Weekly Comic Roundup

Hey, this is Steve Blum, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to the Comic Concierge Podcast. This is one of

my weekly wrap -up episodes where I look back

at the week that was in comics and give you my

thoughts and opinions on some of the most notable

issues that were released. A quick spoiler warning

to let you know I do dive into some plot elements,

I will stay away from the big surprises, but

if you're someone who wants to know absolutely

nothing about your books, check the show notes

and you'll see timestamps for each book I talk

about. Do you like to start each week with my

recommendation of the week? And my recommendation

of the week is a little bit different. It's not

necessarily the best book, but rather the best

starting point for that given week. A book that

anyone could read, whether they're new to comics,

old to comics, reading the series, not reading

the series, a starting point that doesn't feel

redundant ultimately. And this week there were

a lot of contenders. There was a lot of great

new issues that we'll speak about, a lot of...

books were starting new story arcs that were

intriguing, but ultimately I went with an oldie

but a goodie in Astro City number 51. Now Astro

City number 51 may not seem like the most obvious

starting point. Astro City is this series that's

really been around since the it's the 51st issue.

It's the next to last issue before it goes into

strictly graphic novel form. So why is this a

good starting point? Because ultimately it's

a great comic. For those that don't know, Astro

City is this series that was created by Kurt

Busiek and Alex Ross and has a number of contributing

artists throughout the years. And it's basically

this giant analog to classic superhero tales

from the newer era, from the golden age, from

the silver age, from the modern era. And yes,

there's not a Superman or Batman, but there are

clear analogs to certain characters as well as

unique creations. And really what it is, is opportunity

for Kurt Busiek to tell some mass superhero stories

that you may not be able to do in the confines

of a regular Marvel or DC book, or at least look

at them from a different perspective, do some

deconstructions of the genre. Really, it's kind

of done everything you could possibly do in the

world of superheroes, if not more. This specific

issue is looking at stories of those that are

often just collateral damage to most superhero

stories. It begins with us learning about a specific

story. It won't go into great detail, but ultimately

you can tell it is coming from a perspective

of someone who was captured by this massive super

-villian alien and she's telling her side of

the story and what happened. And when that piece

ended, man, it was devastating. It was a page

that, like, it said it all. I don't want to spoil

it, but Kurt Busiek knows how to really give

you the gut punch at the right time. And that

certainly did it. And honestly, that would have

been a great spot for this book to end and it

was only a few pages in and I was already super

invested and already had an emotional height

that I typically wouldn't get for a comic in

general or at least to the end of a book but

it really ended up just being the cold open to

what will be the more specific story that is

going to be focused on this issue and the next

issue and It's this group of individuals that

have come together grief counseling group that

have been affected by Different tragedies for

reasons that we don't know completely but clearly

a support group where people are going there

to share their stories and the head of it though

as a story that some people are not aware of

and it gets into and I don't want to spoil it

so I'll be as brief as possible or not give you

a lot of retail but you learn his story and you

find out that he was holding a secret and at

first you think that maybe he's not trustworthy

maybe he's been lying to these people for different

reasons, but what you begin to realize is what

happens when you have a world that plays with

different elements like time travel or or interdimensional

travel and the ripple effects that can occur

you know we know about them when it comes to

superheroes and what happens what about those

people that just are innocent bystanders when

you go back and and things are massively changed

how does that affect people and imagine having

endured a gigantic loss and one that you can

never fully get over, but at the same time, no

one really believes your story. Even though you're

surrounded by a world where people can fly and

giant alien creatures, there's something about

the story that you're telling that doesn't seem

believable. It's like a tragedy sandwich in a

way, and yet there is somewhat of a beauty to

it because it's the idea of is it better to love?

and loss or never love at all and I think Keir

Busek is giving his answer to that question or

at least what he thinks the answer should be

from his personal perspective and I just was

impressed by how much this series continues to

be a high -level comic so many years really decades

into its run now and it does not get nearly the

attention it deserves maybe people Forget about

it because it's been around long so long But

I highly recommend picking up this issue if you

love this book if you enjoy what's what's here

the benefit of that is that there's an almost

endless amount of other Astro City books other

Astro City miniseries all the way back as I indicated

from the 90s that you can dive into that give

you so many great characters a lot of the story

arcs are similar to this where they're either

one issue or a couple issues long so even if

you pick up a random miniseries or random graphic

novel even though you haven't read the previous

materials you can understand the majority of

it for the most part though i will say the beginning

of it some of the first issues of astro city

or some of the best superhero comics ever put

on on the page the first issue covers the character

of the Samaritan who is very much similar to

that of a superman and for those that say a character

like that can never be relatable I think that

issue in that series proves that wrong because

there are certain problems that even a superhero

with ungodly powers will deal with that we need

not drill with directly but indirectly The impact

is the same and again, I don't want to spoil

anything specifically with that series or this

series But if you're wondering how welcoming

this issue specifically is to new readers I'm

someone who's not read all of Astro City. I read

some chunks of it I've read enough, but I haven't

actually not read a single issue in quite some

time But hearing that it was narrowing its end

of single issues I felt like this was one of

the last times I might get an experience like

this So I took a chance and I'm glad I did as

it ended up being one of my favorite comics of

the week and again If you're looking for a good

As I indicated there were a lot of series this

week that were starting new story arcs and one

of them specifically wanted to bring up was Green

Arrow number 39 and it was the beginning of The

Children of Akar part 1 and this is taking place

shortly after the events of the previous arc

but it really doesn't matter because what this

is really is Oliver Queen trying to go to this

war -trodden Country that has been devastated

because of or devastated specifically because

of someone like death stroke that went in and

caused Chaos he's going in to try to provide

some care some help to this to these people but

what he finds out is not that simple and He may

be much more naive to what's going on than he

even realizes or is willing to admit. He's going

in as Oliver Queen. He doesn't want to be Korean

ARL. He wants to show that he can help in more

ways than brute force. This issue I thought was

pretty good, but I do struggle when it comes

to something like this because you can clearly

tell this is heavily influenced by a lot of things

that are happening today. You know, obviously

we're dealing with a lot of refugee situations

and throughout the world and a lot of war -trodden

countries that that can easily be an allegory

to the world that Green Arrow finds himself in.

And there's the fine line of being poignant or

providing some sort of social commentary and

the other side of being manipulative. This, I

think, rides the line. What he notices when Green

Arrow first comes to this country, what he notices

is that there's no children. And how that plays

out, I thought, was intriguing, I think. A lot

of good points were made. I do wonder where it's

going. And again, it's a very tragic situation

that doesn't hide that. I think, though, this

makes sense for a character like Green Arrow,

like it may not for other characters. Green Arrow

and Green Lantern, of course, had that classic

series back in the 70s and 60s that talked about

social issues at the time. So this is not uncommon

for the character. And Oliver Queen is the type

of person that is very socially conscious and

is often out. Trying to do charitable work or

now he's as some may trivialize it as saying

a bleeding -heart liberal or something like that

but he's clearly a character that Makes causes

part of who he is and often is a conscious of

the Justice League when you have characters that

have otherworldly power or characters like Batman

that have no little understanding of human and

in emotion green now is usually the one that

try to bring them back to earth to talk about

the everyday lives that they can affect. So when

you put a character like that, that is usually

the person that is bringing one else back to

earth or the person that is commenting on everyone

else's naivete, now what he's finding out is

that he's not as aware of what's going on as

much as he thinks he is. So nothing really directly

calls that out, but if you're aware of the character's

history, it's there. My only major problem with

this specific issue that is that it does a tad

overly simplify some complex problems. But I

do think, though, it goes to places I wasn't

really expecting for a DC book. Especially when

we find out the true identity of this evil force

that's been hiding in the background, I wasn't

necessarily expecting it to go that way. It had

the makings of stories we've seen before in comics,

but I think it took it to the next degree and

next logical. step to show how much war and how

much unchecked power can destroy people but also

how the will of people can sometimes overcome

that or sometimes make the best out of the worst

situations possible. So I'm really curious how

this arc goes. This is really just the first

part, the first chapter. I think there's much

more to take out of this. There's much more to

say. But it is, again, it's a good jumping on

point for Green Arrow if you enjoy the show Arrow

or like the character. And even though it's 39

issues in, you could probably pick this issue

up without reading the previous issues, as long

as you have a general understanding of the character

and get it for the most part. There's even some

callbacks to its origins here and there. This

was in the running early on for my recommendation

of the week, if that tells you anything, so,

and I haven't really loved every issue of Green

Arrow, I usually depended upon who was the artist.

The art in here is good, it's not great, but

ultimately what really works for me in this issue

is the story. If you want to talk about great

art look no further than Batman white knight

number seven and I gotta say I'm a little sad

that this came out just because that means we're

getting closer and closer to the end of the series

and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do when I have

a book like this that is finally over it's been

one of the best titles period since it's come

out. It's been consistently amazing. Sean Murphy's

work in this has been so great that DC is now

trying to recapture it again by launching new

lines that I think are going to be very much

inspired by this in an attempt to try to do something

like he is doing a more adult -themed Batman

tale. But I hope that... What's not lost in this

is that it being more adult themed it being a

tad more bit more chore than your typical Batman

story. That's not why it's really good It helps

certainly to tell the specific story charm or

if he wants to tell and I could probably up the

ante a little bit as he's indicated on Twitter

when you see kind of the Uncensored versions

of what what he's written. There's been a little

bit more adult materials per se So I hope we

get that someday but ultimately why this works

is because it's one person with a specific vision

that has been executed flawlessly from a narrative

standpoint from our standpoint and Sean Murphy

can draw Gotham so well that the gothic feel

to it is there and If you're a person that has

a favorite Batmobile, chances are you might see

it in the pages of this issue or issues throughout

Batman White Night, and he draws those so well,

too. Like, they look realistic enough, but not

in the sense of photorealism. They fit within

the pages of the series, but still look like

they're counterparts that they're influenced

by, from the, you know, the cartoon series to

the movies to the TV show. The dude can draw

some vehicles and do it well. This is nearing

its end, like I've indicated, and with this issue,

we kind of go back to the beginning. If you've

been reading this series, remember it opened

it up with Jack Napier going into Arkham to talk

to Batman, and we go back to that moment here.

And this series ended up being nothing like I

anticipated it being. I thought it was going

to be this book where Joker becomes good, Batman

becomes bad, and we see how that influences Gotham

and things of that nature, but... It's been much

more than that, really. And Batman's never really

been bad, but you certainly saw this book really

hammer home on some of the problematic aspects

of him and his character and what it really would

mean to do what Batman does and the problems

that could occur because of it. But in a way,

it's almost like this huge ruse that you could

easily fall for. And as we're going through it,

we're seeing that Jack Napier did not only tricked

off of me in a way tricked the reader as well.

What has been underlining with this book since

the beginning is the idea of running from your

past or changing from your past or how much your

past can define who you are. Now, can the Joker

be redefined? Can Batman be redefined? Is he

defined by his past? Why is Batman Batman? Why

does he continue to be Batman? Is it because

his family was murdered? And there's a specific

piece of dialogue in this. where Batman talks

about why he is who he is, what he does, why

he does what he does, and I thought it signified

really what Sean Murphy thinks of Batman in a

way. I do wonder if they're letting Batman off

a little too easy because he had some actions

in this that were really somewhat out of character.

It made sense at the time as it indicated, like

I thought this was gonna show Batman going off

the deep end, but now he's kind of coming back

to the beginning. However, Looks like Batman

did some self -reflection too, so who knows where

this may go by the end. And I love also there's

this back and forth when it talks about having

power over someone and why Joker does what he

does as well. Why did he do something like kill

Jason Todd or why is he so obsessed with Batman?

It gets into that. There's just so much in here.

I think if you're a Batman fan, and most comic

book readers are, this is a must read. I can't

wait for it to be fully collected. I'm guessing

it'll be some massive hardcover and it'll be

amazing because this just looks gorgeous issue

after issue. It's a sad that it's coming to an

end and I don't think this is something that

we'll see like a Batman White Knight 2, maybe?

I don't know, but I do hope that we get more

Sean Murphy drawing and writing Batman because

I love his take on the character and I love his

take on relationship. between Batman, his fellow

family members, as well as the relationship between

Batman and Joker. It's been great. Can't wait

to the last issue. I'm sure it's going to knock

it out of the park like this entire series has

been. All good things must come to an end, as

they say, and we're nearing that with Batman

Wait Night. Let's stay in the world of Batman

with Batman number 44. And if you haven't heard,

Batman and Catwoman are getting married. I know,

shocking, right? It's not been everywhere. And

like with all weddings, you need to pick a dress.

And this is Catwoman trying to pick a dress.

But of course, it's a Batman title. It's Tom

King. It's not going to be that simple. We also

get a lot of flashbacks that show the history

in relationship between Batman and Catwoman.

And a lot of those flashbacks are taken directly

from past Batman books all the way back to the

very first issue of Detective Comics and the

very first interaction between Batman and Catwoman,

or at that time, Cat. So for those that are die

-hard continuity nerds, I think there's a lot

of things that people will appreciate, like bringing

all these little pieces together, especially

in the world of DC, where you've had so many

different continuity retcons and things like

that. I think this is definitely playing homage

to much of what came before. This issue I somewhat

struggled with, with all the jumping around from

different points to different points and maybe

because I'm not someone who knows all the different

stories it's referencing, I had somewhat of a

hard time trying to figure out what exactly it

was trying to say as a whole regarding the relationship

between Catwoman and Batman. I mean, this may

be in the case of user error and something that

I'm not picking up on, I will freely admit that,

but even though I thought the editing and the

structure was great, the overarching kind of

message between it. I didn't hit me as much as

it typically does for Tom King Buck, especially

for his Batman series. It was gorgeous to look

at. I mean, the present day was drawn by Joelle

Jones and I love her art from Lady Killer to

I love her drawing Batman. No one quite does

what she does as an artist. So all day, all along,

I'll enjoy those pages. But I don't know, I felt

like outside of Some of the references are enjoying,

you know, seeing a quick synopsis of their history.

I was left a little cold by the end and not in

a good way. But I am excited to see where this

marriage goes. Do they actually get married?

Marriage is never gonna last in the pages of

the comics, but I'm wondering if it's ever going

to occur. And, you know, DC has given Tom King

a lot of reign, so maybe they'll let them get

married for a period of time or, as is often

the case with Tom King, He does like to inject

a lot of tragedy in there, so maybe things will

not end up as great as we would once hope. Or

maybe he'll let Batman be happy. Maybe the first

writer in history that lets Batman be happy.

That would be a change. We'll see. Alright, also

in the world of DC, the New Age of Heroes continues

with The Curse of Brimstone number one. And I

think this is the best start that I've seen with

the New Age of Heroes book and I think a big

reason for that is that I can't read this and

ultimately associate it with a character from

Marvel or DC automatically. Sure, there are pieces

of it, but I thought the introduction to this

was really fantastic and ultimately, if anything,

I was kind of sad it ended up becoming a superhero

story by the end. It centers on this young teenager

who is living in this. downtrodden rural area

that once was lively because of mining but as

years have gone on there's really no jobs there

there's really no opportunity you just see how

much he's struggling it's like taking peter parker

and placing him into the world of west virginia

or something like that i think it's a good idea

because it's something we typically don't see

often art superheroes are in the metropolis is

or we talk about other everyday people but rarely

are they in settings like this. The superhero

or supernatural elements don't really play a

factor till the very end. Until that point it's

just him interacting with his sister who is the

only one really with a real job working as a

waitress. His dad is on disability because he

hurt himself on the job with an organization

that kind of just gave up on him as they... Tossed

him aside even though he gave everything he could

and he feels, you know depressed because of that

So this is not necessarily the most uplifting

book in a way, but I think it's important important

because it's setting the stage Giving you idea

of where this character is coming from because

by the end He meets a stranger with an offer

as is the case and I guess if I indicated that

like There is no direct correlation to a character,

but I think the one that comes to mind is someone

like Ghost Rider making a deal with the devil.

But unlike Ghost Rider, it's not because someone

died, not because he found a magical motorcycle

in a junkyard, but it's because he just wants

a better life. he doesn't know what it means

he doesn't necessarily understand that this means

that he's going to get the curse of the brimstone

he just thinks it's a chance for him to hopefully

make something out of himself or find a way out

to help himself in his family and I think that

even though it's not as drastic as trying to

save a loved one in a way it's even more poignant

or especially more relatable because there are

a lot of people in this situation where they

feel stuck unable to get out of their current

Bind that they're in because of lack of opportunity

for one reason or another The only question I

have though is because the brimstone piece is

really only touched upon at the very end What

does that mean for the series going forward?

What this curse is what it will be is he no longer

human? A lot of those questions haven't really

been addressed or even asked But I think a lot

is here in this first issue that really want

me to continue and keep reading it And as with

the case with all the New Age Vira books, even

when I don't love the stories or love the characters,

usually the art is fantastic and that's the same

thing here. Art is great when we see the actual

transformation into this Remstone, great two

page spread that made the issue. So I like this

I think you know I've liked some of the new age

hero stuff. I've really liked silencer I enjoyed

sideways, but this one is a different flavor,

and it's a flavor that I'm glad that we got I

just wonder where it can go from here, which

is not necessarily a bad thing It's kind of sometimes

a good thing when you don't know where their

story is going even if this is a type of story

that has an archetype that we've seen before

in other series or other characters, but just

The little different spices, the cosmetic changes

that they made, made it at least seem like a

character that really should have been around

for much longer than it has been. Alright, well

let's move away from the world of DC to the world

of Marvel. And similar to DC, Marvel had a lot

of good starting points this week. All New Wolverine

number 33 began a brand new storyline with Old

Man Laura. Clearly a take off of Old Man Logan

from the Wolverine comic. And you may think,

oh no, is this another downtrodden alternate

universe? Is this, you know, just trying to take

what I did and put Laura or X23 into the same

type of universe? No, this is much different

and in some very key ways in the sense of this

is a future that actually is somewhat positive.

You know, it's a future where it seems like the

heroes... won much more than they lost and Laura

is actually the head of state of Madripoor and

I won't ruin who the president of the United

States is even though it got a lot of press so

you may already know if you didn't read it but

I thought that's a good idea like that's where

I read I'm like okay kudos Tom Taylor I like

where you're going that makes a lot of sense

especially for this all -new Rovereen book but

similar to old man Logan old woman Laura She

has one last mission she wants to do. She thinks

she's dying because of the defaults in her cloning

procedure. So because she is dying, she wants

to do the one thing she has yet to do and that's

avenge the sister that she lost. And we find

out the person that she's going to be going after

is another head of state, another leader of a

country, Dr. Doom. I just love this setup. I

love the world that we're getting. I like that,

you know, we have seen a lot of future stories

where everything is just garbage and awful. So

it's just fitting to see a future where things

actually kind of work out even though, you know,

Laura's about to die. But besides that, there

is some positive things here, some changes for

the better. And it just feels that Tom Taylor

is always trying to circumvent kind of the classic

tropes or the current mood most people are going

in. His book isn't as usually as heavy, though

it can be when he needs it to. And I think he

is nearing the end of this series. I'm not sure

with real Logan back. Does that mean Laura will

no longer be Wolverine? I don't know, but more

people really should be reading this. It's been

a really strong book. Tom Taylor's built a really

good cast of characters here he's taken some

ideas that shouldn't work like having Laura having

a sister and having a clone having a sister who's

also a clone should be just stupid and dumb but

it it works and I think Gabby's actually become

a great character or honey badger has been a

great character and here we see her fully come

come full circle and become Wolverine herself

don't know I love her costume it's very 90s ish

and if you're into that I think it'll be great

but Like with green arrow like with Astro City.

This is also another great starting point if

you know nothing about Laura Wolverine I think

you get enough here to understand just the basic

premise of what's going on and It's a great art

to look at and it looks like this could be a

fun story Anytime you bring in dr. Doom. I'm

all for it so if this is going to be near the

end of Laura's run on Wolverine Looks like Tom

Taylor is gonna make it last in any way he can

Speaking of things coming to an end, Dan Slott's

epic forever long run on Spider -Man is now nearing

its end as well. I know a lot of people are really

happy that Dan Slott is finally leaving. I've

enjoyed his run. It's not been perfect. No more

run ever is. But to me, there's been a lot more

great than bad. And I think he is looking to

end on the highest note as he possibly can. As

many in the collecting world knows and amazing

spider -man number 798 is also the First introduction

into the red goblin character, which is why it's

going for ridiculously high prices on eBay and

other things of that nature because As we know

the first appearance of a character will skyrocket

the price of a comic till to this day But anyways,

the question obviously is is it a good book and

I think it is The Red Goblin does look kind of

ridiculous and it is, I mean it is utterly ridiculous,

but so are comics, so is the idea. Within that

ridiculousness is a lot of love for this character

and a lot of Dan Slott utilizing so much of what

he's been building up to this one final send

-off. This specific issue was okay for me until

we got near the end. what we saw was red goblin

was basically taunting that of spiderman or peter

parker and parker's reaction to it like emphasizes

exactly why spiderman can be such a great character

when you have the odds are stacked ever so high

but there is that determination especially when

all hope is lost that he steps up his game and

gets into another level where it's like stairs

down the bullet of the gun and doesn't flinch,

and I love that moment of this issue, and I don't

want to give away what exactly he did, but I

don't know. I am happy to see that Dan Slott

is going all out for his final issues. There's

often different ways to handle it. Last week

I talked about Brian Michael Bendis' last issue

of Jessica Jones, and that was much more of a

smaller personal story. I get why, when it comes

to a character like Spider -Man, that's not necessarily

something you maybe want to do. You want to kind

of go out big and that's been Dan slot style

really since he take taken over spider -man He's

done a lot of big things from spider verse from

superior spider -man. So it's been consistent

throughout sometimes it went too big maybe for

some people's likings, but This I know this this

red goblin, you know, it may be the ultimate

bad I think it's taking everything, you know

taking that 90s carnage character with the classic

green goblin and kind of Molding them into one

specific thing and so I do like that on premise

and you know Norman Osborn will always be Peter

Parker's ultimate foe So if you're gonna end

a decade -long run on a character and make sense

to make him the focal point But try to do it

in a way like no one else has done. So this just

seems to be just to be getting or I'm not sure

exactly how this will play out but uh I'm excited

to see what Nick Spencer does for this book once

he takes it over but I do have to you know tip

the hat to Dan Slott and say man I'm excited

for Spider -Man again I think he is Bringing

all this together like he can, like he did with

Silver Surfer. Now he's doing it with Spider

-Man as this is ending. So if you gave up on

Spider -Man because you thought he basically

became a mini version of Tony Stark with the

glowing spider and all the tech, I think this

is a good point to go back and say, Dan Slott

knows how to write just Spider -Man. Dan Slott

knows how to, didn't forget. Who spider -man

was it's all about building spider -man up building

peter parker up and then letting him fall But

then showing that you know, he's part of man

for a reason so he's never gonna fall all the

way He'll pick himself up bit by bit and overcome

the odds like true superheroes, too He may lose

part of the way He may not leave unscathed as

some of those past failures clearly are impacting

the specific arc as well because you know when

it comes green glove goblin that when Stacy Peace

is always there, so you do wonder, will Slot

try to reenact that in some way? Will he try

to kill off some major character? Will that happen?

Who knows? But ultimately, we'll have to wait

and find out. All right, let's move on to the

world of Punisher with Punisher number 223. And

the Punisher War Machine storyline continues.

I said that when I last talked about this, I

was wondering like how long this could go on.

I was hoping we would see Frank Castle being

Frank Castle, though I was enjoying the warm

machine idea, you know, sometimes seeing bad

people be destroyed in the pages of a comic book.

You know, it can be reassuring. It can make you

feel good, even if it's somewhat of a guilty

pleasure or what have you. We get that a little

bit here, as the cover indicates, the warm machine

armor takes some major damage. But my big complaint

why I wanted him out of the war machine armor

previously is because he was so unstoppable it

became a little bit ridiculous in the sense of

like nothing gets nothing could hurt him it's

like playing a video game with the cheat codes

on but when this brings in the fact that he's

chasing down a nuclear weapon the war machine

armor isn't as indestructible as it was in the

past because you know even that can withstand

the power of a nuclear warhead and yes Frank

Castle does get some moments just to be Frank

Castle as a classic line of does that make me

more dangerous or less, which I feel like is

gonna be something that sticks with him from

some time. I guess the one reason I'm bringing

this up too is because it does seem like the

War Machine armor is not going anywhere and it

looks like he is heading back to home as an all

-powerful Iron Man -like character, though looks

like Nick Fury is just not gonna let that fly.

So I thought this first arc is now over and...

I thought by the end we would get Punisher being

Punisher, but it's continuing moving forward.

And if you said that a few issues ago, I'd be

a little concerned, but I guess I'm still loving

this. I still find that Matthew Rosenberg in

the art, it all looks really good. I love the

voice he has for the Punisher that, you know,

take no person there's attitude. And, you know,

it's a good palette cleanser in a way. I know

some purists when it comes to character or Punisher

don't like it or think it's... Too ridiculous

or stupid. I like it. You know, it's yeah, it's

insane But I think it sometimes insanity is what

you need at least in this case. So I'm happy

that it's continuing I'm like I'm liking him

on this title and I'm really looking forward

to where this goes next You know, how does Punisher

having a war machine armor in the streets of

New York change things? That's a question. I'm

excited to see answer in the very first issue.

Matthew Rosenberg wrote that the Punisher can

be a very simple answer to a very complex question.

I thought he could have explored that a little

more with this first arc. Maybe now that we're

getting more into the everyday street level things

with the next arc, he'll address that further.

But overall, this gave me exactly once I watched

each and every issue, and I've probably not enjoyed

a Punisher book like this in quite some time.

Also, Matthew Rutherberg wrote the New Mutants

Dead Souls number two that also came out this

week. I like the first issue. It's this idea

of taking the New Mutants and giving them more

of a Horror -like spin. Of course, there's no

denying this was probably impacted by the New

Mutants movie that was supposed to come out But

keeps getting pushed back further and further

but I do like the kind of cast of characters

that he is putting together and the more episodic

nature of this series so far. This we see the

new mutants go to the world of Antarctica to

track down some Russian scientists and what I

love about this is that you know it introduces

a piece of Marvel lore that doesn't necessarily

interact with mutants in the X -Men all that

much and that is the ice giants. Somewhat of

a spoiler but but not too much and I love it

when you see that when you see villains from

one hero or kind of interact with another one

because there's characters like doom that interact

with everyone but the ice giants really only

tend to show up in the pages of a thor book but

the idea of them showing up in the pages of an

x -men series or mutant series or in this case

new mutants book is really unexpected but i love

it it makes it that much more fun and one ice

giant versus some new mutants is much more dangerous

than one ice giant versus thor so that was kind

of cool to see There was one piece of this though

that did kind of really rub me the wrong way

As I indicated that they were going to go help

these Russian scientists and see what went wrong

Something it was was not going according to plan

the way that plays out It just seems like those

characters are so quickly forgotten and in a

way that this is probably one of the major spoilers

But that one of those is killed kind of off -screen

and the reaction from the new mutants was no

it's almost going for a joke in a way and it

seemed out of place and it seemed like a weird

reaction to get from people that are designed

to be your heroes where they just seem to not

care that the person that you know that they

ran into was just killed by this giant creature

and yeah of course they have other things they

need to worry about but they just disregarded

in some way that it's like wow that seemed I

get that it seems so odd to me it just it was

a small piece in a book that I over otherwise

Enjoyed But the other idea was that those characters

started the book and it seemed like they were

supposed to be a bigger part of it But I don't

know it seemed like an odd choice to me to have

the you know These side characters that were

there to help move this way forward and just

disregard them so harshly never speak of them

again in any way shape or form so but what I

do like about it though is I indicated seeing

them have to deal with this ice giant and see

magic try to figure out ways to take him down

and the eventual way to do so it was pretty gruesome

but a lot of fun it's a good cast of characters

and Rosenberg has a good set of all the different

voices of all them I know I've read New Mutants

in the past read some X -Factor in the past but

I haven't read everything and they are referencing

at times bits and pieces of story lines that

I'm not fully aware of but not to the point where

I can't understand the general sense of what

they're saying and It does end up on a cliffhanger

that I was not fully expecting as a character

that I didn't expect to see again Shows his face

or shows its face I guess I should say but if

you are a new humans fan if you enjoyed them

in the past or Any of these characters in the

past like strong guy or x -factor. This is a

good book to pick up, you know the X -Men lines

to me have been really inconsistent. I have not

really enjoyed X -Men Gold or Blue all that much

recently, but I think the New Mutants is one

of the better series despite some of the problems

I've had with it. As I said, we know that Dan

Slott is leaving the pages of Spider -Man. He

will be writing Iron Man soon. We also know he'll

be writing Fantastic Four that was recently announced

and I'm really excited for him to take over that

story. I was a little concerned though because

did that mean Marvel 2 and 1 would be ending

sooner rather than later? But we know that's

continuing and I'm glad because as with past

issues, Marvel 2 and 1 number 5 was a whole lot

of fun. It seems to be a common thread in Marvel

where they're showing us a lot of different versions

of characters where things just go crazy in one

way or another, you know, in the pages of Thanos,

in the pages of Alden and Wolverine, and now

in Marvel 2 and 1, we have Thing and Johnny going

to another universe. I won't spoil what happened,

but they took one of the most classic Fantastic

Four storylines and switched it around to change

what happens and I love it. I think it's great.

It's fantastic as no pun intended. But the thing

in Human Torch has really been the focus of this

and really the interaction of Fantastic Four

in general. And what we see is what happens to

a Mr. Fantastic when He loses much of what he

cares about and makes you think about the fact

that you have a thing in miss and human torch

who are dealing with similar loss, but they seem

to have gotten over it much more than a Reed

Richards did and is that Kind of a commentary

on the character Reed Richards or is this one

specific? Reed Richards who seems to not be able

to get over himself But it does lead to some

unlikely alliances some characters do make some

surprise appearances, but I just I love to Darcy's

wet as we've seen with Sex Criminals and some

of his other books, Howard the Duck. Very different

here, but it's fitting of the characters. And

I just like the way he addresses some of the

craziness that happens in comics and doesn't

really feel the need to overly explain it. You

know, these are superheroes that exist in the

world of Marvel. They know that other universes

exist, so they aren't that surprised when other

versions of themselves show up. It's just commonplace.

It's like, oh, of course that's what's happening.

I just like that because... too often when it

comes to comics, it's like you have to sit down

and explain it. And it's like, why is this surprising

to them? You know, why would it be surprising

to an X -Men that there's another dimensional

character when they've been to other dimensions?

It should be commonplace to them. And I like

that this book is addressing it. I also love

that it is going from universe to universe. One

of my favorite all -time books was Exiles, and

that had a similar idea where you actually had

a team that would go to different universes to

help solve problems. And this seems to be like

a condensed version of that idea, focused more

with thing in Johnny Storm and in the background

you also have the fact that both of those two

characters thing in Johnny Storm are losing their

powers as they try to find their own Sue and

Reed. This to me is doing exactly what it should

in a sense of reminding why the Fantastic Four

can still work in today's world and getting people

excited for the team again. I don't doubt that

the fact this book has been working as well as

it has is a big reason why Marvel said okay,

let's let's pull the trigger and finally bring

them back. I do kind of wish this would lead

into that and Chip Dzarsky would continue writing

the Fantastic Four, but knowing he's going to

continue with this series has me happy at least.

I don't know if they'll be changing characters

or something like that like they did with past

Marvel 2 -in -1 series, but ultimately knowing

that he is a Contract now with Marvel. I'm glad

we'll get to see him work with other Marvel characters

because he's a good writer And I know he can

be a comedic writer, but I'm seeing he can really

go beyond that and tell some good stories All

right. Well, let's leave the world of Marvel

and superheroes for a little bit and go to Dark

Horse specifically for incongruity Negro Renaissance

number three and this series is current series

is actually a prequel to the original incognito

book that came out around a decade or so ago,

which I honestly knew nothing about. But I picked

up the first issue of this and been liking it

a lot. And what I love about this series in general

is the setting it takes place in. It takes place

in the 1920s Harlem, New York, which is one that

is so full of great culture and style. Now the

20s. Prohibition era in general thinking something

Boardwalk Empire This was a time that was you

know that redefined what the United States was

and there was so much going on in Harlem too

and a lot of things that really touch upon and

The premise of this idea is this reporter is

It gets a lot into race as you can guess with

the title incognito and he is a lighter skinned

African -american so much so that with some makeup

adjusting some hair changing the way he walks

that he can actually pass as a white person and

He does so by going into different clubs and

things like that to try to get stories that an

african -american Reporter would not be able

to at the time now. This is the 20s of course

even in New York There are certain places he

couldn't go certain certain things he couldn't

do but he gets to see things from a different

side. And I think that's a great idea. I think

it's one that maybe could probably obviously

works much better in the pages of comics. I could

see it. I don't know if you could do that live

action. Maybe you could. I'd like to see an attempt

because I love this story. Also because it's

just a human mystery drama. There's no supernatural

elements. There's no superheroes. There's no

science fiction. This is just straight human

drama. It feels like a type of movie you might

have saw in the 1950s or so just in the way that

it's about murder and murder is the biggest thing

that happened. In a comics now murders, you know

an everyday occurrence But here murders a big

deal and he's investigating this murder trying

to figure out what happens in this specific issue,

too He meets with another actress who he thinks

is linked to the murder but finds out there's

much more to it than that and he finds out he

might not be the only person that's pretending

to be someone else or pretending to be something

he isn't I think it also talks about a lot about

expectations with race And even though this is

taking place in the 1920s, I think much of what

it's saying or getting at is very poignant for

today as well. And certainly, I think, opens

the door of a lot of great discussion if you're

looking into this book. It's a great series,

I think, to get into if you want something that

is out the norm. This is not necessarily the

best issue to pick up. I would definitely advise

starting with the first issue because everything

does tie together so specifically or go back

and read the original book. I should be know

that this is also a completely black and white

comic, and obviously I think that's done purposely

as well. It makes the art work well and also

gives it that all -time quality, too. This is

quickly becoming one of my favorite series because

it combines a lot of what I like. It combines

crime and noir, which is one of my favorite genres.

It combines journalism, and I love stories about

journalism, and it's in a time period that I

really appreciate. So I may be overblowing the

series for some, but... for me personally, if

I'm just going over, you know, what I enjoy reading,

this has really grown on me. I kind of picked

up the first issue on the limb thinking like

that was an intriguing idea. And more and more

I've really become fascinated with the story

and again would highly recommend it. So if any

of those pieces or things that you also enjoy,

I think you would like it. Like if you did love

Boardwalk Empire and like, I would like to say,

see that world represented in a different way.

This is the series for you. Highly recommend

it. Also with Dark Horse we got Dr. Starr in

the Kingdom of Tomorrow number two and this is

a continuation or piece of the Black Hammer universe

that Jeff Lemire is also writing and man Jeff

Lemire should write all the comics. He's writing

so much greatness right now from Royal City to

Black Hammer to Gideon Falls to now this and

I loved love love the first issue of Dr. Starr

in the Kingdom of Tomorrow. I recently did a

post of my top 30 comics of last month and it

was near the top it was in the top 10 this may

be even even better but the idea is this character

of dr star was briefly a part of another black

hammer book but now it's really expanded upon

him i think this is clearly a analog to something

like star man and the first issue was his general

origin how he became dr star and it was him talking

to someone or to and we find out who by the end

and we see that what he was doing brought some

true loss to him and his family and on a physical

and emotional side and this is a continuation

of that the last page of the first issue to me

was devastating and this continues to be emotionally

devastating which is like if you like the theme

of this of this month or at least this week when

it comes to comics a lot of emotionally devastating

books and this does kind of correspond nicely

with something like Astro City Black Hammer I

think are doing two very similar things but in

different ways and I think they exist I think

in the same type of niche as you have two people

that are obviously huge fans of the superhero

genre Golden Age and Silver Age and look to kind

of look at some of those characters and Add more

context deconstruct and reconstruct them and

expand about what type of person that would really

be if you put him in a more of a modern setting

And what we see with dr star is that he's a character

that has a lot of drive He wants to accomplish

great things on a personal level even if that

maybe means ignoring other responsibilities and

you see a lot of regret and that's you see a

lot of things that he regrets on that he wishes

he could change and do differently and It seems

like there may be a way that he can go back and

right the wrongs or will that actually happen?

We we don't know but I just There may not be

a better writer currently than Jeff Lemire at

evoking emotion in the reader I mean we did it

with axis county. I think he's now doing it with

dr star There's a much more personal level with

this book than the other black camera series,

which is Which certainly has their level of tragedy

and earnestness, but with this since it's I think,

directly on one character, really in a relationship

between a father and a son. For me, it's even

more poignant, but again, that might be more

of my personal perspective because it's something

I can certainly relate to. As a reminder of it's

really important and really though I think anyone

could take it take that message message in general

The good thing thing about this a good thing

about her and you know if you're someone who

is not reading Black Hammer First change that

you should read it because it's a great series

and then listen to the episodes I did with Greg

Beppler around those those volumes volume one

volume two But you could read dr. Starr and not

read anything else and get everything you need

to similar to Astro City this though I would

say definitely go back and read issue number

one I did kind of spoil it for you because finding

out that much of it's dedicated to his son is

the big surprise in the first issue. So sorry

for that. But still, I think even with that,

it's a great book and this continues to be in

a great universe that I love and I can't get

enough of. I'm so glad that we're getting more

spinoffs and more series when it comes to Black

Hammer because it's been amazing. And I don't

know how Jeff Lemare does it. I say that nearly

every week because it seems like every week he's

putting out one of the best comics. All right.

Well, let's move over to the world of image comics

and they had two Big number one series that came

out that I think deserve a lot of attention and

we'll start with analog number one first written

by Jerry Duggan an artist David O'Sullivan and

Joy during the color is one of the best colors

in the business Jordy Bel Air She does so many

great things and that continues here analog number

one. It is someone takes place and then near

future after everyone's information is leaked

to the world and what you see is some reaction

to that in the sense of privacy is now gone and

in the way that people once thought it did so

people are no longer using electronics or corresponding.

The way they do now clearly this is Coming at

a good time or maybe a bad time of depending

on how you look at it as you know Facebook is

having their problems And you know the idea of

privacy certainly is a huge piece of today And

I think what this is doing is saying, OK, if

things continue the way they do, what's the logical

conclusion to all this? And this is the answer.

And what we see is our main character is someone

who delivers material. And material is no longer

delivered electronically. It seems like it's

specifically delivered by people and carriers.

And it's a very dangerous job, as we see. And

we also see that he may be responsible or know

of why the great leak happened the way it did

years prior. For a first issue, I think this

does a lot of good things. One, some really good

world building. I think by the end we understand

this world. how things function, why things function

the way they do, and also good characterization

of our main character. That's really hard to

do with a first issue. You know, a first issue,

there's so many different directions you can

go. A lot you need to establish to grab the interest

of a reader, and sometimes you'll see with a

first issue is that you really don't know who

any of the characters are by the end because

all the time was spent explaining the world or

vice versa. This was a good balance of both.

I think Jerry Duggan did a good job of scripting

this, so by the end of it, you get an understanding

of who this character is, what his motivations

are, who he is as a person, and the world that

he is interacting with. So I think it's a good

world. It may be a little bit on the nose in

the sense of the themes it's going for, the allegories

it's making, but... Beyond that, I think there's

some things here that can make a really good

series. I like Jerry Duggan as a writer. I like

what he's been doing with Deadpool with Marvel.

I'm excited to see what he does with a creative

own book like this. What I really like about

David O'Sullivan's art is, you know, it works

well. His at -phase acting is pretty strong.

His character design works as, you know, looks

realistic enough. But I think what is the most

interesting is his different use of panels. He

uses a lot of different styles or perspectives.

One page may have one panel in the corner that's

vertical, another one that's horizontal, then

a central panel, and then another horizontal

panel. So I think he likes to play with the different

perspectives in ways to keep your eye moving

and keep the pace going pretty strongly. The

sizes really differ from one piece to the next.

He's good at just interjecting some specific

details in a scene. One example of that is when

you... release everyone's secrets into the world,

especially their online secrets. Some people

do some really shady things and some really disgusting

things. And we see a quick panel of someone who

has pedo across their forehead. Clearly, we know

why that is. But I just like that it's touched

upon. It's there in the background. It's not

the focal point. We get a little understanding

of, OK, clearly that means that. If this person

has pedo written across their forehead, clearly

people found out things that he was doing, but

also means that if people found that out, but

he's not in jail or he's just permanently scarred,

does that mean that it just kind of everyone

got a free pass or there was no really crimes

committed because there was just too much of

it? It also makes you wonder if shame no longer

exists as we see people enjoying each other within.

Car and few and few of everyone and seems like

no one seems to care The first series that came

to mind to me was something like transmetropolitan

that you know existed in somewhat of a world

This is not nearly as chaotic. I wouldn't also

say it's not at that level quality wise It's

way too early to say but it does seem like they

are existing with some of the same ideas which

tells you how good that series was knowing it

came out in the 90s and it got a lot of things

right unfortunately, but uh Image right now has

a lot of big series that are nearing their end,

East of West, Deadly Class, or not much longer

those books will be ending and it's good like

a book like Analog I think might step in and

hopefully replace it. Another new series they've

debuted that I think has the potential of being

something special is Isola or Isola, I -S -O

-L -A number one, not sure exactly how to say

it. Man, I have not been this taken back by the

art of a book in some time. I was so close of

possibly naming this my recommendation of the

week. It is a fantastic book to look at. It's

wonderfully drawn. The colors are so vibrant

and from the opening scene it's this page and

you see this like sharply drawn tiger in a tent

as a soldier is the foreground, you know, slouched

over with rain pouring down and you're just like

wondering like why is the tiger in the tent and

why is the soldier in the outside and as things

go on you find that you're in this fantasy world

and what we realize is that this tiger is actually

Her Majesty. It's her ruler. You don't know if

it was turned into a tiger or was already or

it's just a magical being. There's no words.

It doesn't speak at all. And that's really the

only, I wouldn't say bad thing, because this

is really just introducing us to this world,

giving us some imagery, some ideas of what's

happening. But story -wise, we don't know what's

happening, what the ultimate goal is. They seem

to be running from something and trying to survive,

and this world seems to be in utter chaos. They

come across what they think is some sort of religious

object or creature that's been destroyed. So

it seems like some bad things are happening.

The world is... Draining for some reason, but

I just love this pages. It's like seeing an anime

film or and Distills it there's so much motion

within the action it I've never seen a book quite

like this as I indicated. It's really especially

the coloring There's some sequences where there's

this roaring fire But it's like a fire that has

a green neon tint to it and how it reacts to

the actual figures It's very digitally though

drawn. So I know some people don't like that

when it comes to comics. It makes it seem a little

bit, it's almost too clean. And I know for some

people, it's like the difference between digital

film or actual film. And here, it's so perfectly

rendered. It's almost like you're not reading

a comic in a way. But I found it absolutely gorgeous

to look at. And I love this world. I love what

it's building towards. I think there are a lot

of basic questions that aren't really answered.

What is their goal? What are they trying to achieve?

They're trying to go to this Isola. Why and how?

You know, we are just dropped in the world and

we just figure how things go and it does remind

me of something like a Hayao Miyazaki film, something

like a Princess Mananoke, where it's very much

the same thing, where the world is not explained

to you. You learn through osmosis and sometimes

that works. It's a little harder with a comic

because you're dealing with more of an issue

by issue story basis. By this end of this issue,

there's a whole lot of questions and not really

much any answers for some people that might drive

them crazy. And that was my one hesitant piece

of making it the recommendation of the week.

But I think ultimately the first... goal of any

comic book series when it comes to the first

issue is build intrigue intrigue that makes you

want to keep going and this just does that because

it's like what is this world what more can we

see I was just I couldn't wait to turn the page

just to see what was going to be drawn next and

I just could look at these pages all day long

and I pretty much have like it gets to the point

where I'm not even looking at the words I'm just

looking at what's drawn And I'm taking it back

by it, but as I indicated some people may not

love the art nearly as much as I do Obviously

all art is subjective But so if you're a person

that does not love the art I could see how this

issue wouldn't really Work for you on any major

level because the story isn't necessarily I think

strong enough to hold itself at this point It

can be there are a lot of things going, but I

haven't been taken this is might be hyperbolic

for some people But I haven't been this taken

back by an image book on the artistic level since

Saga. And no, I don't think the story is as good

as Saga. I mean, Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

are like the perfect match. But I do think that

this could, if it keeps getting steam, it could

become something special and it could be the

next big hit that Image is looking for. So if

you're looking for a comic that you want to get

on the ground for, Isol No. 1 is a good option

to choose from. Another new series that started

this week was Demigun number one and this comes

from IDW and man this is So much a 90s book by

the story of the art. The idea is this that you

have this every day Kind of loser teenager that's

just trying to make it his way through life There's

this cute girl that he tries to flirt with and

he fails miserably He's in a dead -end job his

only friend is the boss at that said dead -end

job and he kind of gets berated by everyone.

It doesn't seem like he has much going on. And

what we find out is that he eventually gets the

power of Hercules for reasons we're not fully

sure of. It seems like it's related to this bat

that he stumbles upon and magical wood for some

reason. But this book, the art -wise, looks so

much like a 90s book. Like it is... If I gave

this to you and you read books in the 90s, you

would think, wow, this has to be 20, 30 years

old. It looks like it came from 1993. And with

that, it does seem really dated even story wise.

For some people, they might really dig that,

but I just thought it was okay. The humor was

a little bit sophomore to me or just kind of

too obvious. And especially you have the sequence

where this character is at his job and the girl's

boyfriend. Comes in that he has a crush on and

he's just the biggest jerk so overly stereotypical

Just just demonstrate every trope you could in

a way And that's really the thing to me this

felt very tropey for a first issue The other

thing that kind of seemed weird with the art

style does it does get rather Gruesome, and it

just totally didn't fit with really the color

choices and things like that It kind of came

out of nowhere for me, but I do think there might

be a really big audience for this book That's

why I I mentioned it because if you are a person

who really likes that type of style You know

take a look to the preview pages and see if it

works for you because I could see for a lot of

people a book like this is Exactly what they're

want is it's a type of style that is not too

prevalent today It's like you loved image back

in the 90s or or something of that nature And

if you love things like Greek mythology, you

know, I don't know how they're really treating

it It's not like it's a Marvel character where

it's actually Hercules. It seems like he kind

of is Taking the power but still has his own

personality in a way. It's like a kind of a cross

between Hercules and Shazam or something. But

yeah, it would to me was just it was okay It

was a very forgettable and it seems just derivative

of a lot of things that come before Since I'm

not a big fan of those things, it doesn't really

do anything. I'm okay if, like, with Astro City

or with Dr. Star, if you're taking things from

the past and you're trying to say something with

it using the things we know and trying to do

something new with it, deconstruct it, analyze

it differently, try to see a different perspective.

This is just copy and paste. Maybe with the next

issue they offer a little bit more, they expand

upon some of these characters. That's a possibility.

For me, by the end, I had no desire to read the

next issue. He didn't really hook me with any

way. As I indicated, one of the biggest goals

for a fresh issue is to build intrigue. None

of that happened here. So I won't be continuing

with this, most likely, unless I hear it's actually

getting amazing. I might go back, but I find

that very unlikely. Alright, well one last book

and with this being WrestleMania weekend for

those that don't know yes The Sunday that this

is before this is coming out it is WrestleMania

weekend one of the biggest weekends the biggest

weekends for Wrestling fans and with that boom

studios is putting out WrestleMania special 2018

and this is kind of a Annual series really where

you have a couple short stories put together

all of which are taken from actual Wrestling

matches that occurred in different in past WrestleMania

is like you have the first Story is about the

Miz taking on John Cena, which is a weird Main

event and to write a story about because it's

probably one of the main events that people talk

about the least and has looked at as One of the

the worst main events in WrestleMania history

odd choice But hey, you know, I guess you if

you're doing one of these every year You got

a you got a fine room everywhere. There's also

a couple about macho man his match with Ultimate

Warrior and Ricky Steamboat which I think is

one two of the better stories and the last one

involving Stephanie McMahon and which is behind

the scenes characters trying to get her ready

for her main event but I think the best story

out of all of them which was involved Macho Man

and the Ultimate Warrior but the the broke of

the story actually was taking place after it

it was more a little bit more cartoony some of

the stories were more straightforward almost

dramatically This reminded me a lot of like the

wrestling cartoon back in the 80s, the same type

of tone, it's a little cartoony. We see that

after her, for those that don't know, WrestleMania

and the WrestleMania Ultimate Warrior and Macho

Man and the Savage wrestled each other and the

person that lost was supposed to retire. Macho

Man lost but he ended up turning. face which

means good and then so we started a relationship

with miss elizabeth this is their adventures

after that they go to the park they go to the

theme theme park they go to have dinner but miss

sherry who was macho man's old manager is not

a big fan of that so she tries to mess up the

relationships here and there it's it's almost

looney tune -esque in a way i just love the voice

they have for macho man and seeing him at carnival

games Considering the material they're working

with, I think they do their best to provide some

fun things that are wrestling related. So if

you're like, oh, after WrestleMania, it's like,

no, it's all over. I want something to do. It

can maybe scratch a little bit of an itch after

that's over. If you're disappointed with whatever

happens in WrestleMania, this might remind you

of some more of the glory days back in the day

and some of the fun things that used to happen.

I don't know. But I don't see this appealing

to anyone who's not a fan of wrestling. but I

don't necessarily think it was ever trying to

do that, so. Alright, well that'll bring us to

the end of today's episode. A lot of comics,

a lot of great comics, a lot of new comics that

are starting off. It's interesting, I feel like

some weeks it feels like all the comics are ending,

some weeks it feels like there's a lot of new

stuff, and this was certainly a week where a

lot of new series debuted. And also coming up

this week I have a great episode with Dave Rosen

of the Piecing It Together podcast. We talked

about the series The Empty Man and that was a

lot of fun so you can look for that later this

week. Also, at GeekCastRadio, I mentioned it

earlier, I did a countdown of the top 30 books

of March, and in that I got an opportunity to

talk about some books that I didn't mention in

this show, so if you're looking for more issues

that I get into, go to geekcastreader .com and

you can check that out. And if you can, take

some time, leave a review for the show on iTunes,

it would be greatly appreciated. If you want

to interact with the show, you can comment on

the episode post at GeekCastRadio or nerdly .co

.uk. Also, I'm on Twitter at MoveRevolt, also

on Facebook and Instagram. Search Comic Concierge.

But that's it for this week. We'll be back next

week. For now, remember, comics are for everyone.

The key is finding the right one. Thanks for

listening. We'll see you next time.