#122: San Diego Special

As most of you know, I’m presently in San Diego enjoying, I hope, Comicon. But I’m still around these parts as well. How? Why? Is it a doppelganger, an impostor, a clone or a robot? Well, maybe. I thought I’d try to whip you all up a stopgap Newsletter for this week to stave off boredom until I return. It’s mostly going to be down and dirty, but hey, it’ll give you something to do on a Sunday morning while I’m nursing my overworked leg and trying to make my cross-country flight. So let’s go!

Pimp My Wednesday

Here’s the easiest thing to do ahead of time. It’s a big week for new releases for our office!

BLOOD HUNT #5 wraps up our big vampire series with a resolution that I don’t think most people will see coming! It sets the stage for what we’ll be doing in 2025 in a big way, and it’s brought to you by the competitive team of Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz.

Man, that’s one of the craziest covers that Alex Ross has ever done, isn’t it? FANTASTIC FOUR #22 is a milestone issue for a couple of reasons. First off, it’s a tie-in to BLOOD HUNT, and one that’ll give away the end beat of the main series. So if you’re buying both, read BLOOD HUNT #5 first. Secondly, in addition to the main story by Ryan North and Ivan Fiorelli, the issue also includes the fourth chapter of DEADPOOL/WOLVERINE: WEAPON X-TRACTION by Ryan North and Javier Garron for no extra cost!

And speaking of DEADPOOL/WOLVERINE: WEAPON X-TRACTION, parts three and five can be found, respectively, in SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER #3 and IMMORTAL THOR #13. (Part four, of course, is in FANTASTIC FOUR #22.) Looks like somebody fouled up and the WEAPON X-TRACTION cover blurb got left off of SPIDER-GWEN, but take my word for it, the chapter is in there! So don’t miss it!

Elsewhere, Annalise Bissa is shipping the final issue of X-MEN: HEIR OF APOCALYPSE, #4, written by Steve Foxe and drawn by Netho Diaz. We liked Netho’s work here so much that he’s finning in on X-MEN #4. What’s more, this book features the first appearance of a new player on the mutant scene, one whom you can expect some wild things from as we head into 2025!

And further out in X-Land, editor Mark Basso has assembled X-FORCE #1, written by Geoffrey Thorne and illustrated by Marcus To. As always, X-FORCE is a badass of a book, but this time it’s got just a hint of PLANETARY about it. and if you’re one of the fans who’ve been bombarding me with requests for Betsy Braddock or Rachel Summers, here’s your meat! Plus, who doesn’t love special guest star Deadpool this week, am I right? It’s another singular X-Title from the FROM THE ASHES line, the last one to ship in this inaugural month! So please check it out and let us know what you think, yeah?

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Behind the Curtain

I drew the pair of cartoons below on a single piece of blotter paper in the late 1990s. I don’t entirely remember what prompted it, but I seem to recall that my assistant at the time, Gregg Schigiel, had gotten into a conversation with some other Bullpen folks about mashing up the Peanuts characters with the X-Men. These were my two hastily-scrawled contributions.

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A Comic Book On Sale Years Ago Today, July 28

You’ll never know now, will you?

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A Comic I Worked On That Came Out On This Date

AVENGERS #500 came out on July 28, 2004. There’s a really juicy story behind this book. But no time to tell it today! It’ll just have to remain in the vault!

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The Deathlok Chronicles

I didn’t work on this issue of SLEEPWALKER in which Deathlok guest-starred, so I don’t really have much of anything to say about it. But it was written by Bob Budiansky, the editor who had oversight over the DEATHLOK relaunch. Bob butted heads somewhat with both of the writers, Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright, as well as my self concerning the direction the character and the series would take. So this issue would probably give you some sense as to how he felt Deathlok might be better handled.

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Monofocus

I spent the first part of the week knocking through episodes of the first half of the final, sixth season of COBRA KAI on Netflix. And while it’s still fun enough and I still enjoy it, I can’t escape the sense that it’s central premise has outlived its lifespan, and that the series is running in circles somewhat. Might have been best to end it sooner.

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Posted at TomBrevoort.com

Yesterday, I didn’t post crap. But here’s a photo of a cute kitten.

Five years ago, I wrote about The Four Work Stages of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

And ten years ago, I posted a 2003 piece I had written about the late Joe Sinnott, back before he wasn’t late yet.

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And that’ll take us out! I really don’t know why I spend so much time on these Newsletters every week rather than banging them out like this one! In any case, I’ll be back to pontificating for far too long next week in this same space—so keep a light on, hear?

Hat’s All, Folks!

Tom B