The Gray Ghost by DC collectibles
Fear The Walking Dead Season 5, Episode 4 “Skidmark” Recap
Last week’s episode, we seen the debut of Dwight on Fear and it is one of my favorite epiasodes of the series for reasons I explained on my review of last week’s episode. How does Fear follow that awesome debut one week later? By having an episode that is very puzzling and good at the same time. There are moments that will have your head scratching at least seven times during the episode, But it is up to you to judge when that happens. There is also an awesome moment as well, but I will save it for now as I deep right into the fourth episode of Fear The Walking Dead titled “Skidmark”.
As you know by now, Skidmark is the name of Daniel’s cute little cat and the episode begins as he and Skidmark are shown bonding as Daniel puts on a record player and also puts the colar on him along with him taking down a few walkers in one area. Then while he is at the abandoned supermarket, he sees a door gun trap at the front of the supermarket that is inside. He triggers the trap and he is lucky that the machine gun did not get him. He also takes down another walker after the trap triggered. He then enters the store to take the supplies and guns and marks down the traps on the map. He also says that there are three more traps too. After he puts the guns and supplies away, he makes himself dinner which is tomato soup.
Later in the night, Strand, Wendell, Sarah, and Charlie are back at Daniel’s location as Charlie tries to infiltrate the area. She is almost caught, but she ends up in Daniel’s car and hides there. No luck for her as Daniel decides to drive the car that she is in. In the morning, Juliana gives Dylan Breakfast as Morgan contacts the rest of the gang. Dylan begins to talk to Morgan and the rest as Morgan assures him that he does not have to be afraid of them. Dylan asks them if they will leave once they get the plane as we then transition to Strand and the rest as they plan to hijack the plane that they found. Unbeknowist to them, Daniel knows that they are taking the plane as he left a note on the window. Strand and Daniel then talk on the radio as Daniel says that he will make his promise if Strand and the rest are still there when he comes back. Sarah then tells Daniel over the radio that he should just give them the plane and they will leave afterwards. Daniel then tells her to stay away from him and he also says that “he sent a child to do their dirty work”. He even says that he will save Charlie from Strand. Strand, Sarah, and Wendell try to come up with a plan to get Charlie back and Daniel tells Charlie that he will not hurt her at all and she also sees the map of the trap locations and she asks him if he set them up in which he replied by saying that he did not.
Back to Dylan and Luciana as they talk about the book she wanted him to read and gives him an explanation of the book. After she leaves the area, Dylan contacts Max and Annie on the radio as we see more walkers tied together for a road block. It was also there that we see one of the helicopter group’s members (now known as the initinals CRM) taking down walkers as Max and Annie hide. Daniel and Skidmark are at another store that is not only full of walkers, but also by another machinegun trap. Charlie tells him the plan of how to get the gun without getting caught by the dead. She sounds very resourceful so I will give her that. Her and Charlie also talk about the place and then proceeded to their plan as Skidmark attracts the walkers at the window as Daniel and Charlie try to open the back door as the gun trap goes off. They left the area once the windows got shot out as the walkers walk out of the store.
Daniel tells her that they will lead the walkers to a location and take them down one by one. And then we go back to Morgan as he takes down a walker that was attracted by the caged pigeons. Dylan tells them to go away from the forest and also admitted that he lied to the group because he and his brother and sister is scared. Max and Annie also had a close call with walkers and they leave the area as well. Daniel and Strand are on the radio as Charlie also tells them that there is a herd behind them. Daniel then tells Charlie to drive and to take the plane and leave. Charlie then gives the items needed for the plane to Strand and Strand apologizes to Daniel for what happened at the damn a few seasons ago. Charlie then says to the rest that they cannot leave him there by himself trying to take out those walkers.
Max and Annie had another close call with walkers until Morgan and Alicia finally saves them. After that, more teenagers surround the both of them. At the same time, Daniel is still walking with the herd behind him as the music from his radio is attracting them. Sarah tells Daniel to get in the van as the walkers are about to take him out. Sarah tried to do a rapid fire of machine guns from the van but it did not fire at all and then Daniel crawled under the van. Strand then attracts the walkers to the spinners of the plane to chop them down and this scene was gory and also fun to look at as those walkers were chopped to bits and pieces. Daniel finally gives in and tells Strand that he will not shoot him in the face.
Annie then contacts Dylan and the rest of the teenagers put their guns down after Annie convinced were convinced that they are not bad people. before that continues, Daniel tells Charlie, Strand, Wendell, and Sarah that they can stay over there until the plane gets fixed. Morgan also talks about his wife and son to Alicia in a heartwarming conversation but before they can continue, the episode ends as everyone gets on the ground to see the helicopter and the kids are also aware of the group as well.
Although there were good moments on this episode with my favorite parts that involved Daniel and Strand and the gory walker kill montage, and the ending, the story has not moved much. The three kids can begin to get annoying to the viewers and I can see why since it has turned into a cat and mouse game since the first episode. I did liked the episode, but I felt underwhelmed with the plot. Hopefully, we get to find out the idenities of the Helicopter Group very soon as well.
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35 years of the Teenage mutant Ninja turtles
Julian’s Thoughts: Very Expensive Comic Books That are also Controversial
When you go to your local comic book store, you want to check out the newest comic book on sale, or the rarest on the shelves that you know you might afford it or not. It happens every week across the world no matter how old you are. Because of this, you are passionate for comic books and what stories they bring to us in a monthly or bi-monthly basis. With all of that said, there are also very controversial comic books that were either a low print run, called back to reprint them, taken off sale, etc. The reasons to why these comic books faced those situations were due to backlash from readers, fans, or even congress itself. These are the controversial comic books that are now very expensive. If you put the controversy aside of these twelve issues, it is very sought after and if you have one of these copies, the stories you can tell of why it is controversial will have curious people talking.
12. Lois Lane #106 (Estimated Value:$100) (1970)
The cover alone is a dead giveaway to why this book is controversial. From the imagery, to the sub title “I Am Curious (BLACK)!” everything about this cover makes you think “what they were thinking at the time”. It is a racially insenstitive story where Lois Lane utilizes technology that changes her race so that she can experience life as a black woman and to go undercover. At the time this comic was released, the civil rights movement of the 1960’s were still in effect and to read through the pages for the reader to see Lois Lane change her race just so she can experience what everyone else was going through is jaw dropping. The issue tackles those issues such as prejudice, racism, and bigitory and Robert Kanigher did not pull any punches at all to exploit that.
11. Rise of the Black Panther #1 and Mighty Thor #700 Variant Covers (Estimated Value: $300-$1000) (2018)
When something is signed in blood, you know for sure it is serious. The controversy here is that the ink that was on the signature for both of these variant covers contained Stan Lee’s blood. It was also issued a numbered hologram sticker with the words “Hands of Respect” on the cover as well. Things got worse in April 2018 when news broke that a former business associate of the comic book icon Stan Lee allegedly presented forged documents to his personal nurse that gave permission to draw blood from Stan Lee. It does not get as cold blooded as that.
10. Avengers: Custom Edition #1 (Estiated Value: $250) (2017)
The cover of this issue is innocent at a first glance, until you botice that the Northrop Grumman logo is on he bottom of the cover. It was announced in 2017 that these two companies will have a partnership starting with the release of this issue at New York Comic Con and next thing you know, the Twitter feed blew up and even protests were about to begin. The reason for this, is because Northrop is a weapons manufatcure for war. Marvel then announced that the partnership has ended a few days later and pulled the comic from various retailers. So far, only one known copy has sold for $250.
9. Action Comics #869 (Estimated Value: $90) (2008)
The first print of the cover shows Superman holding a beer after that, many issues were pulled and recalled. After that, the second print reedited the beer to make it look like a soda bottle. Nothing more to say here as the first print was a low print run and it is hard to find on various auction sites.
8. July 1990 Issue of Heavy Metal (Estimated Value: $150)
This issue did not get that much attention until during the 2016 presendential election. This issue unintentionally predicted the plans for Donald Trump to build a wall on the Mexican border and it is on full display on many pages of this issue. It is one of those “The Simpsons predicted it” moments in comic books that nobody seen coming and now we are in 2019 and it is still talked about to this day.
7. Weird Fantasy #18 (Estimated Value: $140-$1700) (1953)
Looking at this book now, it actually ages well. But in 1953, there was a huge uproar due to the fact that nobody knew until the end of the issue that the leader of the “Judgment Day” mission was an Africian-American man. They thought that the idea of an Africian American man being the lead of a story at that time was ridiculous. I am glad to see that today many leaders of comic book stories are more diverse than ever before.
6. Tomb of Terror #15 (Estimated Value: $2000) (1954)
This comic book is one of the nine books banned by Congress. Yup, that is right, banned by the United States Congress as the cover for its time was very graphic. Of course, this is a famous horror series so there would be covers at times that have voilence at times. But many people felty that it was way too much since it is one of the examples of an eye injury that was similar to recurring taboos at the time such as Nazis and bondage.
5. The Spirit #1 (Estimated Value: $1400) (1944)
The first issue of this series grew controversy due to the use of blackface on the character. It gets worse as the character is literally near the tombstone. That right there is not visually appealing and it again shows the dirty past of how Africian Americans were precieved.
4. Quantum and Woody #1 2nd Print (Estimated Value: $1600+)
This comic is more rare than controversial, but I decided to add it on this list due to the fact that they simply rushed it to third printing as soon as it was announced that the second print will only be one copy. It was auctioned off to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and I highly doubt we will ever see another second print of this ever again.
3. Action Comics #58 (Estimated Value: $3,300-$5000) (1943)
If you notice a trend here, is that there are more controversial Superman related comics that are in the high price than there are Batman related comics. Here on the cover and inside the issue is racist World War II propaganda and from the first page until the final page is full of it. Looking at the right of the cover where those posters are being printed is something you cannot unsee when you look at the cover. There has not been a sale on this issue for many years and it is another highly sought after issue.
2.Fight Comics #31 (Estimated Value: $5500-$6000) (1944)
On this cover, you can see a soldier decapitated the enemy soldier in gruesome fashion. There has been war comics dating back to the late 30’s, but none of them actually showed soldiers beimng killed on the cover.
1.All Negro Comics #1 (Estimated Value: $12,600-$18,000) (1947)
This is the first comic book that was produced by black creators that includes writers, artists, and the publisher itself. Also, inside the back cover has an ad for the second issue but it was never released due to many vendors and stores refusing to have this comic book on stands. The book was since reprinted years later and in 2019, a new listing emerged with a high price was set. If you have the cash for this piece of history, buy it now!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content and subscribe to The Wrestling Court as we talk about the latest in pro wrestling, pop culture, and comics along with our live watch reactions to past matches. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.
Wizard World Philadelphia 2019 Recap
Wizard World Philadelphia is usually their biggest show of the year and it showed during the four day convention. From the cosplay, to the gaming area, the guests, and the gaming area, there is plenty for everyone to do at the show over there at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This year’s headliners were supposed to be Gotham stars Ben McKenzie and Morena Baccarin, but they cancelled one day before the show begun. You would think that the show would be greatly affected by this, but it was not. I will get to the guests that were there shortly as I begin my recap of Wizard World Philadelphia 2019.
Ted Danson was announced for the show as it was his first ever comic convention appearence. He had a panel in which he and George Wendty talked about Cheers and answered questions to the fans.
So with that out of the way, I covered the show for three of the four days and although the best of the best cosplay did not showed up until late Saturday, I barely seen any at all. I do not know why, but I expected many just like in years past. But the crowd was decent and even for a show. Friday was slower than usual, but the celebrity guest table lines were mostly full. I did not see it empty not once so it is great to see how many people came out to see them. Guests included Lisa Marie Varon, Devon Dudley, Sgt. Slaughter, Kevin Konroy, the cast of RWBY, Once Upon a Time, and much more. There was even a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament that took place during the three days. I did actually qualify for this, but I got eliminated in the qualifying round. Also to note, These three are the best cosplay pictures I have taken during the weekend that I have taken many.
The other panels I have attended were Once Upon a Time and Kevin Conroy and John Glover’s. The Kevin Conroy one was interesting as he finally gave his thoughts of Robert Pattison being casted as Batman. He reacted very positively to the announcement as he wanted everyone to give him a chance since they all gave every other actor a chance. Right below, you can hear it from the man himself in his own words.
The next panel I attended was Once Upon a Time as Lana Parrilla, Rebecca Mader, and Jared Gilmore took the stage to talk about their best memories of the show since the show just finished its final season. Once Upon a Time has a huge fanbase and this panel was packed from the front to the back.
It was very fun to watch live since I have always heard about the show. Lana even worn the Phillies baseball t-shirt at the panel that a fan given her as a gift at her table before the panel begun. You can check out the entire panel below.
My Interviews
Last but not least, I conducted interviews at the show. Kevin Conroy was my first one during the show as we talked about Batman, stories with Mark Hamill, and his future projects. I interviewed WWE Hall of Fame inductee Devon Dudley as we talked about his memories competing in TLC matches, a story about Vince McMahon, his take on the Bully Ray situation at the recent Ring of Honor show, and what would it take to be a road agent at WWE. And my final interview was with Kara Eberle of the hit anime series RWBY as her fun personality shined during this interview as we talked about the series and her recent appearence on Death Battle. You can check these interviews out below.
Wizard World was fun this year and I know for the sure that the shows will keep getting bigger! I will be back next year for more coverage.
Follow me on Instagramand Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content and subscribe to The Wrestling Court as we talk about the latest in pro wrestling, pop culture, and comics along with our live watch reactions to past matches. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.
Wizard World Philadelphia 2019-Once Upon a Time Panel
Fear The Walking Dead Season 5, Episode 3 “Humbug’s Glutch” Review
This week’s episode saw the debut of Austin Amelio reprising his role as the former Savior lieutenant Dwight as he is the second major character to cross over from the main show. Did his debut episode deliver? Or did it fall like a walker after being put down. Here is my review of the third episode of the fifth season of Fear The Walking Dead titled “Humbug’s Glutch”.
The episode begins where the group are taking down walkers that are tied together like the ones that were seen on the previous episodes. We go back and forth in between the group clearing walkers, and Luciana marking X’s on the map from where they put down those walkers. John and June also do the same thing in a different area until an unseen shooter tries to shoot to kill them. They had a small shootout until John and June escaped with their van. John and June drives to an abandoned western style town. I must say, I love the scenery of this abandoned town as it fits John perfectly. John and June explore the place and they go to a locked cabinent. John was about to use his last bullet to open the cabinent, but June opened it. Once that happened, they find a large stash of guns and ammo and they took all of it.
Alicia and Luciana talks about what happened the previous night as they both apologized and wanted to move forward. While they are talking about the plane, Alicia lets Morgan know that they are coming back. The three kids intercepted the radio and Alicia responds to all three of them to let them know that they are looking for them. Back to John and June, a sandstorm is brewing at the abandoned town that they are in and June tries to contact Morgan. After the reception got messed up, John tells June the history of the place that they are in as he tried to play it off that he did not take part of the entertainment that used to happen there. While they are talking, the unseen shooter strikes again and then we get another shootout outside. John with his swift gun skills, shoots the shooter at the arm. He also shoots down two walkers until we find out that the unseen shooter is Dwight! Dwight asks John where is Sherry and before the conversation continues, June knocks him out. They take out his belongings from his pockets as they realize that he has been looking for her for a while. When Dwight wakes up, he angrily tells John to put his belongings down.
Back to Morgan and Alicia, they were on the radio trying to contact John until their car crashed off the road. They both get out the car to investigate what happened and they both noticed the that their tire was blown and they also see a spike car trap (like the ones the police use). John and June cannot stay at the place too long as they both talked back and forth on what to do and Dwight tells them both to take his car and leave him. John tells Dwight that they are in a similar path and he once shot a guy’s middle finger. Ouch!
After that, they finally introduce themselves and John gives Dwight’s gun back to him. For them to escape, they play music to attract walkers inside the place that they were in as John, Dwight, and June escape from the top window. Dwight decides to jump down (while he is still wounded may I add) and lands on the ground. He had a close call with a few walkers until John and June save him. As more walkers were coming, the three of them go to their opposite cars. At this point while they were talking back and forth on the radio, we learn that Dwight has been looking for Sherry for a year ever since Daryl exiled him. Dwight also said that she has left him notyes across the country for him and although some were dead ends, they all lead him to where he is now. He also has not found another note from her in months and he tried to kill John and June because he thought that they have done something to her. June tries to give him hope because John found her when they thought that they would never see eachother again.
Alicia contacts Dylan, Max, and Annie over the radio and then Morgan shows up and asks her if they responded. Alicisa tells the three that she lost her mom (Madison) and her brother (Nick) and that she knows how hard that they are hurting and that they do not want them to be alone. Alicia also wants the three of them to give them a chance as well. None of them respond. Back to John/June/Dwight as it is time to clear the walkers surrounding the car Dwight went inside before they separated. June’s gun gets jamed during the attempt and is almost taken out by a walker. Then, we get to see John’s badass revolver skills as he takes out walkers left and right. Then comes one of the coolest looking walker kills I have ever seen. John tells Dwight to hold up the hatchet with his injured arm as two walkers were approaching him. John then shoots his gun at the hatchet as the bullet splits from the hatchet to riccochet into the two walkers. Revolver Ocelot from the Metal Gear series would say “You’re Pretty Good” if he seen that because that was straight up awesome. John said that it was only the second time he has ever done that trick.
Later in the night, John tells Dwight that Sherry must still be out there and that the car is his due to the registry. Morgan and the rest meets up with John and June and it was right there that Morgan and Dwight reunites! The reunion did not last long as Max finally responded on the radio as he tells Alicia that they are on thyeir way to the truck stop. After they cleared out walkers, they go to a van to see Dylan covered in blood. It was here that we realize that Max and Annie trapped them as the episode ends.
Of the episodes I have seen so far, this is my all time favorite episode of Fear The Walking Dead. Although there were pacing issues with the three kids, the plot with John, June, and Dwight made up for this episode as most of this episode was dedicated to those three. This episode did not disappoint at all and John is the star of this episode. That bullet trick he did will have the world talking as it is one of the best scenes in the entire Walking Dead universe. I can also say that I compare John and June’ relationship to Maggie and Glenn at this point as their chemistry is very good and it shines the most on this episode. I want to also see more of Dwight on Fear so I am looking forward to the upcoming episodes.
Follow me on Instagramand Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content and subscribe to The Wrestling Court as we talk about the latest in pro wrestling, pop culture, and comics along with our live watch reactions to past matches. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.
Wizard World Philadelphia 2019-Kara Eberle Interview (RWBY)
Wizard World Philadelphia 2019-Kevin Conroy Interview
Wizard World Philadelphia 2019-D-Von Dudley Interview