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

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

Erin wrote: "Also working on Batman: Creature of the Night for the reading challenge (so close!). I don't think I'm far enough into it yet to have strong feelings one way or the other but whew that cursive is hard to read on mobile! Might need to break out an actual tablet or something to read this one. :)"

I hope you like it better than I did. I thought it was horrible.

Last week's adventures in comics. If you notice there are a bunch of Comixology Originals here this week. These are free to Amazon Prime users and Comixology Unlimited subscribers.

Madman Library Edition Volume 1 ★★★★★
Mike Allred has always been one of my favorite artists. I just love his retro, clean style. His Madman stories bring in lots of elements of 1950's sci-fi kitsch. I love that his weapons are a yo-yo and a disk gun. (I'll be honest. I walked around with a Madman yo-yo for a good 10 years before it finally broke. That's how much of an influence the character had on me.) His comics are just so much damn fun.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour ★★★★
The gripping story about how the U.S. prevailed over the Japanese Navy in World War II against overwhelming odds.

Superman: The One Who Fell ★★★
A filler volume while we wait for PKJ to send Superman into space over in Action Comics while Jon will take over Superman. Two separate stories of Superman and Superboy teaming up to fight aliens.

Lucky the Pizza Dog Infinity Comic #1 ★★★
A short little silent web comic about Lucky trying to get a pizza for Kate. Cute but short.

Man-Bat: Cries in The Night ★★★★
Man-Bat tries to create a cure for deafness and fails again. This dovetails nicely into the Rebirth version of Justice League Dark.

The Illuminati Ball ★
This was effed up. It's based on an immersive excursion for the bourgeoisie of New York City where they take people upstate to this effed up dinner party masquerading as the Illuminati Ball. The comic brings in all this weird stuff about gene-edited people. None of it made any sense.

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Electrified Tesla ★★★★
I dig how von Buhler threads her story amidst real world events. In this story, Minky is hired by J.P. Morgan to investigate Tesla and his claims of a death ray.

Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai ★★★★
Created for Usagi Yojimbo's silver anniversary Stan Sakai paints the full book in gorgeous watercolors. Just when you think Sakai's art can't get better, he does this.

Quarter Killer ★★
Strives to be cyberpunk covered with graffiti. Just felt like your standard little guys fight a big corporation plot.

Wonderland, Volume 1 ★★★
This was surprisingly coherent. I didn't expect much with all the lurid cheesecake covers. The interiors though were not full of women falling out of their clothes like I expected. The women actually had agency and dressed normally. It was a pretty well written story with good art expanding on the story of Wonderland.

Hailstone Vol. 1 ★★★★
I am a sucker for horror Westerns. It takes place in an isolated Montana town where Union soldiers are running a factory to support the war.

Forgotten Home Season One: Family Matters ★★
This starts off really strong with a small town sheriff investigating some missing children. Unfortunately, it quickly descends into same bland fantasy tropes.

Justice League: Endless Winter ★★
This felt very much slapped together. It's more of a lead-in to the post Future State of the DC universe more than anything else.

KaitLphere wrote: "Nuclear Winter by Cab. I think there are 3 volumes now. It's a very charming story with cute art!"

Nuclear Winter is a lot of fun. Reminded me of Giant Days.

Today's trip to the LCS

White Ash: Season Two #1 <-- If you aren't reading this series, you should check it out.
Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1 <-- Danny DeVito wrote a Penguin story in this
Human Target #2
Batman: The Detective #6
Fire Power #18
Once & Future #22
Wonder Girl #5
Nightwing Annual 2021
Venom #2
The Trial of Magneto #4
New Mutants #23
Marauders #26
Justice League Dark Annual 2021 <-- DC did this weird thing where they released annuals for all the backups in their main titles.

Last Week's trip to the LCS.

Joy Operations #1 <-- New Brian Michael Bendis book
House of Slaughter #2
Serial #8
Thor #19
Wolverine #18
Wonder Woman: Black & Gold #6
Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club #2
X-Men #5
Superman: Son of Kal-El #2 (2nd printing)
DC Vs. Vampires #2
Hulk #1
X-Force: Killshot <-- Rob Leifeld returned to do an X-Force comic for its 30th anniversary. Yes, I know it's probably going to be terrible.

Logan wrote: "Hello everyone!

My name is Logan (LMAN8BSA). I’m currently in college, so staying up to date on comics and books is fairly difficult. I live in Illinois and often visit comic shops in Chicago (alt..."

Welcome Logan. You'll get some opportunities to branch out from superheroes here if you participate in the book of the month reads. I read a lot of DC and Marvel myself along with smaller publishers.

Last week's adventures in comics.

The House ★★
The House needs to be condemned. It's not so much scared as just confusing.

The Evil Dead ★★★★
A really solid adaptation of the film. I like how Verheiden expanded the story a bit and fixed the ending to fit in with Evil Dead 2.

Everyday Hero Machine Boy ★★★
A fun all-ages story about a Machine Boy who falls to Mega 416 and chooses to make amends for all the damage he did upon his crash landing.

Sea Serpent's Heir, Book 1 ★★★★
A girl with a sea demon inside of her is hunted by religious zealots while her pirate mother and her crew try to keep her safe.

Clementine, Book One ★★★
Tillie Walden steps into The Walking Dead universe with Clementine. I did think it was an odd choice to extend the story of the character from the Telltale video games. Her story was complete, so why send her on the road again?

The EC Archives: Frontline Combat Volume 3 ★★★★
This was great. Even better than the horror comics EC was known for. Each issue featured a main story taking place during the Korean War as these were published while the was was going on.

Dark Avengers: The Patriot List: A Marvel: Untold Novel ★★★★
This era of the Avengers was so much fun. The villains are masquerading as the Avengers in this prose novel with Norman Osborn leading them.

Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land ★★★
A bit simplistic and by the numbers for a Hellboy book. I'm not sure if this was intended for children or what but It's certainly one of the lesser Hellboy stories.

Between Snow and Wolf ★★
A story about a little girl who goes searching for her father when he doesn't come home one night. Based on Japanese mythology.

Ninjak Book 1 ★
I typically enjoy anything Jeff Parker writes. Unfortunately Javier Pulido's awful art sucked any enjoyment out of this story.

Mafiosa ★★
The story of a woman growing up in a mob family in 1920's New York. She wants more than to be a mafioso's wife. So she tries to force her way into the family business.

The Recount ★★★★
That was intense. It's about a massive conspiracy to not only kill the President, not only everyone in his administration, but everyone who voted for him.

False Guard ★★
A European version of a sports Manga about MMA set in an ancient Middle Eastern city

Time Before Time, Vol. 1 ★★★★
A time travel book where organized crime owns all of the time machines.

Proctor Valley Road ★★★
I know Grant Morrison's name is attached to this but this didn't feel like a Morrison comic at all. I think this is Alex Child's baby all the way. It's about four teenage girls who get involved with some kind of evil spirit when some boys they are with get abducted by this spirit and her monsters.

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini ★★★★
Turns Harry Houdini's mysterious death into a risque murder mystery.

What If? Classic, Vol. 1 ★★★
I'm a sucker for alternate universe stories. This collects the first 6 of Marvel's What If? series.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Gideon Falls Deluxe Edition Book 1: The Legend of the Black Barn ★★★★
Two stories told in parallel. One of a man combing through a city's garbage for specific pieces of debris. The other, a priest, newly arrived at the small town of Gideon Falls where mysterious and horrific murders have occurred over its history. Both are connected by a black barn seen in their visions and dreams.

Friendo ★★★
This starts off as a anti-corporation / advertising story in near-future Los Angeles before going off the rails in the second half.

Cult Classic: Return to Whisper ★★★
Starts off very strong as a story about if the Goonies more or less grew up and went back for One Eyed Willie's treasure. Fails to stick the landing though.

Maxwell's Demons ★★★
Imagine interludes with Lex Luthor throughout his history, told by a Grant Morrison type.

After the Fall ★★
Your standard mankind 100 years after most of humanity was killed off plot mixed with old school barbarians and boobies.

Vampire: The Masquerade Vol. 2: The Mortician's Army ★★★★
What I liked about this is that I didn't need to know anything about the RPG to enjoy this. It's for anyone that likes vampire stories.

Ashes, Ashes ★★
A poor story about a luddite in a dystopian future, the Patriarch, who is forcing people to remain in the Stone Age without machines. Then most of the story is a flashback of what happened to society.

Queen of Bad Dreams Vol. 1 ★★★★
What if a character from a dream became aware and then busted through into reality to become a real person?

Trese Vol 3: Mass Murders ★★★★★
Trese is basically a Filipino Constantine and that's really all that's needed to make the concept work. I'm looking really forward to checking out the Netflix anime after reading these.

Balbuzar ★★★
An OK illustrated pirate story with fabulous, off-kilter illustrations.

Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Jester Lavorre ★★★
A light and fun origin for Jester Lavorre.

The Freebooters ★★★
Back in the 90's, Barry Windsor-Smith released an anthology title called Storyteller through Dark Horse. It was oversized and contained 3 ongoing stories, one of which was The Freebooters. The Freebooters contained some elements of earlier BWS work like Archer & Armstrong and Conan

Smart Girl ★★
In the future, an android assistant breaks free from her programming, running away from her master. Eventually, she comes across a conspiracy.

The Joker, Volume 1 ★★
This is a Jim Gordon comic disguised as a Joker comic. He's now a PI hired to track down the Joker. I seem to be in the minority from my friends here on Goodreads, but I thought this was really boring

Feeble Wanderings ★★
A bunch of Goth girls start art college and are often mean to one another even though they are supposed to be friends. Absolutely nothing happens in this snoozefest.

This week's trip to the LCS.

Fantastic Four 60th Anniversary Tribute
Dark Ages #3
Batman Vs. Bigby #3
Blue and Gold #4
Justice League #69
Nightwing #86
Spider-Woman #17
Suicide Squad #9
Son of Kal-El #5
SWORD #10
X-Force #25
Refrigerator Full of Heads #2

Eternals #7
Excalibur #25
Hellions #17
Justice League: Last Ride #7
Strange Academy #13
Venom #1
What's the Furthest Place From Here? #1 <-- New comic from the creators of 4 Kids Walk into a Bank

Last week's adventures in comics.

Hollow Heart ★
A poorly done Frankenstein for modern times.

Test: Vol. 1 ★
A story about a human guinea pig addicted to upgrading himself. Sebela seems to be more interested in writing prose rather than comics.

The Devil's Red Bride ★★★
A darker, bloodier version of Mulan that also brings in Japanese demons to the story.

Rockstars ★★
This has a ton of wasted potential. It's about all the death and myths surrounding rockstars, particularly from the 70's. Unfortunately, the story is so vague and full of flowery but meaningless narration that the plot is mainly lost.

Far Sector ★★★★
Sojourner Mullein is the newest Green Lantern, recruited to reside over a city planet of 20 billion populated by 3 emotionless races. The city has just had its first murder (but not its last) in 500 years and it's up to our rookie Green Lantern to sleuth out what happened. A very good comic from N.K. Jemison and Jamal Campbell.

Killadelphia, Vol. 2: Burn Baby Burn ★★★
Vampires sired by one of our Founding Fathers attack Philly. Barnes can't seem to decide where he wants to head the series so it spins its wheels for six issues.

I Am a Hero Omnibus, Volume 6 ★★★
A whole volume of this zombie apocalypse series dedicated to this offshoot of characters, this cult of Kurusu as they are referred to.

I Am a Hero Omnibus, Volume 7 ★★★★
After a strange opening scene in Belgium, we finally return to our main cast after the diversion into the kurusu last volume.

I Am a Hero Omnibus, Volume 8 ★★★★
This is such a weird series. The beginning is packed with some crazy action with Hideo in the belly of this crazy mutant zombie that seems to be two humans combined. Then things slow down while the ZQN are off combining into these weird body horror kaiju.

Batman/Deathblow: After The Fire ★★★★
Batman and Deathblow never actually crossover in this story. Deathblow's story is set 10 years before Batman's as they both hunt for the same pyrokinetic assassin. I thought it was a neat story and Lee Bermejo's art is always the star of the show.

Miles Morales: Shock Waves ★★★
Some solid Miles Morales action for kids. The story is kid friendly but pretty standard super-hero stuff if a little light on story.

Gideon Falls, Vol. 1: The Black Barn ★★★
Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino reunite for their new horror comic with very little horror. This is the slowest of slow burns. If visions of old barns scare you, this may be the book for you.

Gideon Falls, Vol. 2: Original Sins ★★★
Thankfully, this gets better as the series progresses. There's a lot of moving pieces here and it's still not clear how they all fit together.

Gideon Falls, Vol. 3: Stations of the Cross ★★★★
With this third volume, the series is starting to round into shape. It's a dimension spanning series as we see how Father Burke and Norton Sinclair fit into the story.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Delver ★★★
A rural farm community's lives are changed when an entrance to Dungeon appears in a neighbor's root cellar. Now people are coming from all over the world to try and gain their fortunes in this dangerous, magical place where the treasure is real and the walls shift.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed! ★★★★★
There's a lot to enjoy about this middle school book. If you're one of those people who thought the monsters were misunderstood, then this book is for you.

Faith: Greater Heights ★★★★
Faith is an overweight teenager with the ability to fly. She's one of Valiant's best characters and shines in her 2nd YA novel.

Nocturnals Omnibus Volume 1 ★★★★★
Dan Brereton's art and character designs knock my socks off every time I read a Nocturnals comic. They fight Lovecraftian mobsters and bat witches. It's all kinds of crazy, demented Halloweenish fun.

Bankshot ★
There's a reason why this was cancelled back in 2018 before the 5th and final issue even came out. The plot is incomprehensible.

Dracula: Son of the Dragon ★★★
This is well researched, mixing what we know of Vlad Dracula and his family with some more mystical elements to show his descent to becoming a vampire. Still, there's a lot to follow and it's not always easy to tell the characters apart.

Mephisto Vs. ★★★
Mephisto takes a tour of Marvel's biggest teams of the 80's (Fantastic Four, X-Factor, X-Men, Avengers) trading up in souls each time.

The Flash Vol. 15: Finish Line ★★★
Joshua Williamson closes out his long-time Flash run by blowing up The Flash's history before retconning it.

Inferior Five ★★
This was such a strange idea for a miniseries. It takes place after Invasion!, an event DC did back in 1988 where a bunch of alien races invaded the Earth. That 2nd star was for nostalgia of an event I liked in the 80's. This is NOT good.

Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment ★★★★
Each year Doom battles Mephisto for his mother's soul on Midsummer's Eve. So after a training montage complete with an 80's soundtrack, Strange and Doom descend into Hell to rescue the soul of Doom's mommy.

Mephisto: Speak of the Devil ★★★
There's Mephisto stories running from his first appearance in Silver Surfer in 1968 to a date with Magma of the New Mutants in the late aughts.

Nuclear Power ★★★★
An alternate history story where the Cuban Missile Crisis kicked off a nuclear war. Seventy years later, the rust belt is all that's left of the American government, now run by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Batman Beyond (2016-) Vol. 8: The Eradication Agenda ★★★
Damian Wayne, Booster Gold, and Wonder Woman all guest in this final volume of Batman Beyond.

Killadelphia, Vol. 1: Sins of the Father ★★★
Jimmy Sangster returns to Philadelphia to bury his father, a police detective who has just been murdered while chasing down a lead on a case. Now he's a vampire who must work with his son to stop vampires from taking over the world led by one of our Founding Fathers.

Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star ★★★
Daniel Warren Johnson writes and draws a Marvel comic.

Small week at the LCS.

Strange Academy: The Death of Doctor Strange #1
The Human Target #1
Dark Knights of Steel #1
X-Men Legends #8
Swamp Thing #9
Fire Power #17

Yikes! Comic book supplies went WAY up. 100 boards is now $16 and a long box was $14.

Finally the X-Men comics are good again. It's a great starting point for new readers while satisfying the itch for long time X-Men fans. I thought it was very clever how Hickman rebooted the X-Men and there's some really cool concepts in here. I love how he used a lot of the X-Men's history while still making it accessible to new readers. I know diving into the X-Men can be daunting for new readers.

The infographics pages drive me nuts though and I don't like how they waste pages in every X-book. Long term since HoX/PoX, I don't think the X-Men books have held the same quality, particularly as Hickman has become less and less involved. When he completely leaves the X-titles, I probably will as well.

OK to Air

Last week's adventures in comics.

Black Stars Above: Volume 1 ★★
A slow burn to the point of boredom.

Grit ★★
Pretty basic story about a monster hunter who screws up and lets a blood demon escape. Most of the book was just mindless butchery.

North Bend Vol. 1 ★★
A slow and confusing story about some CIA agents testing out a new drug on the street that makes one incredibly receptive to suggestion.

Swine ★★★★
This is the kind of story that only works in comics, it's so over the top. It extrapolates on the story of Legion from the bible. Jesus cast a group of demons named Legion from a person into a sounder of swine. Finch extrapolates that the swine have lived on forever causing havoc and disaster throughout time. They are responsible for the sinking of the Titanic and the Hindenburg disaster.

Girrion: The Chrysalis and the Stone ★★
This is very much influenced by old school, sci-fi anime.

Scarenthood ★★★
Four bored parents gets sucked into a ghost story when their goofing off at their kids' school inadvertently destroys a ward that was places there 40 years ago.

Stabbity Bunny ★★★
Has potential as a girl with magic and her stuffed animal protector, Stabbity Bunny, but falls into the Lost trap of raising too many questions without dishing out any answers.

Heist: Or How To Steal A Planet ★★★
It's about a planet's most hated criminal and how he plans to steal the planet back from the corporation who took it over.

Dead Dog's Bite ★★★
Tyler Boss is trying real hard to channel David Lynch in this Twin Peaks like town where a teenage girl has disappeared and her best friend can't accept she's gone.

Primordial ★★★
A merman is chased through a prehistoric underwater world where he has mutated to breath air and being pursued as an outcast.

Kid Beowulf – The Tarpeian Rock ★★
A clunky kids' comic taking place in early Rome.

Black Hammer: Visions, Volume 1 ★★★
A bunch of guest creators come in and write Black Hammer stories to mixed results.

Garbage Man ★★★
This had a real 70's comic feel to it. It pulls a lot from Swamp Thing, Man-Thing and Sludge.

Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory ★★★★★
The perfect Halloween story for kids and adults. For those of you not familiar with Beasts of Burden, you should be. It's about a group of dogs who protect humanity from the supernatural. Dorkin and Dyer take a serious approach to the stories with just enough humor to put a smile on your face.

Fear Case ★★
Matt Kindt and the Jenkins adapt the idea of the chain letter to comics.

Cult Classic: Creature Feature ★★★★
Your classic monster movie of the week. It really takes on that 50's B-movie feel.

Knights of the Golden Sun Vol. 2: Father's Armor ★★
It's a neat idea, that this is what happened in the time between the Old and New Testaments.

Resistance: A Graphic Novel ★★★
The author certainly picked the correct time to release this. A comic about a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic.

Cyberpunk 2077: Where's Johnny ★★
Oof, this was a dud. Poor art. Hard to follow story. Boring as hell. All of the above.

Dragon Age: Dark Fortress ★★★
A solid finish to the Dragon Age comics Dark Horse started several years ago.

James Bond: Big Things ★★
The weakest of Dynamite's James Bond comics yet.

Nexus Newspaper Strips Volume 1: The Coming of Gourmando ★★★★
If you've never read Nexus, this is both a good and bad place to start. It does have Nexus's origin story. These newspaper style one page installments though are quite dense. You're better off taking many breaks reading them instead of straight through.

Ghost Rider: Kushala Infinity Comic (2021) ★★
I've read the first four issues now and I've got to say this is extremely boring. This new Ghost Rider Kushala has possibilities but the writing team of Taboo (Yes, that Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas.) and B. Earl have sucked any kind of excitement out of the story with all their exposition and little action.

Venom/Carnage Infinity Comic ★★★
This was OK. There's not much of a plot. It's just Venom and Carnage fighting across Las Vegas.

Absolute Identity Crisis ★★★★★
The event that changed the DC universe for years. Yes, it is a murder mystery. It becomes the impetus for all the events leading up to Infinite Crisis, while shattering the Justice League.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 7 ★★
Jeremy Lambert takes over the full-time writing issues, yet little continues to happen. The goal of this book seems to be to bring in as many characters from the TV show as they can without anything really happening.

Captain Marvel, Vol. 5: The New World ★★★
Captain Marvel gets transported to her future from Captain Marvel: The End.

This week's trip to the LCS.

Wonder Girl #4
Wonder Woman: Black and Gold #5
We Only Find Them When They're Dead #9
Crossover #9
Once & Future #21
Black Widow #12
Marauders #25
Spiderwoman #16
SWORD #9
Wolverine #17
House of Slaughter #1
Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club #1
Task Force Z #1
Inferno #2
DC Vs. Vampires #1
Nightwing #85
Suicide Squad #8
Batman Vs. Bigby #2
Batman / Catwoman #8
Thor #18
The Trial of Magneto #3
Refrigerator Full of Heads #1

Went to Vegas last week so my last 2 weeks of comics reading.

The EC Archives: Shock SuspenStories Volume 1 ★★★★
I liked how these stories had more variety than most of the EC collections. Shock SuspenStories each had 4 stories, a crime, science fiction, horror, and "shock" story that was typically a social commentary on things like racism.

BRZRKR, Volume 1 ★★
Keanu Reeves wrote a comic book, an incredibly graphic and violent comic.

Triptych: A Marvel: Xavier's Institute Novel ★★★★
Fantomex of the X-Men gets his own prose novel.

Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula ★★★★
The tragic (mostly self-inflicted) story of Bela Lugosi's rise and fall.

JP Roth's Ancient Dreams ★
A very poor attempt to turn a prose novel into a comic.

Monolith ★★
The world's dumbest mom takes the world's safest car on a roadtrip with her 2 year old son getting into a horrible situation.

Cocaine Coast ★★★
An adaptation of the book the new Netflix docu-series is based on about drug smuggling in Spain.

Wonder Woman: Agent of Peace Vol. 1: Global Guardian ★★★
An anthology of Wonder Woman stories that came out as "digital first" during the pandemic.

Birds of Prey: Fighters By Trade ★★★★
Continues the recollection of Gail SImone's run as The Birds of Prey go international.

BRZRKR, Volume 1 ★★
This is John Wick: Eternal Warrior.

Dept. of Monsterology: Monsterology 101 ★★★
I'm a sucker for these pulp inspired stories of monster hunting. This has something of a BPRD slant if it was run by a college for research expeditions.

Dept. of Monsterology: Sabbaticals ★★★★
I thought this 2nd volume was much better. It hit the ground running with all the teams in stories that had me interested.

Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon ★★★
Iron Fist gathers a team of heroes to fight zombie ninjas across the world.

Klaus: The Life & Times of Santa Claus ★★★★★
Only in a Grant Morrison book can you have Santa Klaus and a Snowman preventing Ragnarok from occurring while traveling through space. This story was 10 tons of crazy and I loved it.

Justice League: Galaxy of Terrors ★★
Two evergreen JL stories with the team pulling a Star Trek floating around in space helping aliens.

Justice League: Death Metal ★★
This is a sidequest of Death Metal where Nightwing teams up with Hawkgirl, Detective Chimp, Cyborg, Starfire and Lex Luthor to free the Legion of Doom from Perpetua's throne.

Dryad, Vol. 2 ★★★★
It's no Saga, but it's a capable fill-in until Saga comes back next year. The vibrant colors and animation-influenced art really pops off the page.

X-Men: Age of X ★★★★
Yes, it's another alternate reality X-Men story. It is done very well though.

Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt Marvel Select Edition ★★★★★
This is one of those iconic Spider-Man stories, every Spidey fan should check out.

Spider-Man: The Road to Venom ★★★
This is a disparate collection of things sort of related to Venom's origins.

Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff ★★★★★
Another one of those classic Spider-Man stories every Spidey fan should read.

Venom: Dark Origin ★
Angel Medina's art is awful. The story isn't any better.

Arkhamaniacs ★★★★
This was a lot of fun, especially for young children. Arkham has been reimagined as an apartment building owned by the Wayne family. Kid versions of Batman's rogues gallery live there, having fun.

I.R.$., Volume 4: The Corrupter ★★★★
Our illustrious IRS agent/spy Larry Max goes up against a female assassin who works by corrupting her targets and blackmailing them first.

I.R.$., Volume 5: Corporate America ★★★★
This case ties in with IRS agent / spy, Larry Max's family history.

I.R.$., Volume 6: The Black Gold War ★★★★
Larry Max goes after a long time enemy of his family who is trying to artificially inflate the price of oil through terrorism in Saudi Arabia.

Channel Evil ★★★
A shock-jock cable TV host invites a medium on the show. He gets talked into channeling a spirit on air where he's taken over by the god Ba'al from the bible.

Desert Star - Volume 2 ★★★
Closes out the story started in volume 1 as our hero gets his revenge on the men who killed his wife and daughter.

Desert Star - Volume 3 ★★
A psuedo-prequel to Desert Star. It's a story about the character who grants her name to the original story but never actually appears in that story. This wasn't very good.

Immortal Iron Fists ★
Man, I hated this.

The Shame Trilogy ★★★★
An adult fairy tale about a kind old woman whose momentary wish to have a child of her own sets off a series of horrible events that will threaten her world. John Bolton's art is stunning.

Project Superpowers: Meet the Bad Guys ★★★
Four single issues focusing on a hero from Project: Superpowers along with a new villain.

Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 6: Road to Ruin ★★★
If you wondered why there's a new mayor over in Tynion's Batman run, this arc explains how it happened. Most of this volume is setup for the events of Future State.

Weavers ★★★
A habitual loser gets a ticket to the big time when a heavy hitter member of the Weavers gang is killed. He gains her powers from an alien spider along with a desire to protect the web.

Sensational Wonder Woman ★★★★
A timeless anthology of Wonder Woman stories all written by women and for the most part drawn by them too.

Black Cat, Vol. 4: Queen in Black ★★★★
We interrupt our regularly scheduled program with a King in Black crossover. Thankfully, Jed Mackay is a talented writer and was able to give us a crossover that works within Black Cat's book too.

Artie and the Wolf Moon ★★★
A middle grade graphic novel about a girl in 8th grade who discovers she's a werewolf.

Underground ★★★
Two park rangers come across some criminals and must flee through a dangerous cave system to escape their pursuers.

The Orphan King ★★★★
This was a very good start to a new fantasy series. A young prince returns home after three years away to find his kingdom overrun and his parents missing.

Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche ★★
A very slow burning sapphic romance. Everything about this comic is slow burning. The story is almost non-existent. Maria Llovet's art is quite lovely.

House of X/Powers of X

Today's trip to the LCS

Blue and Gold #3
Justice League: Last Ride #6
Strange Adventures #12
X-Men #4
Superman and the Authority #4
X-Force #24
Black Hammer: Reborn #4

Last week's adventures in comics.

World Class ★★
The Western version of a sports Manga about soccer.

Stars, Hide Your Fire ★★★★
Two teenage best friends find a fairy who may be much more dangerous than she first appears.

I Breathed a Body ★
Starts off as a diatribe against social media and the power we let influencers have over us. Devolves into some strange story full of body horror and fungal nightmares.

Friday ★★
Ed Brubaker's ode to The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. It's too short though and only gets going when it ends.

Knock Em Dead ★★★
Giving new meaning to the phrase, "I'm dying out there", Pryor Brice is a struggling comic until one day he gets in a car wreck and is declared dead for a few minutes. That's when a dead comedian does a ride-along back with Brice and Brice turns his career around.

The Serpent and The Dead: A Marvel: Legends of Asgard Novel ★★★★
Lady Sif and the original Valkyrie, Brunnhilde, take center stage as they work to uncover a mystery of what's happening to Asgardian souls when they die in this prose novel.

Night Hunters ★★★
In a cyberpunk future Venezuela, two brothers grow up on opposite sides of the law.

Scout's Honor ★★★★★
After a nuclear war, the survivors who emerge from a bunker are Boy Scouts. Now 260 years in the future, the Boy Scouts are badass warriors living by their code of honor protecting those left in the badlands filled with mutated animals and Mad Max types. The story's great. The art is great. Seek this out.

Batman, Vol. 4: The Cowardly Lot ★★★
DC's really trying to force Future State on us and I'm not impressed.

Batman: The World ★★★
A Batman anthology from 14 different creative teams around the world. Each story takes place in the same country as its creators.

Unearthed: A Jessica Cruz Story ★★
I would not call this a reimagining of Jessica Cruz as DC's book blurb details. The story has nothing to do with Green Lanterns or DC in general. It's a story about DACA and undocumented workers living in America with the main character renamed Jessica Cruz to presumably sell more copies.

Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point ★★★
This was surprisingly good considering it started as a gimmick to sell Fortnite codes.

Iron Fist: Phantom Limb ★★
Iron Fist fights a demon who causes all kinds of body horror to the attendees at Coney Island.

Daughters of the Dragon: Deep Cuts ★★★
It was nice to see the Daughters of the Dragon return. There's some good banter. It all felt a bit disjointed though.

Ms. Tree Vol. 3: The Cold Dish ★★★★★
This 3rd collection of Ms. Tree stories actually collects her first appearances and should be read first if you want to read Ms. Tree's history in order. It's a fantastic look at modern day noir. Ms. Tree's a no-nonsense take charge private eye.

The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 2 ★★★★★
I love how these editions are collecting Chris Claremont's peak X-Men straight through. The first 3rd of this is his fantastic collaboration with John Byrne. Then original artist, Dave Cockrum, returns. The Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past are the two most iconic stories in the X-men's iconic past.

Yesterday's trip to the LCS.

Dark Ages #2
New Mutants #22
Swamp Thing #8
Fire Power #16
Excalibur #24
Hellions #16
Are You Afraid of Darkseid? One-Shot
Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular

The Sixth Gun is one of my favorite series of the 21st century. I've read through it more than once. Supernatural Westerns is one of my favorite genres and this is one of the best.

Bunn weaves a compelling story, one that I couldn't wait to get more of. Brian Hurt's art seems a little cartoony at first, but it turns out to be a perfect complement to the story.

My review

OK TO AIR