u/Aware-Nothing575

Here are the top 5 comics for July 2026, out this month is 'Avengers Armageddon', it's second issue dropped 3rd to 10th place this month, once again proving Marvel is having a hard time reaching its core audience. Also dropping from 5th to 14th is Batman #11, this one is a bit of shocker since the title has been very strong since its debut.

Cracking the 5th spot is a Marvel title, 'Queen in Black' #1 is Al Ewing's latest featuring an all out battle Hela of Asgard and Knull God of the Void, no doubt pushing the sales figures was the 'True Believers Blind Bags' which coincided with the new release, these bags contain exclusive variant comic book covers featuring a cosmic clash between Hela and Knull that cannot be bought through standard open-to-order listings.

Coming in 4th place is Image Comics' high-profile, violent superhero series 'Terminal' written by Robert Kirkman and Joe Casey with art by Andy Kubert, the story follows Marilyn Howe as she searches for her missing sister Alessandra, landing right in the middle of a secret, brutal global war between two superhuman factions.

Dropping 2 spots from last month is 'Absolute Catwoman' #2, this issue sees Selina Kyle attempting to recover after a run-in with mystery assailants.

Moving up 3 spots from last month is Absolute Green Arrow #3, where Dinah must capture the Green Arrow Killer as she finally finds Oliver Queen’s protégé.

The number one comic from July and up one spot from last month is Absolute Batman #22 featuring the Robins, Harley Quinn's origins and her connection to Ark M. Those are the top 5 for July 2026, what did you pick up?

On this day in 2015 'Ms. Marvel #17' hit comic-shops, featuring the team up between Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel for the first time, written by G. Willow Wilson with interiors and inks by Adrian Alphona and a hilarious cover by Kris Anka. This issue holds an 8.6 critic score from 10 reviews and an 8.3 reader score on Comic Book RoundUp. Critics especially praised Kamala Khan’s long-awaited meeting with Carol Danvers and the emotional balance of the story. Price Charting currently lists near mint issues at $30.

This is my copy of 'The X-Files: Season 10' #19 from December 2014, written by Joe Harris with a cover by Francesco Francavilla and interiors by Tom Mandrake. This issue kicks off the two-part "G-23" storyline where a new conspiracy forces Fox Mulder to look back at his early history as a cadet at Quantico. Chris Carter, who created the television series, is the Executive Producer of the comic book series and also contributed to several elements to the comics' stories. This issue is currently listed at $10.25 on the Price Charting website.

This may be the most extravagant edition of 'A Game of Thrones' ever created. To celebrate the novel’s 30th anniversary, The Folio Society is releasing an enormous new limited edition of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy classic—and they are only making 1,000 copies. The original 'A Game of Thrones' was first published in 1996, launching the series that would eventually sell more than 90 million books and inspire one of the biggest television shows ever made. This new edition collects the entire 872-page novel in one massive volume, complete with all of Jonathan Burton’s original illustrations and an introduction by fantasy author Joe Abercrombie. But the presentation is where things get ridiculous. The book is bound in what The Folio Society calls dragon-skin leather, with gilded edges, handmade endpapers, leather head and tailbands, and illustrations mounted inside decorative borders. Every copy is also personally signed by George R.R. Martin on a limitation label stamped in real gold. The book comes inside a specially designed clamshell box featuring gold and silver detailing, a suedelux interior, and even a hidden compartment containing a rolled linen map. Folio Society editor James Rose said the finished volume looks like something taken directly from the library of the Citadel, calling it an edition worthy of the Iron Throne. Of course, owning something worthy of the Iron Throne is not going to be cheap. The limited edition is priced at £1,500, or $2,200 U.S., and went on sale exclusively through The Folio Society last month. So, is this the ultimate collector’s edition—or would you rather spend that money buying an actual sword?

Morbius is back—and he's not just biting necks, he's biting off more than he can chew! In this issue, we dive into a bloody turf war in Brownsville, explosive gang politics, and a vampire anti-hero who just can’t stop making everything worse. But this isn't just another plot breakdown—oh no! We’re unpacking the real-life history behind North Brother Island, spotlighting the Eisner-winning talent behind the scenes, and connecting the dots between Morbius, The Rose, and Marvel’s ambitious 2013 relaunch. Want to know why this issue matters and what made it one of the grittiest turns for the Living Vampire? Then stick around, because this is more than a comic—it’s a full-blown Marvel autopsy. Let’s get into it.

Continuing the story from previous issues, which sees Morbius on the run after his escape from the prison known as The Raft. He makes his way to Brownsville, just outside of New York, in an attempt to lay low. His plans go awry almost immediately when he crosses paths with Noah St. Germain, the ‘godfather’ of Brownsville.  After taking a shotgun to the chest and being left for dead, Morbius confronts St. Germain at his compound, complete with gun-tooting gangsters and St. Germain’s very young nephew. Morbius’ blood lust gets the better of him and he kills St. Germain, leaving a power vacuum in Brownsville but, more importantly, leaving Morbius locked in a warehouse full of people trying to kill him. He manages to escape only to be caught again and returned to the warehouse, where he is tasked with saving St. Germain’s life, but fails to do so.

As issue 4 begins we see a flashback of St. Germain, known then as David Bril, a small-time thug with zero fighting skills or muscle mass, a very far cry from the Noah St. Germain who would take over Brownsville. He is taken to North Brother Island where a mysterious benefactor wishes to discuss his future. 

Back in the present, Morbius is confronted by angry gangsters who no longer have a use for him now that St. Germain is dead. The angriest of the bunch is Rochelle, St. Germain’s former girlfriend. Morbius tries to plead his way out of the situation but it's too late, Rochelle wants him dead and is also willing to kill anyone he cares about, namely St. Germain’s nephew, Henry. Rochelle lets Morbius know that she’s got a man watching him at an all night diner, and all she needs to do is give the word.

As Rochelle and Morbius argue the warehouse is raided by mysterious masked men with a helicopter and heavy weapons, they only seem interested in snatching up St. Germin’s lifeless body. Meanwhile back at the diner Henry’s mother arrives and lets it be known that she is not afraid of the armed gangster or anyone else who wants to harm her son.

At the warehouse Rochelle and Morbius, temporary allies, fight off the masked intruders but fail to stop them from grabbing Noah. One of these masked men fries Morbius with electricity from his fingers, and they quickly vanish into the night. Rochelle tells Morbius about the true impact of his actions; Noah may have been a gangster but he was the only thing keeping people with even worse intentions from taking over Brownsville.

Back on North Brother island our mystery man takes ownership of Noah’s body, happy that it did not get into the ‘wrong’ hands. He bemoans the appearance of Morbius on the scene but doesn’t seem too worried. The final panel reveals that our mysterious man is none other than ‘The Rose’.

The story continues in issue 5

This issue was written by Joe Keatinge. Keatinge is best known for his writing work with Marvel & Image, and as the co-editor of Popgun with Mark Andrew Smith. He began his career working with Erik Larsen on Image Comic’s Savage Dragon. He has contributed to anthology titles such as Negative Burn with artist Evan Bryce and Fantastic Comics #24 with artists Michael Allred and Laura Allred, which was part of The Next Issue Project. He won a Harvey Award for his work on PopGun Volume 1 in 2008 and an Eisner Awards for PopGun Volume 3 in 2010.

This issue was penciled and inked by Richard Elson. Elson has worked on other Marvel titles like Thor and Journey Into Mystery during Kieron Gillen's run writing the titles. He ended up working on almost the entirety of this short Morbius run. 

Colorist Antonio Fabela has collaborated with major publishers like Marvel and DC Comics, contributing to titles such as "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Superior Spider-Man," "Lucifer," and "Thanos." Fabela's distinctive coloring style has significantly enhanced the visual storytelling of numerous series. Beyond his coloring work, he engages with fans on social media platforms, sharing insights into his creative process and showcasing his latest projects. His contributions continue to influence the comic book industry, inspiring both readers and aspiring artists.

This issue’s striking cover art was created by David López. López started his comics career in his native Spain before moving to the American market in 2002. He is best known for co-creating and illustrating the first volume of Fallen Angel, co-created by writer Peter David, and published by DC. López is also known for his lengthy run on DC's Catwoman and his work on All-New Wolverine.

Eisner award winning letterer Clayton Cowles worked on this issue. Cowles graduated from the Joe Kubert School just four years prior and immediately began working on big names titles like Daredevil, Star Wars, and Batman. He has worked with Marvel, DC and Image Comics

Editor Sana Amanat has worked on comics such as Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel. Amanat is known for co-creating Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, the first Muslim-American superhero with a solo Marvel Comics series. Amanat runs the annual Women of Marvel panel at Comic Con and does work to make Marvel characters more diverse. Since 2014, Amanat has also co-hosted the Women of Marvel podcast, the podcast has released over 300 episodes.

Editor in Chief at that time was Axel Alonso. Alonso would be Marvel’s EIC until November 2017. In the late 90’s he worked at DC, under their Vertigo line, on titles like Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Hellblazer, and Preacher. In 2000 he went to work for Marvel Comics as a senior editor. In 2011 he was promoted to Editor in Chief, replacing Joe Quesada. 

So who exactly is Morbius? Created by Roy Thomas and designed by Gil Kane Morbius, made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #101 in October of 1971. Prior to 1971 the Comics Code Authority, the comic industry’s self-censorship board, banned the use of creatures like Vampires or Werewolves in comics. However loosened regulations now gave Marvel an opportunity to introduce more supernatural-type characters into their stable.  Roy Thomas had wanted Spider-Man to fight the actual Dracula, which he eventually does, but Stan Lee wanted a costumed hero instead. So the concept of Michael Morbius was created. 

Michael Morbius is a biochemist who contracts a rare blood disease. He tries to cure himself by using a combination of experimental chemicals, electroshock therapy, and genetic samples of vampire bats. An experiment gone wrong mutates him into a "living vampire", a life form with abilities and traits resembling actual vampires.

The Rose’s base of operations is on North Brother Island, which is a very real place. The North and South Brother islands are a pair of small islands located in New York City's East River between the mainland Bronx and Rikers Island. North Brother Island was once the site of the Riverside Hospital for quarantinable diseases but is now uninhabited. The Island has about 20 acres of land. In 2007 it was designated as a sanctuary for water birds. Public access is prohibited but permission is occasionally given to researchers and journalists.

In 1915 Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, was confined to the island hospital for over two decades until she died there in November 1938. Researchers estimate that Mallon had contaminated "at least one hundred and twenty two people, including five who died".

Speaking of The Rose, who is this character? Simply put, The Rose is an alias of several villains in the Marvel Comic Universe, the first rose was Richard Fisk the son of Wilson Fisk AKA The Kingpin. The second Rose was a rogue police officer named Sergeant Blume, who was looking for revenge on The Kingpin after the death of his brother, another policeman. 

Jacob Conover was a reporter at The Daily Bugle who was under the control of crime lord Don Fortunado. Adopting the persona of The Rose he was able to rule the streets of New York for a time while The Kingpin was not in the picture. 

The Rose from this run of Morbius is Dr. Phillip Hayes, a former gene-therapy researcher at Phelcorps labs who is fired after an accident. He utilizes a synthesized drug called Ebony to enhance his test subjects. 

In 2022 Screen Rant included The Rose in their “Top 10 Spider-Man Villains who are smarter than they seem” list. 

The action in this issue takes place in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Brownsville is predominately a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The area that would become Brownsville was first used by the Dutch for farming, as well as manufacturing stone slabs and other things used to construct buildings. Since the late 20th century, Brownsville has consistently held one of the highest poverty and crime rates of any neighborhood in New York City.

This issue features the “Marvel NOW!’ Branding on the cover, this was Marvel’s name for the relaunch of several comics that debuted in October the year prior. Several new #1’s were relaunched including this title. Marvel NOW was described as a shifting of the Marvel Universe following the conclusion of the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, it entailed changes to both the publishing format and the universe to attract new readers. Marvel NOW went through several waves before coming to an end in May 2015. A second Marvel Now!, Marvel Now! 2.0, debuted in 2016 following the "Civil War II" storyline, it was then followed up in 2017 by Marvel Legacy.

Despite the serialized format of this new run of Morbius, I liked this issue, even if I was missing quite a bit of context at first. I am a big fan of Fabela’s work and I find his pairing with Richard Elson art works really well for the style and tone they were going for. Joe Keatinge’s writing is realistic and grounded in reality, which helps when your protagonist is a living vampire who is also a famous biochemist . We need a little bit of reality when working with this version of Michael Morbius. 

The two main story beats in this issue are the action at the warehouse and the drama at the 24 hour diner, they are both tied together as a result of Michael’s bad decisions and impulsive actions. Which is going to be a recurring theme in this series. 

As I mentioned this short run of Morbius is highly serialized, telling the entire story of his time in Brownsville and was most likely a worldbuilding effort to give Michael a base of operations. Unfortunately this title was cancelled after 9 issues so we never got to see the outcome of this storyline. Morbius would continue to pop up in other series for a while, usually as a sometimes friend or foe to Spider-Man. In 2019 a new series was announced simply called Morbius, this run only lasted 5 issues and was cancelled due to the COVID Pandemic.

I’ve seen issues for sale on Ebay ranging from $3.99 to $24.99, MyComicShop.com has issues for sale at $3.00 and Price Charting is listing mint or near mint issues selling for as much as $23.  

2013 was a year of continuing reinvention for Marvel Comics. The year earlier they announced the Marvel ReEvolution initiative that included Marvel NOW! launches and a line of digital comics and Marvel AR, an application that provides an augmented reality experience to readers. By April of 2013 Marvel and parent company Disney began announcing massive joint projects that covered all manner of Disney-owned IPs. 

2013 was a strong year for comic sales as a whole, both Marvel and DC continued to see year over year increases in sales. In fact the entire year saw some months perform so well they beat records from the 1990s. Of the 4 big publishers in 2013, Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse, Marvel dominated with over 50% of all units sold. 

The top selling Marvel titles were Superior Spider-Man, Avengers, All New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Age of Ultron. The top 5 Marvel comics sold that year were all number ones from Marvel’s ReEvolution Initiative: Guardians of the Galaxy #1, Superior Spider-Man #1, Infinity #1, X-Men #1 and Age of Ultron #1 with a combined 1 Million units sold or 4% of all comics sold that year.

Ads were still popular in comics in 2013, although severely limited and most had comic themed tie ins. The Iron Man 3 MCU film was promoted on the cover, there was also a full page advertisement inside. Dr. Pepper also ran 2 ads, on the inside cover they featured Dr. Pepper TEN, a diet version of their drink. The back cover featured a Captain America themed ad for the drink. 

Continuing the Iron Man theme, Marvel was promoting the Blu-Ray & Ultraviolet release of Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore animated movie. Meanwhile Iron Man is featured front and center in an ad for Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers #6. 

Esurance and Star Trek into Darkness were running an ad to win tickets to see the film. Meanwhile the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo or C2E2 was selling tickets for the April 2013 event. C2E2 is still going strong and is planning their next event for March 2026.

Marvel was promoting Scarlet Spider #17, the start of the ‘Wrath’ storyline, featuring Wolverine. Finally a new series of Trading Cards called ‘Marvel’s Greatest Battles’ illustrated by Pablo Marcos, Anthony Tan, Andy Price, Cezar Razek, Charles Hall, Matias Streb, and others.

This week I wanted to feature a comic shop in Brownsville, I found one nearby in Brooklyn called Anyone Comics, if you are in the area I recommend checking them out on 831 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn or visit anyonecomics.com.

So there you have it—Morbius: The Living Vampire #4. A gritty, blood-soaked slice of Marvel NOW! storytelling with gang wars, vampire ethics, and a crime boss mystery straight off a forgotten island. This issue may have flown under the radar, but now you know why it deserves a second look.

To celebrate the release of 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' lets take a look at the possible comics that may have influenced the story. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Jacob Batalon, Zendaya, Sadie Sink and Tom Holland as Spider-Man the official synopsis reads "A forgotten Peter Parker lives alone as a full-time Spider-Man until mounting pressure triggers a dangerous change and a powerful new enemy emerges." The production team have discussed several comic influences, although they have not described the movie as a direct adaptation of the 2008 “Brand New Day” storyline. Director Destin Daniel Cretton and Tom Holland appeared in an official promotional featurette explaining that several action shots were designed to reproduce famous comic covers as seen in the trailer, these include Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #1, The Amazing Spider-Man #345, Spider-Man Adventures #2 & The Amazing Spider-Man #221. He explained that Peter no longer has Tony Stark, advanced technology or a mentor to depend upon. Peter makes his own costume, lives alone, struggles personally and handles street-level crime in New York. Producer Amy Pascal said the ending of 'No Way Home' deliberately returned Peter to a situation resembling his traditional comic status quo: “We decided to…take him back to a place where nobody knew who he was because that is always Spider-Man’s dilemma.” SPOILERS consistent rumors persist regarding the true plot and characters of the film, these include:

- Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey or Gwen Stacy or Rachel Summers
- Peter is becoming Man-Spider
- Mister Negative is the hidden main villain
- The real villain is Mister Sinister
- Marvel is quietly beginning the Clone Saga
- Hulk is being mentally controlled
- Miles Morales receives his first proper MCU introduction
- MJ or Ned begins remembering Peter

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out now.

Did you know there are roughly 250 distinct Spider-Men/Women or others within the Marvel multiverse? And potentially hundreds more once you include every unnamed cameos, game and promotional universes. This includes alternate Peter Parkers, spider-powered heroes, animal, robotic, prehistoric and supernatural Spider-variants and variants introduced specifically for 'Spider-Verse', 'Spider-Geddon' and later multiversal stories. The reason this is only an estimate is due to the fact that Marvel has never published a definitive census. Its own Spider-Verse reading guide says its featured characters are only a “select few,” rather than a complete catalogue. Marvel’s original 'Spider-Verse' event alone assembled an enormous roster drawn from comics, animation, games, newspaper strips, manga and parody realities. Later events kept adding new characters.

Three of the oddest versions includes 'Spider-Man', from Earth-11580 and first spotted in 'Spider-Geddon' #3, from 2018, this character is actually thousands of radioactive spiders carrying Peter Parker’s collective consciousness. We also have Spider-Ma’am from Earth-3123, who made her debut in 'Spider-Verse Team-Up' #3 from 2015, on this Earth Aunt May was bitten instead of Peter, as she was at the science demonstration to give Peter his forgotten lunch. Finally my favorite, is Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, hailing from Earth-8311 and first seen all the way back in 1983's 'Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham' #1. Contrary to popular belief, Peter Porker was NOT a pig imbued with spider powers, he began as an ordinary spider named Peter who lived in the basement laboratory of May Porker. May, an anthropomorphic pig scientist, accidentally irradiated herself and bit Peter. The bite transformed the spider into an anthropomorphic pig while apparently retaining his spider abilities. Marvel describes Earth-8311 as a world populated by talking-animal versions of Marvel characters.

Honourable mentions to Arachnosaur; A Spider-Man who is quite literally a dinosaur, the Sentient Spider-Mobile; Spider-Man’s Spider-Mobile became a living, heroic machine & 'Web-Slinger and Widow'; A Wild West Spider-Man whose horse is also spider-powered.

So, who decided that Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man would be a teen? That boils down a purposeful choice by Stan Lee to go against the grain of having adult superheroes working with teen sidekicks, he decided to make the teen the hero. In a 1979 interview with Martin Kent, Lee explained: “I had always wanted to do a strip about a superhero as a kid...I decided to make Spider-Man like a real teenager.” Lee often told a story that than Marvel publisher Martin Goodman objected to the idea, reportedly telling Lee that “Teenagers can only be sidekicks.” Artist Steve Ditko, who designed the look of the character, purposefully gave him a full face mask, he said “I did it because it hid an obviously boyish face.”  He added that the concealed face allowed readers to imagine themselves behind the mask. So who decided that Spider-Man was a teenager? This one sits squarely at the feet of Stan Lee.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, were first presented in 1988, based on works published in 1987. The awards ceremony has been held at San Diego Comic-Con every year since 1991. The awards are named in honor of pioneering cartoonist and writer Will Eisner, who was a regular participant in the ceremony until his death in 2005. The nominations in each category are generated by a five- to six-member jury, then voted on by comic book professionals. The jury often consists of at least one comics retailer, one librarian, and one academic researcher, among other comic experts. The Eisners are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred to as the industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards.

This is Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #548, released on this date in 2008. Written by Dan Slott with cover and interiors by Steve McNiven, this issue wrapped up the first month of the "Brand New Day" storyline and features the fallout of the deadly "Blood Ties" conflict, this issue is also wraps up the first story featuring villain Mister Negative. In this issue, Spider-Man discovers he is immune to the red poison gas killing local mobsters, and a deadly trap is resolved. The finale ends with a shocking twist revelation regarding the villainous mob boss and sets up major ongoing threats for Peter Parker's life. Price Charting currently lists mint editions of this comic at $79

This is 'Captain America: The First Avenger', released on this date in 2011 starring Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers AKA Captain America. While not based on one specific comic, the creative team used various elements from many eras of Captain America comics. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely stated in an interview with 'Slash Film' that their primary vision was the original version of Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. “In a way, this movie is the Kirby-Simon Captain America”, meanwhile Christopher Markus named writer Ed Brubaker and his run as the film’s strongest tonal model, telling JoBlo "Tonally Brubaker was the most influential because he is certainly the most grounded in reality. The least ‘man in tights’ treatment.” Director Joe Johnston admitted to 'Slash Film' that he was not initially a major Captain America reader: “I was mildly familiar with the comic book, but I wasn’t a fan of the comic…” Once he accepted the film, however, he undertook extensive research “I read every Captain America comic that I could get and I sort of researched where he came from and where he started and the various iterations of him over the decades.”

This is my issue of 'The Energon Universe Special' the Free Comic Book Day 2024 edition. Featuring a cover by Ryan Ottley & Annalisa Leoni this issue is a 32-page one-shot featuring three interconnected stories. The issue includes three key narratives: Transformers: Answers major questions like Where Is Megatron and sets the stage for new battles. G.I. Joe: Provides narrative context following events in Duke and Cobra Commander. Void Rivals: Teases new directions and deepens the shared lore. It was written by Robert Kirkman, Joshua Williamson, and Daniel Warren Johnson. It is currently listed at $44 dollars on Price Charting off it’s highs of $187 in May of 2024.

Last weekend was the annual Montreal Comiccon event, where starts, artists, shops and fans all mingle together. The fast-growing Comiccon exploded from a few hundred guests in 2009 to over 65,000 visitors to become one of Montreal's most popular annual events. The show features a vast exhibit room, an artist alley, corporate and interactive booths, guest panels, film screenings, celebrity autograph and photo sessions, a costume contest and a masquerade, and a multitude of activities for pop culture fans of all ages. After spending hours walking the con floor, and spending entirely too much money, I had the opportunity to sit down with 3 artists to interview them about their work.

Mike Rooth is a Canadian comic book artist, writer, and designer known for his energetic, highly expressive artwork and distinctive painted style. After spending years in animation and concept design, he transitioned into comics, contributing covers and interiors for publishers including DC Comics, Marvel, Image Comics, Dark Horse, and IDW. Rooth has worked on titles such as The New 52: Futures End, Swamp Thing, and The Empty Man. He is also a frequent guest at comic conventions across North America. https://www.instagram.com/uncouthrooth/?hl=en

Yanick Paquette is an acclaimed Canadian comic book artist from Quebec, celebrated for his intricate layouts, dynamic storytelling, and elegant linework. Since the 1990s, he has illustrated major titles for both Marvel and DC, including Wonder Woman, Batman Incorporated, Swamp Thing, X-Men, and Ultimate X-Men. His collaboration with writer Grant Morrison on Wonder Woman: Earth One earned widespread praise for its bold visual style. Paquette remains one of Canada's most respected and influential comic artists. https://www.instagram.com/yanickpaquette/?hl=en

Sweeney Boo is a Montreal-based comic book artist, writer, and illustrator known for her colorful, expressive style that blends manga influences with Western comics. She has worked with DC Comics, Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Archie Comics, and IDW, contributing to titles including Harley Quinn, Punchline: The Gotham Game, Love Everlasting, and Eat, and Love Yourself. Alongside her comic work, she has illustrated children's books and developed a large following through her vibrant artwork and character designs. https://www.instagram.com/sweeney\_boo/

Plans are already underway for Comiccon 2027, see you there next year!

In my continuing series on musical artists and genres that reference comic books in their lyrics, I want to focus on Punk, the 70's musical genre that is rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the overproduction and corporate nature of mainstream arena rock. They typically produce short, fast-paced songs with rough, stripped-down vocals and instrumentation, and anti-establishment themes. Case in point our first example, American band 'Suicide' released a song called Ghost Rider, Alan Vega, the band’s vocalist and lyricist, said during an interview “Ghost Rider was from a comic book—that was my favorite comic…”. In fact the band name was also taken directly from an issue of Ghost Rider. Years later Henry Rollins recorded a version of "Ghost Rider" for his solo debut, Hot Animal Machine, his version of the song at a much slower tempo, was used on the soundtrack to another comic film, The Crow.

The Ramones recorded a cover of The 1967 Spider-Man theme in 1995 for the tribute album 'Saturday Morning: Cartoons’ Greatest Hits', Tommy Ramone said the group’s sound and visual presentation drew partly from comics: “We were influenced by comic books, movies, the Andy Warhol scene, and avant-garde films. I was a big Mad magazine fan myself.”.

Finally, the English band The Who recorded a cover of the 1966 Batman theme during the height of the Adam West television series. It appeared on their UK EP 'Ready Steady Who'. Their version replaces the original’s polished surf-jazz feel with Pete Townshend’s distorted guitar, John Entwistle’s heavy bass and Keith Moon’s frantic drumming—essentially turning the TV theme into an early Who-style garage-rock workout. Founding member of The Who Pete Townshend once told CBR  “I’ve dipped in and out of the world of graphic novels a few times—as a publisher, a bookshop owner in the ’70s and as an editor later on when I worked at Faber....I love comics.”

Here are the top selling comics for June 2026, once again a Marvel title has cracked the top 5, but it's not a Daredevil title.

Coming in 5th is DC's Batman #10, superstars Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez continue their triumphant run on this title with Batman coping with the repercussions of Vandal Savage's crackdown on the Bat-Family.

Coming in 4th place is Absolute Green Arrow #2, still reeling from the disturbing discoveries of last issue’s final pages, Dinah investigates one suspect on her list of DC archers—Mia Dearden—and stumbles on a secret from Oliver Queen’s past that will change everything.

Marvel's entry this month is Avengers Armageddon #1, this five-issue event series from Chip Zdarsky and rising stars Frank Alpizar and Delio Diaz follows the buildup in Captain America and Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon and leads to a transformative shakeup of the team—the likes of which haven’t been felt since Avengers: Disassembled.

In second place is Absolute Batman #21 where friends become enemies. Enemies become friends. Final forms are revealed, and Scarecrow’s reign of terror threatens to upend everything.

The number one selling comic for June 2026 is Catwoman's solo debut in Absolute Catwoman #1. Selina Kyle has built quite a life for herself, and has managed to escaped her past in Gotham. But when someone comes knocking at her door, Selina’s life comes crashing down around here. She’ll need to get to the bottom of a mystery taking her all around the globe! Those were to top 5 comics of June 2026, what did you pick up?

This is the original X-Men movie, which was released on this date in 2000, starring Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry and a then-unknown Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. While no specific comic was referenced in making the film, screenwriter David Hayter specifically called out Chris Claremont’s X-Men run as his bible for the script. Telling Inverse "Everything in the movies was shaped by my love of Chris Claremont’s work.” Hayter recalls a story where he met Claremont and the renowned comic writer recognized his work in the film (“Does it hurt?” / “Every time”). Thinking back to when this film was made, a decade after the success of Batman, but after a long string of unsuccessful, and expensive, comic movie flops, the studio and the director wanted to shy away from much of the comic property. Producer Ralph Winter discussed the black leather suits with SYFY Wire for the film’s 20th anniversary. He said the “yellow spandex” joke was directed at fans, not to mock them, but to acknowledge that they wanted the traditional comic costumes, we were saying “Hey, we hear you. We understand what you want… you’d rather have everybody in the traditional garb. But we also have to make a movie that reaches a wide audience to justify the budget.” The film proved to be a success, and in many ways kicked off the comic movie industry boom that is still alive to this day.

So, who decided how Cyclops' powers work? That's a bit of mixed bag, with some fun confusion thrown into the mix. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Cyclops made his debut in The X-Men #1 from September 1963. Cyclops is Scott Summers, a mutant trained at the Xavier School for Gifted Children and one of Xavier's original 'X-Men', Summers' mutant powers are concussive blasts produced from his eyes, depending on the intensity desired, Cyclops has been known to blast through walls, decapitate giant robot sentinels and more. When Lee and Kirby designed the character they knew two things, 1 - his powers were not heat vision, and 2 - he was not fully in control of them. Lee, who always loved giving his superheroes a handicap, also wanted to make sure that Summers was effectively blind without the use of his visor or distinctive ruby quartz glasses of some kind, he could never really make personal eye contact with anyone. In 1968 Roy Thomas expanded on exactly how Summers' powers worked, he has the mutant ability to absorb solar radiation and channel it out through his eyes as concussive blasts. During Chris Claremont's epic run on the X-Men series he defined it even further by saying Scott's powers are not in his control due to childhood trauma, and that he could control his powers if he overcame this. Some of you may be saying 'no way, his eyes are portals to The Punch Dimension', while this was written in 1983's official handbook by Mark Gruenwald, it was walked back 3 years later in 1986. However, jump to 2004 and a compromise was decided; Scott Summers' ability to absorb solar ration allows for his eyes to open small portals to the another dimension, thereby keeping both stories intact. So who decided how Cyclops' powers work? I'd say that's a healthy mix of Lee, Kirby, Thomas, Claremont, Gruenwald and a whole editorial staff at Marvel, 'nuff said.

Back HOME from Montreal Comic-Con and am super stoked to have picked up the Michaud Brothers' 'Home' graphic novel. On the surface, HΩME is a black and white science fiction comic created by brothers Marc and Daniel Michaud. Inside the cover, you’ll find it is in fact TWO distinct yet linked series: ARC29 and DEMETER. ARC29, by Marc Michaud and WINNER of a 2022 Bédélys award for best independent English comic, tells the story of a young man inheriting a spaceship and coming to terms with his newfound responsibilities. DEMETER, by Daniel Michaud, recounts the struggle of colonizing a new and harsh planet under impossible circumstances. Working together yet individually,  Marc and Daniel each draw and tell their own stories that are set in a shared universe. They build and cross-pollinate their respective worlds in interesting and unexpected ways with shared histories, locations, and characters.

I cannot wait to dig into it, mind you...my backlog is getting a little too big!

Pickup HOME by the Michaud Brothers here! https://homecomics.ca/products/book-1