and Reed Richards. I picked up the Peach Momoko cover for this issue. American Mythology Productions released a new version of Return of the Living Dead, which was a mini series a couple of years ago. It was Return of the Living Dead: Untold Tales of the Tarman #1. It might have been a one-shot, but it is left off with a cliffhanger that feels like it was a start. I guess we’ll see. Babylon Cove #2 saw the story of Heather Hutchens returning to her hometown continue with some major problems. I liked this issue more than the first one. Finally, Ripcord #4 was pretty bloody and violent this month and I am not a fan of this issue.

Rick & Morty S1 E3, E4, E5

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Spoilers

“Anatomy Park”

“M. Night Shaym-Aliens!”

“Meeseeks and Destroy”

Rick & Morty continue along in their first season, showing how different it is than any other animated show. The humor is hilarious, even if it could tend towards sophomoric humor at times.

Rick sends Morty inside a body of an old man, dressed as Santa, to an amusement park he had constructed inside. This episode was a lot of fun, especially with the all-star cast of voice actors including John Oliver, Dana Carvey, Kari Wahlgren and Gary Anthony Williams.

This is a parody of both Jurassic Park and Fantastic Voyage.

Another example of Rick getting Morty into trouble comes in the next episode as he is inside a simulation as aliens are attempting to steal Rick’s recipe for the Concentrated Dark Matter. The girl with Morty tells him that he can put his fingers anywhere he wants as they makeout.

In the fifth episode, it is Morty’s turn to plan the adventure. This is an example of how the show pushes limits as Morty comes across a humanoid Jellybean in the restroom at a pub and the Jellybean attempts to rape Morty. Rick later murders Jellybean, who was revealed as the King of the village Rick and Morty were working for.

Meanwhile, Morty’s parents were using an invention of Rick’s called the Meeseeks Box. Meeseeks would po into existence and help you with a problems, only to then pop out of existence. However, taking two strokes off Jerry’s golf game. Finding it impossible, more Meeseeks are summoned until they go wild with their failure to improve the golf game, trying to murder Jerry.

Again, this is not your child’s animated show. The adult themes and jokes are all over the place, but they make Rick & Morty very funny to watch.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #209

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June 28

June is nearing the end, and here is the newest EYG Comic Cavalcade!

Thanks to Todd for bringing me a whole bunch of What If Vol. 2 issues. I do love the What If series and I am pleased to have them.

Comic of the Week

Narco #4

I believe this book has really begun to hit its stride as Marcus has realized that he is really being framed for murder, and he has started to figure out what is happening. Marcus is one of the most original and unlikely lead character that you are going to see in a comic.

The B cover is one of the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week, taking the Gold Medal for its Hitchcock homage cover.

Books This Week:

Ultimate Endgame #5. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Terry & Rachel Dotson and Jonas Scharf. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. The finale issue of this series and the entire Ultimate Universe came through this week. I had some problems with this ending. The Ultimate Endgame started out with such fire and it has petered out so badly. Then, I was surprised how this book ended… it was such a happy ending that it did not feel right.

Ultimate Universe Finale #1. So this is a wrap up for all of the separate characters of the Ultimate Universe, seeing where they were left at the end of Endgame. Again, this just did not feel right. I kind of wish that the end of the Ultimate Universe would have been kept secret and the end would just catch everyone off guard.

Nectar #4. Written by Jeremy Robinson and art by Annapaola Martello and Francesco Francini. Cover art was done by Chris Shehan. Nectar finished up with a fiery end as Pastor Grant rampaged across the island. I loved the series and it sounded as if the butterflies are returning at some point in the future. Until then, this will have to serve for now.

Wolverine #22. “Doctor’s Orders” Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by Julius Ohta. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Wolverine’s healing factor is messed up again, but it seems as if someone has stolen it from Logan… and has given it to Taskmaster.

Venom #259. Written by Al Ewing and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Carlos Gomez & Frank Martin. I have been picking up the Venom book during the crossover with Spider-Man, but I am not sure how I feel about the new Venom (with Mary Jane) and whether I wanted to keep picking it up. I wasn’t going to buy this, but I broke down. I am still not sure if I care about the Queen in Black which is coming soon.

Captain America #12. “Hell’s Angel” Part 1. Written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Valerio Schiti. Cover art was done by by Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Captain America is in Hell and he is teaming up with Doctor Doom to try and stop Mephisto. Then, the last panel saw the return of the Red Skull. Zdarsky’s run on Cap has been excellent so far and the Hell story is very compelling.

Doomquest #2. Written by Ryan North and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. Doctor Doom is stuck in a loop on the Titanic. This was a lot of fun and one of the more original ways to use Doom. Ryan North continues to be one of the best writers working Marvel today.

The Twilight Zone #8. “Hollywoodland” Written, illustrated and cover art by Gabriel Hardman. This is a great issue. The Twilight Zone comic has been sensational every issue and each story feels like a story that you would have seen on the original TV show.

Feral #24. “Chapter 24: Breakout” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Trish Forstner & Tone Rodriguez. Cover art was done by Trish Forstner & Allen Passalaqua (Silver Medalist). The cats and the dogs are running around the pound as the doctors are trying to cure the rabies disease. Feral continues to be one of the best books around.

Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolfman #1. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Leomacs & Pip Martin. The latest Universal Monsters book is Wolfman and I love the first issue as they begin to set up the Wolfman. It seemed as if they are setting up a legacy.

Corpse Knight #3. Written by Michael Chaves with art by Matthew Roberts. Cover art was done by Matthew Roberts & Rico Renzi. Foy is poisoned and her undead father has to save her. Corpse Knight is a solid fantasy book from Image.

White Sky #4. Written by William Harms and art and cover art by JP Mavinga. Violet and Walter have arrived in San Francisco only to see that it is destroyed. There are a lot of scenes with white. This has been a solid book so far, but it does feel like it needs to start progressing soon.

Justice League Unlimited #20. “Escape from Power Planet: Part One” Written by Mark Waid and art was done by Dan Mora & Fico Ossio. Cover art was done by Dan Mora. The title of this was “Escape from Power Planet” but we only spend a few pages on Power Planet with Metamorpho, Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl. Most of the issue is spent battling a Brainiac on the Watchtower with Luthor causing trouble.

A Quiet Place: Storm Warning #4. Written by Phil Hester with Pencils and cover art by Ryan Kelly. This movie based series has been really good. It seems that Lonnie has finally proved to the other citizens of the town that these aliens are really dangerous and that they have to do what they can to protect themselves. This has worked well in the IDW series.

Hornsby & Halo #14. Creators are Peter Tomasi & Peter Snejbjerg. Cover art was done by Peter Snejbjerg. The second part of the Unbelievables crossover sees the Trillion Dollar Kid, aka Tommy Townsend III has come to Warwick in search of other Unbelievables, specifically Zach and Rose. They team up to find out if Tommy’s parents are in Heaven or hell.

Detective Comics #1110. “Flight Part Four” Written by Tom Taylor with pencils and cover art by Mikel Janin. Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary are out to try and help a young girl, the daughter of a former teammate of theirs, Prion. Oh, and the young girl is a trained assassin.

The Infernal Hulk #8. “Beasts of the Sanguine Tree” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Adam Gorham. Cover art was done by Nic Klein. I also grabbed the Alex Ross variant. Bruce Banner is back with the Avengers, but he has bad news. Their idea to take on the Infernal Hulk with the original Hulk won’t work because Banner says he is now immune to Gamma rays. What is going to happen next? Whatever it is, it is with the help of Brother Voodoo.

Spider-Versity #3. Written by Jordan Morris & Joe Kelly with art by Rafael Perez & Granados. Cover art was done by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero & Dean White. Norman runs the Spiders through a practice session based on the Ringmaster, and, lo and behold, someone using the powers of the Ringmaster showed up. Suspicious.

X-Men #32. “Anomaly” Part 2. Written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Tony S. Daniel. Cover art was done by Tony S. Daniel & Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. The X-Men’s science team is forced to deal with gravity anomalies while being targeted by Department H. So they decide to unleash Magneto. Hm… sounds like a recipe for chaos to me.

Flash #34. “The Speed Was Power, the Speed Was Joy- Part IV” Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Gavin Guidry. Cover art was done by Gavin Guidry & Adriano Lucas. Flash goes to Mr. Terrific to try and figure out about his “flashes of insight.” They seem to lead him to Gorilla Grodd.

The Eye Collector #1. Written by Jonathan Ball with art and cover art by G.M.B. Chomichuk. A weird and wild new horror comic from Image, we get a strange ancient being that has their curiosity over earth reignited by wishes made by the Apollo 10 crew. This is a bizarre book. I’m curious about it as well.

Void Rivals #31. Written by Robert Kirkman and art by Conor Hughes. Cover art was done by Lorenzo De Felici. This Void Rivals issue is a stand alone book featuring the character of Skuxxoid. In the letter page, it says that Skuxxoid tied Megatron as the Energon character with the most standalone issues. This book as a feel like Saga. And I am excited about the debut next issue in the Energon Universe of Rom.

Absolute Superman #20. “Up, Up and…” Written by Jason Aaron with art by Rafa Sandoval. Cover art was done by Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola. Superman teams up with Hawkman and Steel in an attempt to defeat the Absolute Black Adam/Shazam. There seemed to be a special amalgam going down in the last panel that looked absolutely awesome.

Absolute Wonder Woman #21. “Friends & Neighbors Part 1 of 2” Written by Kelly Thompson with art by Dillon Snook. The cover art was done by Hayden Sherman & Jordie Bellaire. Diana heads back to the Underworld in search of Circe and her mother. Then, Barbara Minerva has to make a decision about the powers of Cheetah.

Hidden Springs #2. Written by Rob Williams and art and cover by Nil Vendrell. The giant baby Kaiju is being pursued by the military and the group of elderly retirees are forced to try and save the kaiju. Hidden Springs has been a fun book so far and you would not expect some of the things that are going on. Teh protagonists are fun and unlikely heroes.

Escape #8. Written by Rick Remender with art by Daniel Acuna. I got cover B which was done by Cary Nord. Milton finds himself in a real bad place as he has signaled the air raid of the town, but the family that he has been staying with feels betrayed. Escape is a tense comic with fuzzy animals.

Is Ted Ok? #5. Written, drawn and cover art by Dave Chisholm. This issue is full of exposition, but it gives us the background and history behind Ted. There are flashbacks, revelations and truths flying all over the book, setting up next issue’s finale.

Generation X-23 #5. “A Numbers Game” Part 5. Written by Jody Hauser with art by Marco Renna. Cover art was done by Partha Pratim Sarkar & Romulo Fajardo Jr. Laura and Gabby get the X-numbers out of Faculty 23 and they are apparently teaming up. However, there are a couple of wild cards in the mix.

Gotham Academy: First Year #5. “Chapter 5: We’ve Been Here Before.” Written by Brenden Fletcher with art by Marco Ferrari. Variant cover b Annie Wu. Olive gets trapped in a loop while searching for her mother. The whole issue was very dreamlike and I was not sure what exactly was happening. Batman is here so I am sure everything is gonna be ok, right?

Barbarian Behind Bars #5. Written by Elliott Kalan with art and cover art by Andrea Mutti. What a horrible way to end this series. There is an absolutely wicked cliffhanger at the end of the story that left me unhappy about what I just spent five issues reading. I do not know if there is more of this book coming down the line or if the old “THE END?” thing was just a mean trick. It definitely tainted the final issue.

Terrorbytes #7. Written by Joseph Sieracki and art and cover art by Maxi Dall’o. The story of Donald Drummer and his life is very compelling in this issue. I am not sure what happened in the end, but I was engaged throughout this anthology book.

Bludwire #1. Written by Paul Allor and art by Ermitis Blanco. Cover art was done by Victor Ibanez. Ace and Zora are two sex bots who go on the run from their corporate owners. This is an interesting new comic from Mad Cave.

Other Books This Week: Moonstar #4, Honor and Curse: Eternal #4, Red Roots #3, American Caper #8, In Your Skin #3, Planet Atmos: Exordium #3, and Conan the Barbarian #32.

Quick Hits: Kevin Smith’s Bizarro Year None #2 came out this week. I heard Smith promote this book on Fatman Beyond. It is an intriguing issue. The Hab #3 from Bad Idea is the Bronze Medalist this week in the EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week. We get even more fun from the wild book from Titan Comics called Rafael Garcia: Henchman #4. Racer X #8 came to a close with this character, who I suspect will still appear in Speed Racer’s book. Punisher is the focus of Reborn Ultimate Impact #2 as he faces off against some of the new villains/heroes??? created by the boxes Miles lost. I’m not sure how I feel about this book right now. We go into the past once again as the X-Men: Outback #1 came out. I must say that I liked this roster of X-Men, especially with Longshot and Dazzler involved. Mind MGMT: New & Improved #1 by matt Kindt came out this week. I picked up a blind bag for this issue as well… I am a sucker for blind bags… and I got a 3D variant of the book. 51 #4 from Mad Cave released this week as we have some alien tech that gives people super powers. Exploit #4 finished up as they were able to reveal all the details behind Kincade’s crooked schemes, and then sent him to Estonia. The video game-like comic Final Boss #7 came back with a new issue this week after a short break. Pretty Hate Machine #3 was extremely intense this week as there are some brutality going down. Speaking of brutal, The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery#5 saw Ezra in a blimp, trying to avoid Nazis. It gave me Last Crusade vibes. Alice Forever After #4 from Boom! Studios asks the question about Alice’s mental health.

Daily Countdown: Weird Al Songs #1

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#1

Yoda

Title: “Yoda”

Album: Dare to Be Stupid

Released: 1985

Originally Recorded: 1980

Written: Raymond Davies/Al Yankovic

Parody: “Lola” by the Kinks

Genre: Folky-rock

And so, we have reached #1 on the Top 100 Weird Al Songs, and it is Yoda. Yoda was played on the Doctor Demento Show for years prior to being released on Dare to Be Stupid because of the troubles Al had in securing the permission he always looked for from the label of the Kinks. According to Wikipedia, Al had a chance meeting with “Lola” writer, Ray Davies, and he asked him why he refused to approve the parody. Davies said that no one had asked him, which finally led to Yoda being released on Al’s third album.

I loved this song so much as a youngster. In my Speech class in high school, we were assigned to do a lip synch, and I chose to do Yoda. I received a perfect score from Mrs. Tilton (RIP).

Lyrics

I met him in a swamp down in Dagobah
Where it bubbles all the time like a giant carbonated soda
S O D A, soda

I saw the little runt sitting there on a log
I asked him his name and in a raspy voice he said “Yoda”
Y O D A, Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I’ve been around, but I ain’t never seen
A guy who looks like a muppet, but he’s wrinkled and green
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I’m not dumb, but I can’t understand
How he can lift me in the air just by raising his hand
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I left home just a week before
And I’ve never ever been a Jedi before
But Obi Wan, he set me straight, of course
He said, “Go to Yoda and he’ll show you the Force”

Well I’m not the kind that would argue with Ben
So it looks like I’m gonna start all over again
With my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

So I used the Force
I picked up a box
I lifted some rocks
While I stood on my head
Well, I won’t forget what Yoda said

He said, “Luke, stay away from the darker side
And if you start to go astray, let the Force be your guide”
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

“I know Darth Vader’s really got you annoyed
But remember, if you kill him, then you’ll be unemployed”
Oh, my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

Well, I heard my friends really got in a mess
So I’m gonna have to leave Yoda I guess
But I know that I’ll be coming back some day
I’ll be playing this part ’till I’m old and gray

The long-term contract I had to sign
Says I’ll be making these movies till the end of time
With my Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yoda Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda
Yo-yo-yo-yo Yoda

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/weirdalyankovic/yoda.html

In concert, Weird Al has done something special in the middle of the song. Dubbed the “Yoda Chant”, Al and his band slow down the music and begin a rhymical, a cappella chant that included a series of both mnemonic devices and bits from songs. Some of the pieces included in the Yoda Chant was “Frère Jacques,” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” “Surfin’ Bird,” the “Hawaiian War Chant,” the “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi,” and “Grim Grinning Ghosts” among others.

Daily Countdown: Weird Al Songs #2

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#2

White & Nerdy

Title: “White & Nerdy”

Album: Straight Outta Lynwood

Released: 2006

Parody: “Ridin'” by Chamillionaire

Written: Hakeem T. Seriki / Anthony Henderson / Oscar Edward Salinas / Juan Carlos Jr. Salinas/Al Yankovic

Style: Rap/Hip Hop

Topic: Nerd culture

Fact: This was Yankovic’s first-ever top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and his first single to be certified platinum.

We are down to two. I loved this song so much. I had never heard the original, and the parody is one of the greatest of all time.

Lyrics

They see me mowin’
My front lawn
I know they’re all thinking
I’m so white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Can’t you see I’m white ‘n’ nerdy?
Look at me, I’m white ‘n’ nerdy!

I wanna roll with
The gangsters
But so far they all think
I’m too white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Really, really white ‘n’ nerdy

First in my class here at M.I.T
Got skills, I’m a champion at D&D
MC Escher, that’s my favorite MC
Keep your 40, I’ll just have an Earl Grey tea
My rims never spin to the contrary
You’ll find that they’re quite stationary
All of my action figures are cherry
Stephen Hawking’s in my library

My-MySpace page is all totally pimped out
I got people begging for my topic spaces
Yo, I know Pi out to a thousand places
Ain’t got no grills but I still wear braces
I order all of my sandwiches with mayonnaise
I’m a whiz at Minesweeper, I can play for days
Once you see my sweet moves you’re gonna stay amazed
My fingers movin’ so fast I’ll set the place ablaze

There’s no killer app I haven’t run
At Pascal well I’m number one
Do vector calculus just for fun
I ain’t got a gat but I gotta soldering gun
Happy Days is my favorite theme song
I can sure kick your butt in a game of ping pong
I’ll ace any trivia quiz you bring on
I’m fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon

They see me roll on my Segway
I know in my heart they think I’m
White ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Can’t you see I’m white ‘n’ nerdy?
Look at me, I’m white ‘n’ nerdy!

I’d like to roll with
The gangsters
Although it’s apparent I’m too
White n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
How’d I get so white ‘n’ nerdy?

I’ve been browsing, inspectin’
X-Men comics you know I collect ’em
The pens in my pocket, I must protect ’em
My ergonomic keyboard never leaves me bored
Shopping online for deals on some writable media
I edit Wikipedia
I memorized the Holy Grail really well
I can recite it right now and have you “ROTFLOL”

I got a business doing websites
When my friends need some code who do they call?
I do HTML for them all
Even made a homepage for my dog
Yo, I got myself a fanny pack
They were having a sale down at the GAP
Spend my nights with a roll of bubble wrap
Pop pop! Hope no one sees me get freaky!

I’m nerdy in the extreme
And whiter than sour cream
I was in AV club and Glee club
And even the chess team!
Only question I ever thought was hard
Was do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?
I spend every weekend at the Renaissance Faire
I got my name on my underwear!

They see me strollin’
They laughin’
And rollin’ their eyes ’cause
I’m so white ‘n’ nerdy
Just because I’m white ‘n’ nerdy
Just because I’m white ‘n’ nerdy
All because I’m white ‘n’ nerdy
Holy cow, I’m white ‘n’ nerdy!

I wanna bowl with
The gangsters
But oh well it’s obvious I’m
White ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Think I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
I’m just too white ‘n’ nerdy
Look at me, I’m white ‘n’ nerdy!

Source: Musixmatch

Daily Countdown: Weird Al Songs #3

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#3

Dare to Be Stupid

Title: “One More Minute”

Album: Dare to Be Stupid

Released: 1985

Written: Al Yankovic

Style parody: A doo-wop parody of artists like Elvis Presley and The Platters.

Style: Doo-Wop

This is the highest rated original song on this list. One More Minute is one of the greatest break up songs of all time.

Lyrics

Well I heard that you’re leavin’
Gonna leave me far behind
‘Cause you found a brand new lover
You decided that I’m not your kind

So I pulled your name out of my Rolodex
And I tore all your pictures in two
And I burned down the malt shop where we used to go
Just because it reminds me of you

That’s right, you ain’t gonna see me cryin’
I’m glad that you found somebody new
‘Cause I’d rather spend eternity eating shards of broken glass
Than spend one more minute with you

I guess I might seem kinda bitter
You got me feelin’ down in the dumps
‘Cause I’m stranded all alone in the gas station of love
And I have to use the self service pumps

Oh, so honey, let me help you with that suitcase
You ain’t gonna break my heart in two
‘Cause I’d rather get a hundred thousand paper cuts on my face
Than spend one more minute with you

I’d rather rip out my intestines with a fork
Than watch you going out with other men
I’d rather slam my fingers in a door

Again and again and again and again and again
Oh, can’t you see what I’m tryin’ to say, darlin’

I’d rather have my blood sucked out by leeches
Shove an icepick under a toenail or two
I’d rather clean all the bathrooms
In Grand Central Station with my tongue
Than spend one more minute with you

Yes, I’d rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks
Or stick my nostrils together with crazy glue
I’d rather dive into a swimming pool filled
With double edged razor blades
Than spend one more minute with you

I’d rather rip my heart right out of my ribcage
With my bare hands and then throw it on the floor
And stomp on it ’till I die

Than spend one more minute with you

Source: Musixmatch

The Muppet Show S1 E4, E5, E6

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Spoilers

Guest: Ruth Buzzi

Guest: Rita Moreno

Guest: Jim Nabors

Tonight, we came back to The Muppet Show for some more first season fun. Three celebrities on these shows included Ruth Buzzi, Rita Moreno and Jim Nabors. All three had songs including “Too Good to be True” (that Buzzi sung with Sweetums), “Fever” from Moreno and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” (Nabors).

There are some weird things during these three episodes. One was Miss Piggy’s voice. I know they were not set on who was voicing her but it was weird during this first season to hear Piggy talk in her actual voice and then, the next scene, she spoke differently. Frank Oz was the long time Piggy voice performer, but there were sometimes that she was voiced by Richard Hunt.

Gopher showed up for the first time in episode 5, with an introduction. It was strange because he was in the first four episodes too. He kept using the joke about his uncle owning the theater, and using it to manipulate Kermit. Obviously, the original writing of these shows were not in the correct order.

Wayne and Wanda made their way into all three of these episodes. None of those numbers reached their conclusion.

Episode five featured a classic running joke with the backstage phone and Fozzie. The Muppet Show was notorious for their running jokes and this one was solid. Kermit even called it out so the audience understood the idea of a running joke (which they even had some people ran past).

There were a couple of acts that we see for the first time like Veterinarian’s Hospital and Marvin Suggs and his Muppetphones.

We got At the Dance in all of the episodes with the silly jokes. They deliver these lines with such a straight delivery that even some of the bad jokes turn out funny.

These Muppet Shows are great to revisit. The most iconic moment of these three episodes was the “Apache dance” routine that Rita Moreno did with her Muppet partner where she beat him up badly.

All seasons of the Muppet Show can be seen on Disney +.