Chad’s Comments (group member since Mar 22, 2018)

Chad’s comments from the I Read Comic Books group.

Caleb wrote: "Yeah, I use them, but I honestly just prefer holding a book in my hand and reading it, gotten more used to reading digital though."

I hear you. I still go to my LCS every Wednesday. I use the digital sources to supplement my reading.

Welcome Caleb.

Have you tried some of the online services to supplement your reading since your LCS is so far away? I use Marvel Unlimited and DC Infinite. They're great as long as you don't mind waiting a few months for the issues to appear. I'm not sure if you have www.hoopla.com in Australia. It's wonderful to have in the U.S. It works through your library and there are thousands and thousands of graphic novels from almost every comic book publisher.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Fairest Vol. 3:The Return of the Maharaja ★★★
Explore the Fables version of Indo. Plus, the return of Prince Charming.

Fairest Vol. 4: Of Men and Mice ★★★★
Cinderella gets sent on a new mission when Snow White is attacked by Mousemen.

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love ★★★★
Cinderella breaks out into her own series where she operates as a spy for Fabletown.

Cinderella: Fables are Forever ★★★★★
Cinderella remembers her past with the Fables version of the Cold War when an old foe resurfaces.

DC Comics: Generations ★★
A new time God, Dominus, is eating time in order to keep his family in an old-timey pocket of time. Kamadi travels through time gathering heroes just in time to have them scattered across time.

Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance, Vol. 2 ★★★
The Star Wars Manga continues.

Old Haunts ★★
Three partners are looking to retire so they set up a deal with a younger crime lord. It all starts to go wrong as they become haunted by their past sins.

Wonder Girl: Homecoming ★★★★
Joelle Jones makes one of these new Future State characters interesting. Hopefully we'll see more of Yara Flor.

Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond, Vol. 2 ★★★
Dr. Octopus shows up but the plot doesn't advance more than the Beyond Corporation may be nefarious.

Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond, Vol. 3 ★★★★
Jed MacKay gets to write more Black Cat as she's around training Peter getting him back up to speed. The best issue is when Felicia and Mary Jane have to team up to find the Hood's cloak before he kills Peter.

X-Men by Peter Milligan, Vol. 1: Dangerous Liaisons ★★
This is just as bad as the Chuck Austen run. I thought Milligan would be a little better.

X-Men by Peter Milligan, Vol. 2: Blood of Apocalypse ★★
I don't think Peter Milligan has ever read an X-Men comic. Everyone is out of character. This is terrible.

Hotell ★★★
A decent little horror anthology.

The Swamp Thing Volume 2: Conduit ★★★
The Suicide Squad arrives in India to try and capture this new Swamp Thing.

Chariot Vol. 1 ★★★
Christine meets Knight Rider. The star here is the art. The art and coloring give off this 80's synthwave vibe that I loved. It was like a trip back to an 80's action movie.

The Realm, Volume 1 ★★★★
Lord of the Rings thrown into the world of Mad Max. Fifteen years ago, orcs and trolls arrived in modern society and humanity is barely holding on.

The Joker Vol. 2 ★★
Commissioner Gordon Vol. 2, I mean Joker Vol. 2 continues to bore.

The Next Batman: Second Son ★★
A family drama about Lucius Fox's family.

Fantastic Four, Volume 3 ★★★★
I love how this starts with Reed letting loose on his fellow academics, leading him to start his own think tank of genius children in the Future Foundation.

Fantastic Four, Volume 4 ★★★★★
It's hitting the fan all at once and the team is scattered. Ben becomes human, Sue is off in Atlantis, Reed is dealing with a pissed-off Galactus, Annihilus is about to breach the Negative Zone with a 2nd Annihilation Wave.

FF, Volume 1 ★★★★★
Remember the Council of Reeds from the first volume of Hickman's Fantastic Four run? They are back and it turns out these Reeds lack any kind of empathy or morals. They are completely cool with sacrificing our Earth for the "good" of the multiverse.

Black Manta ★★
Black Manta is plagued by terrible headaches brought on by this new metal he found, but yet he is drawn to it. It has something to do with a lost tribe of Atlanteans. Meanwhile, there's a new threat out there gunning for both Black Manta and Atlantis. The art and coloring in this is awful.

Going Out West (Daredevil Epic Collection, #5) ★★★★
Daredevil and Black Widow move to San Francisco where they fight the likes of Electro, Kilgrave the Purple Man, Mr. Fear, Stilt-Man, and Kraven the Hunter.

Byte-Sized Vol. 1 ★★
You won’t find any monsters here, just some toy sized military robots that plague a family on Christmas Day. Bunn has written a comic for children inspired by 80’s movies. Yes, it is also the plot of Small Soldiers.

Captain America: Truth ★★★★
If you were watching Falcon and the Winter Soldier and wondered where Isaiah Bradley came from, this is his story.

Today's trip to the LCS (2 weeks worth of comics)

Savage Avengers #4
Star Wars #26
Black Adam #3
AXE: Death to the Mutants #1
Avengers 1,000,000 BC #1
Predator #1
Parker Girls #1 <-- Terry Moore's new Strangers in Paradise spinoff
AXE: Judgement Day #2
Superman: Son of Kal-El #14
X-Men Legends #1
Dark Crisis: Green Lantern #1
World's Finest #6
Dc Vs Vampires: All-Out War #2
Fire Power #23
New Mutants #28
Nightwing #95
X-Force #30
X-Men #13
Hulk #8
Timeless #1 <-- Marvel comic from the beginning of the year I decided to pick up.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Batgirl, Vol. 3: Death of the Family ★★★★
Batgirl must confront the Joker for the first time after he shot her when he kidnaps her mom.

Batgirl, Vol. 4: Wanted ★★★★
Barbara is trying to deal with the guilt and rage of having to kill her brother while her father blames Batgirl and is trying to arrest her.

Batgirl, Volume 5: Deadline ★★★
This volume is pretty schizophrenic in its storytelling. The first half is a bunch of one-off stories that don't work well together at all, mainly because they lack context.

X-Men: Golgotha ★★
This is just as bad as the Chuck Austen run. I thought Milligan would be a little better.

X-Men: Bizarre Love Triangle ★
Peter Milligan has turned the X-Men into a full-on trashy soap opera. Mystique pretends to be a student in order to seduce Gambit. It gets into icky territory.

X-Men/Black Panther: Wild Kingdom ★★★
This team of dysfunctional X-Men plus Storm heads to Africa to investigate mutant animals where they come across Black Panther, the Red Ghost and a mad scientist.

Decimation: X-Men - The Day After ★★★
Takes place immediately after House of M. Mutantkind has been decimated. That's when the Sentinels show up to turn Professor Xavier's mansion into a reservation for mutants.

X-Men: Blood of Apocalypse ★★
I don't think Peter Milligan ever read an X-Man comic before getting the job of writing the X-Men. The characterizations are completely off.

One-Star Squadron ★★
Mark Russell does his same irreverent schtick with superheroes. This time with down on their luck heroes working the gig economy for an Uber type app for superheroes.

Fantastic Four Vol. 8: The Bride of Doom ★★★
Dr. Doom is getting married. Mr. Fantastic is the Best Man. Everyone's going to Latveria for the wedding. Nothing could go wrong, could it?

Fantastic Four Vol. 9: Eternal Flame ★★★
This mostly focus on the Fantastic Four being parents to their kids while Johnny whines in the background about not being able to shut down his flame.

King in Black: Namor ★★★
Namor remembers his childhood when Atlantis's heroes were corrupted by the King in Black.

Grendel: Devil's Odyssey ★★★
To boldly go where no Grendel has gone before. Grendel Prime is sent on a mission to find a new planet that can support humanity after we'd pretty much destroyed the earth.

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four ★★★★
Hickman sets up his Fantastic Four run when Reed builds a Bridge to examine other realities to see how Civil War and Secret Invasion could have turned out differently.

Fantastic Four, Volume 1 ★★★★★
Reed has decided to "Solve Everything". That's when he meets the Council of Reeds.

Fantastic Four, Volume 2 ★★★★★
Four stand alone but interconnected stories of four strange cities rising out of obscurity.

Dissolving Classroom ★★
Definitely has some horrific elements to it but this is very one note. A teenager apologizes to people causing them to melt into goo.

Batman: Urban Legends, Vol. 2 ★★
DC lets a bunch of new creators write Bat-Family stories.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow ★★
The lanquid, long-winded narrator ruined this for me.

Devil's Highway ★★★★
A woman goes down a rabbit hole when her father is murdered. She uncovers a group of serial killers hiding in plain sight, roaming the highways of the upper Midwest as truck drivers.

Usagi Yojimbo: Book 3: The Wanderer's Road ★★★★★
Some terrific stand alone Usagi Yojimbo stories.

Pennyworth Volume 1 ★★★
Alfred gets his own comic from when he was a spy in his younger years.

Nuclear Family ★★
Starts off pretty strong, giving off Twilight Zone vibes, but the story is only half-formed.

Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond, Vol. 1 ★★★★
Ben Reilly takes over as Spider-Man when Peter falls ill.

King in Black: Avengers ★★★
A bunch of single-issue King in Black stories.

Maestro: Symphony in a Gamma Key ★★★★
Slots in very well with Hulk: Future Imperfect, but then why wouldn't it considering Peter David wrote both of them.

Geiger 80-Page Giant #1 ★★★★
This anthology gives us a lead-in to the new character, the immortal Redcoat who fought a magic wielding George Washington.

The Flash Vol. 16: Wally West Returns ★★★★
Wally West is back baby!

Alien Vol. 1:Bloodlines ★★★
Marvel's first foray into the Alien universe doesn't really add anything other than some dream forms of new xenomorphs.

Year Zero Vol. 2 ★★★
More stories of people trying to live among the zombies.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Amazing Mary Jane, Vol. 1: Down In Flames, Up In Smoke ★★★
MJ goes off to make a movie about Mysterio directed by Mysterio.

Black Widow: No Restraints Play ★★★
A rated R spin on Black Widow. The Soska sisters made their way by making horror flicks up in Canada. Now they've brought their dark vision to Marvel.

American Vampire 1976 ★★★
A fitting end to the very long running but sporadic series.

Dead Man's Hand (Daredevil Epic Collection, #16) ★★★★
Daredevil teams up with Nomad and the Punisher to go after the syndicates attempting to divvy up the Kingpin's empire.

Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye & the Winter Soldier ★★★★★
This was a blast. Hawkeye and Winter Soldier make a fantastic buddy cop type story.

Robin, Vol. 1: The Lazarus Tournament ★★★★
Robin fights in the League of Lazarus. It's a Mortal Combat type story with fighters from around the world ascending to an island in a tournament to the death.

Fables - Book Fifteen ★★★★★
At this point what else can be said about Fables, that hasn't been said? If you've gotten this far, you must love it as much as I do. The finale is something I'd come to expect from the series.

Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker ★★★★
The party returns to Baldur's Gate only to find there's a mindflayer taking over people's minds.

Batman Vs. Bigby! A Wolf In Gotham ★★
Bigby meets an Elseworlds Batman with an army of Robins in this disappointing crossover.

W.E.B. Of Spider-Man ★★★
Marvel teenagers science their way out of trouble.

Checkmate ★★★
Lois Lane finds out she has a brother and not much else until the end.

Fairest, Volume 1: Wide Awake ★★★★
Ali Baba wakes up Sleeping Beauty and the Snow Queen with "true love's kiss".

Fairest, Volume 2: The Hidden Kingdom ★★★★
Fables gets dark when Rapunzel goes to Tokyo and we revisit her time among the Japanese Fables.

Batman: Reptilian ★
Garth Ennis and Liam Sharp come together to create one of the worst comic books I've ever read.

Vision Quest (Avengers West Coast Epic Collection, #4) ★★★★
John Byrne wrecks the Scarlet Witch's and Vision's lives. This is the basis for WandaVision.

Batman/Catwoman ★★★
Tom King finishes his Batman run with this story taking place across three different time periods.

Oblivion Song by Kirkman & de Felici, Vol. 6 ★★★★
The war between humans and the Kuthaal hits full stride as they invade L.A., Paris, and Hong Kong.

Batgirl, Volume 1: The Darkest Reflection ★★★★
Batgirl returns! Unfortunate for Oracle fans!

Batgirl, Volume 2: Knightfall Descends ★★★★
Gail Simone's Batgirlaissance continues.

Peacemaker: Disturbing the Peace #1 ★★★
Garth Ennis writes a neat war story about a career soldier who takes care of problems during missions. Has nothing to do with Peacemaker though.

Today's trip to the LCS.

Dark Crisis #3
Immortal X-Men #5
X-Men Red #5
Once & Future #28
Shadow Service #14
DC Vs. Vampires #8

KaitLphere wrote: "Re: Chad: I hadn't heard of that Buffy elseworld book, I have added it to my list! I have quite a few of the new Buffy books that I haven't read yet though, I suppose those should come first.."

It just came out. It's not very good though. I'm not sure why they didn't just use the show's continuity and set it 30 years later. It would have made way more sense for a 4 issue story.

Last weeks adventures in comics.

Suicide Squad: Get Joker! ★★
Once again, Brian Azzarello mistakes shock value for a good story. He makes Wild Dog part of the Insurrection on Jan 6th to get some buzz for the book.

Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 2: Fear State ★★★
This is a continuation of the first volume and the Vile parasite thing.

Thor by Donny Cates, Vol. 2: Prey ★★★★★
Donald Blake goes insane and starts attacking Asgardians.

Thor by Donny Cates, Vol. 3: Revelations ★★★
Thor broods for 4 issue because Mjojnir no longer likes him.

Thor by Donny Cates, Vol. 4: God of Hammers ★★★★
The God of Hammers has taken Mjolnir and is murdering people across the ten realms. We finally find out what's going on with Mjolnir and it's a doozy.

Fables, Vol. 20: Camelot ★★★★★
Just when you think Rose Red finally has her act together, she does the one thing to cause a rift between her and Snow White. It's just inevitable that these two will always be at odds.

Fables, Vol. 21: Happily Ever After ★★★★★
The only thing bad about this series is that it's coming to an end. The title is a misnomer though. This volume is full of sad events and the end of many of the characters.

Fables, Vol. 22: Farewell ★★★★★
The finale is something I'd come to expect from the series. You get your big battle at Fabletown, you get your resolution and little goodbyes to most of the main characters, and you get some new beginnings.

Phoenix Song: Echo ★★★
A strong debut from Rebecca Roanhorse. Echo has just received the Phoenix power and is having difficulties controlling its rage.

Miles Morales, Vol. 5: The Clone Saga ★★★
Ganke's been seeing Miles old girlfriend without telling Miles. Unfortunately, they never really get a chance to talk it out because a bunch of Miles's clones show up.

Miles Morales, Vol. 6: All Eyes On Me ★★★
Miles goes on a date with Starling when Taskmaster attacks the two of them. He also gets a new costume that looks like trash.

Gamma Flight ★★★
Spinning out of Immortal Hulk, all of Hulk's buddies go off with Gamma Flight and help out a gamma irradiated town.

Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer ★★
An Elseworlds Buffy story where she's lived to her 50's. Vampires have become citizens and slaying is illegal.

Green Lantern, Vol. 2: Horatius ★★
The best thing I have to say about this run is that I'm glad it's over.

Amazing Fantasy ★★
Captain America, Spider-Man and Black Widow all die and reappear on an island full of swords and sorcery. That's about the last time this makes much sense.

Lore Olympus: Volume Two ★★★
I do have to say I liked this retelling of Hades and Persephone better than the first volume.

Chameleon Conspiracy (Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer, #14) ★★
This is typical Nick Spender here. Writing a book with a gazillion plot points that go nowhere. The Chameleon isn't even the main villain in this story with his name on it. He's part of the B-Story.

What Cost Victory? (Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer, #15) ★★
Nick Spencer is the world's worst tease of a writer. Why would you retcon a story that's already ridiculously complicated only to make it more complicated?

Amazing Spider-Man: Sinister War ★★★★
Spider-Man fights 30 odd villains for 4 issues.

Hulk by Donny Cates, Vol. 1: Smashtronaut! ★★
Donny Cates goes high concept sci-fi with his Hulk run. Banner is treating his body as a starship piloted by Banner and fueled by the Hulk's rage. It's really high concept as the art depicts it all as Banner operating a spaceship versus just saying Banner's mind is now in control of the Hulk's body.

Sweet Tooth: The Return ★★★★
300 years in the future of Sweet Tooth's world, another Gus wakes up in a forest with Father giving him life lessons. As Gus leaves this place we learn what's going just as Gus does.

X-Men by Gerry Duggan, Vol. 2 ★★★★★
Gerry Duggan turned into a great successor to Hickman's X-Men.

Mike wrote: "Slowly making my way through Peter Milligan and Mike Allred's X-Force / X-Statix run. Such a wild run."

That is a crazy series. I've been meaning to go back and read it again before starting their new followup series, the X-Cellent.

Cordelia wrote: "Hi. I've just joined your group. My name is Cordelia. I live in New Zealand.

I have just got into reading comics and discovered that I really enjoy them. My favourites at the moment are "She-Hulk"..."

Hi Cordelia,

The group is still going strong. They switched to a new format this year where you read anything you want related to the month's topic. I personally don't know how successful it is, because it doesn't allow members to talk much about what they've read since we aren't all reading the same thing.

I'm assuming you started with Sandman and She-Hulk because they have new shows coming out in the next few weeks. What run of She-Hulk have you been reading? The current one by Rainbow Rowell or one of the older ones? I like the ones by Dan Slott and John Byrne quite a bit.

Sandman is one of my favorite comics. I've read through the series numerous times over the years. I really enjoyed the crossover with Locke & Key last year too.

KaitLphere wrote: "Re: Chad: Falafel with Hot Sauce seems exactly like the kind of graphic nonfiction I love to read. I've added it to my list!"


I hope you enjoy it! It's on hoopla BTW.

Today's trip to the LCS.

Task Force Z #10
We Only Find Them When They're Dead #12
Ant-Man #1
Gambit #1
House of Slaughter #7
Something Is Killing the Children #25
The Swamp Thing #15
Image! #4
Superman: Space Age #1

Last weeks adventures in comics.

Falafel with Hot Sauce ★★★★
The story of a Belgian Jew who emigrated to Israel at age 20. It's very interesting.

The Autumnal ★★★
The straight up trope of the family who moves to a new town and slowly finds out they are in the midst of a cult.

Batman: The Detective ★★★
A woman named Equiibrium is killing everyone Batman has ever saved.

Justice League Dark: The Great Wickedness ★★★★
Merlin has returned and it's not good for mankind. Time to bring in the Justice League Dark to put a stop to things.

Irredeemable Omnibus ★★★★
Mark Waid has decided to answer the question "What happens when Superman goes bad? Like off the rails, scraping humanity like dog poop off his shoe bad."

Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade ★★★★
I've never cared about the Black Knight...until now.

Blue & Gold ★★★★
Booster Gold and Blue Beetle FINALLY get their own comic.

The Thing: The Next Big Thing ★★
A story from Ben Grimm's past where he breaks up with Alicia and gets a new girlfriend.

Crossover, Vol. 2: The Ten-Cent Plague ★★★★
The story gets even more meta as comic book writers are being murdered by a serial killer.

Catwoman, Vol. 6: Fear State ★★★★
Ram V. bobs and weaves through Fear State to finish up his Catwoman run.

Avengers: The Crossing Line ★★★
The Avengers team up with the People's Protectorate and Alpha Flight to stop terrorist who have hicjacked a nuclear sub.

Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 1: The Neighborhood ★★★
Vile vomits his parasites onto people turning them into rage monsters. This continues into volume 2.

DC vs. Vampires Vol. 1 ★★★
Batman and Green Arrow separately try to figure out what heroes and villains have been turned into vampires.

Avengers by Jason Aaron, Vol. 9: World War She-Hulk ★★★★
The Winter Guard kidnaps She-Hulk and brainwashes her, sending her to destroy Atlantis.

Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow ★★★
What If? switches to a longer form miniseries format as Chip Zdarsky attempts to answer the question "What If Peter Parker kept the symbiote Suit?".

Fables - Book Fourteen ★★★★
Rose Red attempts to recreate Camelot. It's clear this is going to go wrong.

Birds of Prey: Whitewater ★★★★
For Gail Simone's final story on Birds of Prey, she brings in the Secret Six and it's great.

Captain America/Iron Man: The Armor & The Shield ★★★
Picks up after the end of Landy's Falcon & Winter Soldier series. Veronica Eden from that series escapes custody and Cap and Shellhead happen to be on the scene.

I Am a Hero Omnibus, Volume 9 ★★★
This zombie story is written strangely. The main characters aren't in the first 2/3rds of the book.

Today's trip to the LCS.

AXE: Judgement Day #1
World's Finest #5
By the Horns: Dark Earth #3
Fables #153
Knights of X #4
Nightwing #94
Skybound X #25
Dark Spaces: Wildfire #1 <---New Scott Snyder comic
We Live: Age of the Palladions #4
Black Adam #2
DC Vs Vampires: All-Out War #1

Last week's adventures in comics.

The Idhun Chronicles, Vol. 1: The Resistance: Search ★★
Labeled as fantasy. There is a magical world, one that is locked away. We only hear about it in exposition dumps between talking heads.

The Uprooted (Renaissance, #1) ★★★★
Starts off with a near future Earth on its last legs. Seas are rising, plagues are spreading. I wasn't very interested until the aliens showed up and the view changed to this alien invading force.

The Wreckers (Pirate Family, #1) ★★
Basically a sitcom about a pirate family.

Venezia ★★
A comedy about two spies with the same goal play a game of cat and mouse in 1600's Venice.

Captain Marvel, Vol. 7: The Last of the Marvels ★★★★
Vox Supreme has returned and now he's forcing anyone who's ever taken on the Marvel mantle into his suits.

X-Men Legends, Vol. 1: The Missing Links ★★★
Past X-Men creators return to insert new stories into their runs.

X-Men Legends, Vol. 2: Mutant Mayhem ★★★
Past X-Men creators return to insert new stories into their runs.

Dark Ages ★★★★
Tom Taylor moves over to Marvel to tell another dystopian future tale.

Irredeemable, Vol. 1 ★★★★★
Mark Waid has decided to answer the question "What happens when Superman goes bad? Like off the rails, scraping humanity like dog poop off his shoe bad."

Irredeemable, Vol. 2 ★★★★
The Plutonian's old team, the Paradigm, is trying to figure out how to stop him when they are exposed.

Irredeemable, Vol. 3 ★★★★
And now the military gets involved and makes everything worse.

Irredeemable, Vol. 4 ★★★★★
A good culmination of the story from the last few volumes.

Irredeemable, Vol. 5 ★★★★★
Mark Waid does such a great job of finding big reveals just when you think there can't be anymore, there's another "Oh, shit!" moment.

Irredeemable, Vol. 6 ★★★★
Waid sends things in a new direction. The Plutonian goes to space prison where even while he's trapped in his own head is a problem.

Irredeemable, Vol. 7 ★★★★
The Plutonian tries to escape the alien loony bin he's in in the core of a sun.

Irredeemable, Vol. 8 ★★★
The Plutonian is back on Earth and crazier than ever. Earth's countries launch a last ditch effort to kill the Plutonian which will kill a third of the population.

Irredeemable, Vol. 9 ★★★★
The weakest volume to date. It's a psuedo-crossover with origins for both the Plutonian and Max Damage.

Irredeemable, Vol. 10 ★★★★
Radiation is going to kill off everyone on the planet within the next 3 generations. Qubit has a plan but he needs the Plutonian to do it, so he needs him to care.

Canto III: Lionhearted ★★★★★
I love this story of the little clockwork knight with the does not quit attitude so much.

Fearscape ★★★
A heavily meta story about amoral, wanna-be author plagiarist who steals his mentor's identity when The Muse comes looking for the era's greatest author to defeat humanity's greatest fear.

Refrigerator Full of Heads ★★
What a disappointment after the simple 80's horror movie vibe of the original. Turns the ridiculousness up to 11.

Wolverine: Black, White & Blood ★★★★
A bunch of black and white Wolverine short stories with splashes of red.

Relics of Youth: Volume 1 ★★★
Definitely has some Lost vibes to it. Six kids are having dreams of an island. One day they go looking for it and find it. There they find powers and a mythical structure people have searched for for hundreds of years. But a team of mercenaries have also found the island.

The Death of Doctor Strange ★★★★
Starts off with a near future Earth on its last legs

The Death of Doctor Strange Companion ★★★
A bunch of one shots with heroes throughout the Marvel universe dealing with the repercussions of Dr. Strange's death.

Justice League Vol. 2 ★★
How could someone who was so good at writing the Avengers, be so bad at writing the Justice League?

Basilisk Vol. 2 ★★★
This moved along much quicker than I thought it would, like Bunn was told to wrap it up.

The Sequels ★★★
Four adults who were involved in adventures as kids live stunted lives until they meet each other. The four went through thinly veiled versions of Short Circuit, E.T., Monster Squad and The Neverending Story.

Superman & The Authority ★★★
A somewhat confusing start to this as it was originally written to be part of 5G. Now it's just table setting for what Phillip Kennedy Johnson is doing with Superman on Warworld over in Action Comics.

Yesterday's trip to the LCS.

Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League: Superman #1 <--- 2022 Dumbest Title Award Nominee
By the Horns: Dark Earth #2
Immortal X-Men #4
Marauders #4
Superman: Son of Kal-El #13
X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1
AXE: Eve of Judgement #1
New Mutants #27
Savage Avengers #3
Wolverine #23

Last week's adventures in comics. Went down a rabbit hole with M.O.D.O.K. last week. I'm surprised his head fit.

The Final Secret of Adolf Hitler ★★★
The story is based on some reality, about the only time in World War II a submarine destroyed another submarine while both were underwater.

Immortal Hulk, Vol. 10: Of Hell and Death ★★★
I loved this horror twist on the Hulk from the start. I can't help but feel that Ewing whiffed on the ending though.

Fantastic Four by Dan Slott, Vol. 7: The Forever Gate ★★★★
The Forever Gate arc is my favorite story to date of Slott's run. It's classic Fantastic Four, just with all the extended family they have now. The King in Black crossover is just OK though.

Crush and Lobo ★★
After messing up her relationship with her girlfriend, Crush heads to space to see her dad in prison.

Black Widow by Kelly Thompson, Vol. 2: I Am The Black Widow ★★★★
Yelena and Natasha set up shop in San Francisco where they get wind of some guy who is creating super-powers that will eventually burn out and kill you.

Black Widow by Kelly Thompson, Vol. 3: Die By the Blade ★★★★
Another great series Marvel cancelled just as it got going.

Captain Marvel, Vol. 6: Strange Magic ★★★
This can be considered the aftermath of A New World. Carol attempts to learn magic in order to defeat the person who had taken over the world in the future.

Fables - Book Thirteen ★★★★★
This is about the point where Fables begins to be all about Snow White's family.

M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games ★★★
Not nearly as funny as I imagined it would be given that Patton Oswalt was involved.

Super-Villain Team-Up/M.O.D.O.K.'s 11 ★★★★
Ocean's 11 set in the Marvel universe.

M.O.D.O.K. Assassin ★★★
Who knew there had been this many MODOK comics over the years.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin ★★★★★
A return to the dark, gritty tone of the original Eastman and Laird comics. Set in the future, only one Turtle is still alive. We don't know which one at first as he now wears a black mask and carries all his brothers weapons in addition to his own.

Batman: White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn ★★★★
Another great outing from Sean Murphy's Elseworlds Batman series. This time we focus on Harley Quinn while she tries to juggle motherhood and being a criminologist when a new villain comes on the scene.

King Deadpool, Vol. 1: Hail to the King ★★★
Due to some old treaty, monsters have inherited Staten Island. When Deadpool kills the King of the Monsters, he inadvertently becomes the King of the Monsters.

King Deadpool, Vol. 2 ★★★
Deadpool and Elsa Bloodstone fight black goo for 4 issues. Then they get cancelled.

Locke & Key: The Golden Age ★★★★★
Collects all of the stories featuring Chamberlin Locke's family from the early 20th century. The crossover with Sandman is fantastic! Perfectly melds both universes as if it was planned 30 years ago.

Strange Academy: Bright Side ★★★★
I love Dormammu's son, Doyle.

Strange Academy: Tbd Vol. 3 ★★★
With the death of Dr. Strange big changes are afoot at Strange Academy.

Dr. Strange, Surgeon Supreme Vol. 1: Under the Knife ★★★★
Dr. Strange has regained the full use of his hands and operating as a surgeon on cases other surgeon declare inoperable. He's running himself ragged though between being a surgeon and the Sorcerer Supreme.

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda, Vol. 1: Eye of the Storm ★★★
Black Panther and Ok0ye have assembled a team of scrubs plus Wasp and Mockingbird to tackle new threats.

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda, Vol. 2 ★★★★
Only issues #7-8 were produced before this series was cancelled due to COVID. The story is just OK.

Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 6 ★★★
This volume is a novelty in that it's almost completing void of any of Batman's Rogues. The closest we get is 2 appearances by Abattoir, better known for when Jean-Paul Valley lets him die during his time as Batman in Knightfall.

Heroes Reborn: America’s Mightiest Heroes Companion, Vol. 1 ★★★
A bunch of one-shots set in the Heroes Reborn universe. None of it is required reading. Recommended only for those who love What If? and Elseworlds.

The Swamp Thing, Volume 1: Becoming ★★★
This reminds me a lot of the old Vertigo comics. The story moves very slowly and there's lots of descriptive language that doesn't say a whole lot.

Dear Super-Villains ★★★★
This graphic novel for children is a ton of fun. However, Katana is not a supervillain.

This week's trip to the LCS.

Savage Avengers #1
DC Vs Vampires #7
Legion of X #3
The X-Cellent #5
Strange Academy #18
Once & Future #27
Fire Power #22
Batman #125
Dark Crisis #2
Shadow Service #13

Last week's adventures in comics.

Paper Girls: The Complete Story ★★★★★
The Goonies time travel. Soon to be the next Stranger Things when it comes out on Amazon Prime at the end of July.

Juggernaut ★★★
Juggernaut's past continues to catch up to him while we see in flashbacks how he escaped Limbo and got his powers back.

The X Lives & Deaths of Wolverine ★★
Two separate stories, one with Wolverine traveling back into his past self to stop a ghostly Omega Red from killing Professor Xavier across time. The other has a Wolverine from the future coming back like the Terminator to kill Moira MacTaggert. None of it is very good.

Immortal Hulk, Vol. 8: The Keeper of the Door ★★★★★
This has become one of the best Hulk runs out there. I love that Ewing has completely leaned into the horror angle.

Immortal Hulk, Vol. 9: The Weakest One There Is ★★★★
Some wheel spinning here as Hulk builds up to the final volume. The best part is the The Thing appearance. It's glorious. Makes me want to see Ewing write the Fantastic Four.

Immortal Hulk, Vol. 11: Apocrypha ★★★
I do have to give Marvel credit for keeping all of these tie-in books out of the ongoing Immortal Hulk comic and letting Ewing tell his 50 issue story uninterrupted.

Immortal Hulk: Great Power ★★★★
A bunch of other creators each write an Immortal Hulk story. My favorite was Tom Taylor's.

Iron Man: Heroes Return - The Complete Collection Vol. 1 ★★★
Iron Man along with the rest of the Avengers and Fantastic Four return after being exiled to the Image guys for a year.

Seven Secrets Vol. 3 ★★★
The series gets way out there and moves at lightspeed. Taylor didn't really earn this ending by moving so quickly.

Defenders: The Best Defense ★
The Defenders are trying to stop a space train from wiping out the Earth so some leopard men and a space squid can steal all the human souls and sell them back to Mephisto on the cheap. This story makes zero sense.

Nightwing, Vol. 2: Fear State ★★★★★
Tom Taylor is killing it on Nightwing. Some Fear State issues and fantastic team-ups with the Red Hood and the Titans.

Deadpool: Samurai, Vol. 1 ★
If you like your Deadpool with way more speed lines and way fewer backgrounds, this may be the Deadpool for you.

The Plot: Part Two ★★★★
This has all the feelings of old horror movies and ghost stories.

Fables, Vol. 18: Cubs in Toyland ★★★★★
The prophecy of Snow White and Bigby's Cubs begins to take effect. Therese is tricked into going to Toyland. I like that Willingham's stories don't always have pat happy endings. They are often dark and scary like the original fairy tales.

Fables, Vol. 19: Snow White ★★★★★
Bufkin's story comes to an end while Snow White's is ramping up.

Black Widow by Kelly Thompson, Vol. 1: The Ties That Bind ★★★★★
Black Widow goes missing for three months. She's seen three months later living her best life with a husband and young child. Is she in deep cover? Does she remember who she is? If not, should her friends wake her up from this existence or is she truly happy? This was really well done.

Sabrina: Something Wicked ★★★★
This book was terrific. Thompson does such a great job of balancing teen angst, magic, a love triangle. a serial killer, and wendigo twins.

Aquaman: The Becoming ★★★
Jackson Hyde takes center stage when he's framed as a terrorist. We delve into his mother's side of the family during a return to Xebel.

Demon Days Treasury Edition ★★
Marvel characters reimagined as oni and yokai (basically Japanese trolls and demons).

Finger Guns, Vol. 1 ★★★★
Two young teenagers discover they have the ability to alter people's emotions by shooting them with their finger guns. For something that sounds silly, this has a lot of depth to it.