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The Adventures of a City Blerd on New Comic Book Day


Howdy Folks. To begin this blog, I'm going to give you all my methodology for doing comic hunting on New Comic Book Day Wednesdays. As a city rat, I rely on public transportation for getting around to hunt for my books and that leads to some pretty *ahem* interesting encounters/situations. Here are my 5 top tips to doing comic book hunting in the big city:


1. Know Your Shop Location & Routes - Always, and this is the street punk in me, have 2 or 3 different ways to get to the shop(s) that you go to. I visit no less than 3 comic shops in 3 different boroughs for my books. I was kind of forced to learn different ways and connections due to time restrictions, traffic, unforeseen parade, apocalyptic event, etc. So just a pre-reminder to have a plan...


2. Wear Comfortable Shoes - Within that plan is to ALWAYS dress comfortably. I listed shoes for the reason that I run around, meaning that I am on my feet 90% of the hunt. This, however, can easily be applied to other parts of the wardrobe. Wear jeans, wear a t-shirt, wear overalls if it helps you be relaxed. It not like every day is an ideal day where you aren't going to be faced with some sort of difficulty and in that vein...


3. Weather Forecast - Cannot stress enough that you need to know the weather. If it a warm day, make sure your books aren't situated in a bag with your food. If it a rainy day, is your bag waterproof? Can you carry your umbrella far enough away from your books so that they stay dry? I see you laughing at these simple questions but for comic book fans, these can be life or death quandaries....


4. Prepare To Be Annoyed - Public Transportation is like a GIANT petri dish. You never know what situation might pop up on a train, bus, cab, even walking in a crowd. Be calm. Be distant. Be prepared for ANYONE to have an unsolicited opinion of you reading comics in public. This is where I have the NerdCore song list (Adam WarRock, Tribe-One, Schaffer The Darklord, Wordburglar, Mega Ran, Sammus, Eye-Q, Kirby Krackle, SkyBlew, Mikal kHill, Childish Gambino, ETC.) playing in my ears, just so the rest of the world can go kick rocks. *AHEM* Sorry. Anti-Social Geek side came out....


5. Most important of all Have Fun! These are the books you have waited on to read! Let nothing stop you from enjoying your reads! Never lose sight why we do this insanity and that reminds me...


BOOKS!!!!!


The Ultra-Humanite's plan starts to come into focus in Earth 2 Society #13 by  Dan Abnett, Federico Dallocchio & David Calderon and Batman is DEFINITELY not going to be happy. Meanwhile, Fury comes clean to the rest of NuEarth's heroes and possibilities for the planet are endless....if they can stop Ultra-Humanite that is....


Home means different things to different people and in Howard The Duck #8 by Chip Zdarsky, Joe Quinones & Jordan Gibson, we find out what it means to Howard. Meanwhile, Bev's back and unfortunately that means Howard's weirdness will find her again. Throw in some very disparate elements of the Marvel Universe and a nice stealth twist and Chip once again pulls on the heartstrings of this comic fan.


Final battles abound as the universe contracts within Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion #6 by Tom Taylor, Jack Herbert, Scott McDaniel & Hi-Fi. Kilowog, Guy, John and the rest of the Corps vs the World Eaters. And even if they do beat them, how exactly do the Corps get home? And what about the planet's occupants? Well Simon has got a plan...


Kobik took Moonstone's moonstone at the end of issue 1 and in Thunderbolts #2 by Jim Zub, Jon Malin & Matt Yackey, the team has has to contend with that AND the fact that they are in the midst of a Terrigen hive/nest. Wait. Terrigen? Usually when that word is used, a certain group of superhumans follow close behind...


I didn't think I would like DC's re-imagining of my past BUT once again, they got my money! Wacky Raceland #1 by Ken Pontac, Leonardo Manco, & Mariana Sanzone is just plain nuts! Sentient cars. Over the top violence. Races out of Speed Racer's nightmares. Mutated creatures. Yeah. This ain't a 60's cartoon anymore folks. Holy Cwap!!!


Faux Iron Men everywhere and heroes under siege. Their only hope? That Coulson in Agents of SHIELD #6 by Marc Guggenheim, German Peralta, & Rachelle Rosenberg remembers his various training and DOESN'T fall back into a cycle of vengeance. Great to see my crossover fantasies play out here without TV/Film red tape ruining it for me. Now will someone please check out Gemma? Seriously? Thank You Deathlok for reminding of that....


The Flash Rebirth by Joshua Williamson, Carmine Di Giandomenico & Ivan Plascencia picks up right where DC Rebirth's Barry/Wally meeting left off and expands on it. Nice to see heroes with intelligent theories and forays in these days of mindless fighting. Speaking of which, hey BatFans! The Caped Crusader is in this one too.....


Years after the death of Garrison, his nanites still feel his presence in 4001AD: Bloodshot by Jeff Lemire, Doug Braithwaite & Brian Reber. This book actually covers a lot of the things that I was hoping to get out of the Walker Cyborg run but got "interrupted". I wonder if the "new" Bloodshot will make an appearance in the main book because...well cool factor...


An interesting new direction with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz essentially joined at the lantern in Green Lanterns Rebirth by Geoff Johns, Sam Humphries, Ethan Van Sciver, Ed Benes & Jason Wright. Teamwork is now a MUST because of, who else, Hal. Can the kiddos play along or will the upcoming threat on the final page end this before it gets good. Hint: Red Dawn...


Can you say a whole lot of trouble? Well Goldie is in it deep within Goldie Vance #3 by Hope Larson, Brittney Williams & Sarah Stern. Because of her enemy, she AND her dad are canned from the hotel BUT that's not the bad part! Can you say Russian Spies and the necklace? Yeah...and the gentleman who she thinks the necklace belongs to is still missing! Oh this final issue (for now) is going to be loco fun! And for one more tease, you won't believe who she teams with to make this right..


Had some time, so I finally picked up Grayson Vol.2: We All Die At Dawn by Tim Seeley, Tom King, Mikel Janin, Stephen Mooney, & Jeromy Cox. In this volume, we see that Spyral isn't too stable but neither are events happening around the "former" Robin. Heck, everything that made Dick my favorite DC hero is on display in this volume...and oh yeah, Midnighter is around to cause even MORE mayhem. More than Helena that is....


Been meaning to talk about Swords of Sorrow The Complete Saga by Gail Simone, Emma Bebby, Marguerite Bennet, Nancy A Collins, Mikki Kendall, Leah Moore, Mairghread Scott, Erica Schlutz, G Willow Wilson, Sergio Davila, Dave Acosta, Mirka Andolfo, Ronilson Freire, Francesco Manna, Rod Rodolfo,Noah Salonga, Crizam Zamora, Jorge Sutil, Salvatore Aiala Studios, Inlight Studios, Nanjan Jamberi, Valentina Pinto, Agnes Pozza, Dinei Ribiero, Vincenzo Salvo, Kristy Swan & Chiara Zeppegno for some time now but it hard to condense into quick blurbs. Fantastic women of Pulp literature team up to face...um I can't reveal that because then it will give away...um can't reveal that. Dangit! This storyline was great and I had fun with all the disparate personalities playing off one another. If you are a comic book fan for a long time, this does deserve your attention! Vampirella, Red Sonja, Kato, Lady Zorro, Pantha, Dejah Thoris, Jane, Jungle Girl and more! Damn! How did Gail co-ordinate all of this? But this was awesome for the longtime comic book fan in me. So many allusions to other things and characters here. And I think I'm over geeking...Give this one a read if you can. It SO worth it!


THX For Reading! Onward to this week's books! Until Next Time, Keep Fantasizing!

UnCanny Musings from Daryll B.! Scooby Apocalypse! Deadpool! Dusu! Afronerd Radio on Muhammad Ali

As promised last week, here are more books from the abyss known as the BenCave:


We are reaching the "end" of the story in Dreaming Eagles #5 by Garth Ennis, Simon Coleby & John Kalisz. The Airmen are starting to see casualties in some of their bombers and in fellow flyers. Dealing with this AND the obvious "love" from the higher ups definitely starting to see cracks in some of the unit's foundations...


To everything comes an ending and in Dusu #4 by Sebastian A. Jones, Christopher Garner & James C. Webster, Dusu and Waso have the ultimate falling out where families and whole tribes survival are on the line. The murky, moody art catches Dusu's frustration and anger perfectly as we whirlwind through his struggles.


I'm actually surprised how much I liked Scooby Apocalypse #1 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Howard Porter & Hi-Fi. I was initially not going to go for this but hearing DeMatteis was a part of the team, I decided to give #1 a shot and I not mad. Works as an alternate universe/what if take of the "Scoobies" first meeting with mad scientists, nanites, monsters, and all around craziness. The 2nd story details Shaggy and Scooby's first meeting here...


Father is using extreme measures to regain control of New Japan in 4001 AD #2 by Matt Kindt, & Clayton Crain and to heck with the civilian population. Rai and his rag-tag freedom fighters have their hands full trying stop him/her/it. Crain's art brings the cataclysm to new horrifying levels here.


So this is the big issue that kicks off the reset for the Man of Steel? Thematically, Superman #52 by Peter Tomasi, Mikel Janin, Miguel Sepulveda & Jeromy Cox plays out like the polar opposite of how Infinite Crisis ended with the death of the Earth-2 Superman. This time it another one that pays the price and Tomasi deftly maneuvers the situations and characters to points where you actually think that the fight against a Faux Superman could be taken care of without a loss of life. I had a lot of problems with the New 52 Superman but how ironic is it that DC finally nailed him at the book's end?


Those who know my Twitter feed know how much I laud over Al Ewing's talents. I don't need further proof than in Contest of Champions #9 by Al Ewing, Rhoald Marcellius, Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco & Andrew Crossley. He handles 3 distinctively different teams of Avengers with a style that gets you to know every character within 1 or 2 lines. No one is left wanting here as The Maestro decides to pluck the Avengers from a world where Tony won Civil War and Steve's side is locked up to teach his former players a hard lesson. Ares is golden here....


So the team is powerless and locked up in A-Force #6 by Kelly Thompson, Ben Caldwell, Scott Hanna & Ian Herring. Things can't get much worse right? Wrong. The one person that we couldn't afford to lose it, loses it. And it seems Dazzle-Thor can be affected by current events on our Earth w/o her hammer. This really doesn't look good...


Think you got a hard training regiment? Niobe #3 by Amandla Stenberg, Sebastian A. Jones & Ashley A. Woods shows our heroine going through her paces as she still prepares to find a way to save her orc friend from certain death at the tribal court. And around the corner, the true menace behind everything is about to make his presence known to the tribes. Strap in Folks....#4 is going to be bananas!!!


The search for Nova's Father begins in All-New All-Different Avengers #10 by Mark Waid, Mahmud Asrar & Dave McCaig and well, I don't think anyone except for Waid expected this! Space, madcap craziness, a GREAT Marvel Universe threat, and more Spider-Man/Ms. Marvel gold right here. Oh did I mention...? *dramatic Pause* 


The first salvos in Civil War II #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, & Justin Ponsor have been launched with a hero fallen and another possibly down for awhile. The story centers on an Inhuman, Ulysses, with the ability to foresee the future and disagreements on how his power should be used. Pandora's Box gets opened and this one will not be easily closed folks....


But the BEST crossover I picked up this week happened in ONE issue folks! Deadpool #13 by by Gerry Duggan, Jacopo Camagni & Veronica Gandinisees the Merc With A Mouth taking on a crooked accountant as a protection job. Said job floats into Daredevil #7.1 by Charles Soule, Guillmero Sanna & Mat Lopes as an old Daredevil Foe comes for the accountant which gets crazy to the point where Wade hires outside help in Power Man & Iron Fist #4.1 by David Walker, Elmo Bondoc & Nolan Woodward. And EVERYTHING hits the fan in a free for all in Daredevil #13.1 by Gerry Duggan, Paco Diaz & Israel Silva. Hilarious and absolutely crazy as the madness of Deadpool seemingly infects other heroes YET each book retains its own distinctive feel.


On the trade paperback front, I had an ok week with DC's Chase by JH Williams III, Dan Curtis Johnson, and a host of others. Cameron Chase is an agent with the DEO, whose history consistently is tied to the metahuman cases she's investigating. I always felt that she could be DC's answer to Jessica Jones with her ties to the JSA and gritty outlook. News rumors are that she'll make a return to the CW Superhero Universe.


Picked up Exiles The Ultimate Collection Vol #4 by Tony Bedard, Jim Calafiore, Mizuki Sakakibara & Paul Pelletier sees the ragtag adventurers revisit a world they previously "helped"; find out the truth behind their situation, just as an old enemy strikes; & visit the Age of Apocalypse & House of M Universes while encountering one of the most fearsome foes of the X-Men EVER! Cross-Reality insanity and superhero fun...


Soothing the little kid inside me, Takio Vol #2 by Brian Michael and Olivia Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming & Nick Filardi has the newly powered Taki and Olivia trying to find a balance between doing superheroics, living regular lives and oh yeah, grammar/junior high school. All the while, the folks that gave them, and their "friend", powers, seek to replicate the process by any means necessary. Still a little off-putting that the team behind Powers is doing an all-ages book like this BUT it does work from a purity standpoint.


To close out this listing, I retrieved Black Panther: Bad Mutha and The Bride, Volumes #3 & 4 of the Reginald Hudlin & Scot Eaton run. The storyline of T'Challa finding a wife runs through both books as in Bad Mutha, his path goes across Luke Cage, Shang-Chi, and Blade. Then in The Bride, he finds his Queen in Ororo Munroe, a.k.a. Storm as we go through the trials and tribulations on the path to marriage. I give the Hudlin run credit for the heartfelt/family moments that seemingly have been ostracized from today's comics. He weaves those seamlessly through political and social moments in a matter that kept me as a reader engaged. 


WHEW! Ok I had time to breathe during this week but upcoming weeks I have Ghostbusters, TMNT 2, Independence Day 2, the return of Hunters and Wynonna Earp AND Killjoys along with Dark Matter returning for Season 2. Oh yeah, Preacher is starting to rev up and The Last Ship returns. Yeah. Slate going to be hectic once again in the next month... This was my rest break...


Thanks For Reading Folks! Here is the link to last week's festive Grindhouse episode: 


http://www.blogtalkradio.com/afronerd/2016/06/04/muhammad-ali-passes-namor-returns-flashs-new-director-the-grind6pm-est

Muhammad Ali Passes; Namor Returns; Flash's New Director-The Grind@6pm EST www.blogtalkradio.com

What more can be said? Muhammad Ali will never be seen again and hopefully in death, the generation will learn major lessons about dignity and honor when researching his life. For sure in this digital age, we will never get an athlete with the mythology like this again. But I hope that we do get more with the social outlook and the pride of The Champ. He is already sorely missed and it has only been 4 days....


Until Next Time, Keep Fantasizing!