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These The Walking Dead Comic Book Variant Covers Are Great to Have in Your Collection

April 28, 2020Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

The comic book series of The Walking Dead has come to an end last year with Issue #193. Since then, fans and readers alike were very mixed towards the ending. But what cannot change, is the fact that there are many variant editions of the series. Some are rare to the point where you cannot find that variant cover for years. And some, you can find on online stores. Here are some of those variant covers you need to have in your collection.

Issue #100 Variants

There are many issue 100 variants, and I believe that this issue has the most variants out of all of the issues in the series. There are three in particular that I would like to point out. This one below is a wrap around cover that features the previous characters that were deceased up until this point. On season 9 of the television series, This scene was recreated as part of Rick Grimes’ hallucinations. This variant has a normal version, and a silver foil version.

The next one is the red foil variant of issue #100. It features only Lucille with the blood splattered all around it. This was given to retailers that ordered q large amount of the first print of the issue. There was also a signature edition as well that had Robert Kirkman’s signature on the variant, but those are not the red foil editions however.

The final of the issue #100 variants is this variant that I was not aware of until I did my research. This one is extremely rare due to how it was obtained. On the 15th anniversary weekend of the comic book series, there were blind bags of select key issues. Issue #100 was one of them. You would either have the normal variant, virgin, black and white, or black and white virgin. What only a small number of people discovered, is that there was also a secret variant and only 100 of these were put into the blind bags. This was dubbed “the gold variant” on online fourms and it also has a speech bubble too.

Issue #171 Pink Signature Variant

I actually got this variant without realizing that it was an expensive variant until I left the comic book store. The difference between this variant, and the other variant with the same artwork, is the pink signature on the bottom corner. Once everyone found this out, the comic book stores were either sold out of them, or spiking up the price for it.

Issue #94 Image EXPO Variant

Variants featuring Michonne is a must get for collectors. The ghost variant of issue #101 could have been featured here, but the beauty of this variant of issue #94 takes my vote. There is something about Michonne laying down with a pile of walkers that makes this cover look very cool. Also, the television series did a scene with Sasha that looked similar to this cover.

Issue #168 Pride Month Variant

The Walking Dead celebrated Pride Month by having this great cover made. Jesus taking out a walker with a Pride Flag is badass and look at the guts that is being stretched out! This is my favorite cover that was released in 2017.

Issue #163 Retailer Variant

The beginning of 2017 was the 25th anniversary of Image Comics, and it started with this variant. Here, we see Rick Grimes in Negan’s jacket holding Lucille. There is a normal color, and a black and white variant. This cover stirred up controversy due to the fact that this variant being a retailer varent since the first print issue was 25 cents due to the anniversary. This would be very good to have in your collection.

Issue #75 Retailer Variant

This retailer varaint pays homage to the first issue. It is also the first time that Charlie Adlard did the artwork on the first issue’s style too. This also has Rick Grimes at his current state at the time as a resident of Alexandria. Of all the variants and issues that has the issue #1 layout, I believe this is the best looking one in my opinion.

Issue #1 The Last Wine Variant

This issue was given out to attendees at New York Comic Con 2019 at Chris Burnham’s booth if you were able to buy The Walking Dead wine. There are a handful of these online since almost nobody was aware of this issue being given out at the booth. This is also the last variant cover that was produced.

Issue 78 Long Beach Comic Con Variant

Issue #80 has a photo variant, but I have to place #78 here because of the rarity. Only 500 of these were produced and it is promoting the premiere of the first season of The Walking Dead. This is also the first photo variant of the comic book series as it showcases what is to come with those walkers when the television viewers see them for the first time. It also took me about nine years to finally get one of those variants and I am happy to own one of them.

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Julian’s Thoughts: Very Expensive Comic Books That are also Controversial

June 22, 2019Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

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!

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Who Will Be The Pike Victims on This Sunday’s Episode Of The Walking Dead?

March 19, 2019Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

This Sunday’s episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead will feature the beginning of the fair that has been building up since the second half of the ninth season. The purpose of this fair is to reunite all of the communities together as one for the first time in years. Ezekiel and Carol are the ones that came up with the idea and they even scavenged for a projector bulb in one of the previous episodes in order for them to play movies. With all of the communities (including The Oceanside members that has not been seen since Rick’s final episode) are here at the same time, I wonder how many of them will know about The Whisperers once they arrive. While the fair is going on, something very bad happens and each community will be affected. It is now time for me to discuss about the pikes.

I do not know how this will play on the episode until I watch it, but here is how it happened on the comic series. On issue #143, Alpha walks Rick to the top of an abandoned building. Once they are up there, she shows him the very large mega herd of walkers and she threatened Rick to never cross her again or else his community will be destroyed (Beta eventually releases that herd at the end of The Whisperer War). After that, Alpha tells Rick and the rest of the group that they can have Lydia and that she marked her border. When Rick and the rest walked back, they stop at the field to not only see her border, but to also see that there are pikes with heads on it. We find out right there that twelve characters were killed and the biggest deaths of the 12 is Rosita, who was pregnant at the time, and Ezekiel.

The way it was shown was that on the top of the page, it showed who was the victim and on the bottom of the same page, it showed which character was looking for the character that was killed. This also makes us realize that while Alpha was disguised as a resident in issue #142, she also lured away the victims and killed them and put their heads on pikes. This was something I was not expecting at all when I read this issue four years ago and it reminded me of Game of Thrones.

Who do I think will be the victims on this sunday’s episode? Well, we can already rule out Daryl, Michonne, and Carol since they are being held captive by The Whisperers and Beta mentions that there needs to not be anymore killing which is alluding to the fact that it has already happened. In fact, we do not know for sure if the number of the victims will be the same as the comic, but the big ones, I will predict it will be Tara, Jerry, Rosita, Gabriel, and Alden with Aaron being a wild card guess. But like the rest of us, We will have to wait until this Sunday.

“Reign of the Supermen” New York Premiere Recap

January 30, 2019Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

The highly anticipated DC Animated Film “Reign of the Supermen” debuted this week in New York City at the Directors Guild of America on Monday night as the fans and the press attended the screening. The reception of the film has been very positive and the developers of the film did a great job of not only keeping up with the source material to the story from the comics, but to also give us a great narrative of how the world is affected after Superman meet his demise. Lois Lane (voiced by Rebecca Romjin) is the star of the film as her character was affected by this the most and Superboy (voiced by Cameron Monaghan) was more than just a comic relief character. He was struggling to find himself and his own identity since he found out the truth of how his DNA was manipulated. Other characters played a major role in this movie that was relevant to the story was Steel (Cress Williams), Cyborg Superman (Patrick Fabian), Batman (Jason O’ Mara), Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), The Flash (Christopher Gorham), Darkseid (Tony Todd), and Lex Luthor (Rainn Wilson). I love the movie and I thought the entire time when I watched the film is that this is how Justice League (2017) should have followed up with the story.

I also attended the red carpet event as the cast and directors were there for interviews and I got a chance to speak with Rebecca Romjin, Jerry O’ Connell, Tony Todd, and Cress Williams about the movie along with funny stories about how they all got in character. You can check it out below.

After the screening, The cast and developers took the stage to answer questions to the fans. Also, it was announced that later this year, There will be a Blu-Ray combo of both Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen in one package that will contain those movies along with exclusive content and never before seen scenes. Also, five lucky members of the audience won the Blu-Ray edition of Reign of the Supermen after the panel as well.

Double-Double! The Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen Double Feature!

January 14, 2019Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Fans will soon have two options to watch the two-part DC UNIVERSE feature-length animated films, “The Death of Superman” & “Reign of the Supermen” TOGETHER!

First, Superman’s greatest adventure – his death and rebirth – will be unveiled in a special two-day exclusive theatrical event as Warner Bros. and DC join forces with Fathom Events for a double feature presentation of the previously released “The Death of Superman” and the first in-theater screening of the all-new “Reign of the Supermen” nationwide. The films will screen in more than 500 select movie theaters on Sunday, January 13 at 12:55 p.m. and Monday, January 14 at 8:00 p.m. (all local times) through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network (DBN). Tickets for The Death of Superman/ Reign of the SupermenDouble Feature can be purchased at www.FathomEvents.comand participating theater box offices.
And later this year, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release the two movies as a single, full-length film with never-before-seen extended footage and a collectible item within the box set. Details will be released in the coming months.

Julian’s Thoughts: Aquaman Review

December 27, 2018Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

The DC Extended Universe has had a few more issues than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not for nothing, but Man of Steel was two thirds of a great take of the original superhero that turned into a CGI 9/11 mess, Batman v Superman was a dull, overlong, muddled mess that crammed six films worth of story into a single film with only fleeting moments of brilliance, Suicide Squad was a compromised but fun enough mess with enough ideas to warrant a second viewing. Then came Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins’ game-changing story of love conquering all troubles and being the greatest thing in the world; it smashed records and was a fun ride that called to mind Richard Donner’s Superman (the granddaddy of the genre). Justice League was a mess, but now with a slate of intriguing films on the horizon, the DC universe can do anything, which leads us to James Wan’s Aquaman.

Aquaman is the first post-Justice League film from DC, and it shows that the lessons from previous DC adaptations have been learnt. Gone is the dark colour pallette, the reluctance to have fun, the overstuffing of storylines and the dour tone. Welcome a bright, epic adventure film with plenty of things going boom, and laughs to be had along the way. James Wan has had an extraordinary fourteen year career. Having made Saw and then moving on to lesser seen films like Dead Silence and Death Sentence (the latter being a great little revenge flick) he made films like The Conjuring 1 & 2, Insidious 1 & 2 and then out of nowhere directed Furious 7, the best of the Fast and Furious franchise even with a sad loss of Paul Walker during filming. Here, Wan crams everything into the film like a child playing with action figures.

Jason Momoa returns as Arthur Curry, half human half Atlantean, the first born child of Queen Atlanna and heir to the throne. His destiny is forced upon him when his half-brother King Orm begins manipulating the seven underwater kingdoms into attacking the surface world, and things go bonkers.

From the off, Wan might as well be handing out copies of his favorite 80s movies. It’s no secret that most superhero directors want to show you the movies they’re inspired by, but here it shows more than ever. For people who like old-school adventure films like Romancing the Stone (brilliant), Raiders of the Lost Ark (brilliant) and The Goonies (brilliant) you’re in for a fun ride. There are moments that look like throwbacks to Stephen Sommers original The Mummy (brilliant but less so), and the film is all the better for it.

Momoa plays his superhero like a slightly hungover bouncer, reluctant to get involved in a world he has no real stake in, his only tether to the human world being his father (a very well used Temuera Morrison), and his claim to the throne of the ocean holds no interest. Having rocked up to the party in Justice League like a absolute dudebro and yelled things like “my man” and “i dig it”, this time around he has a bit more heavy lifting to do. Given his frame, his eyebrow scar and his voice like gravel there is so much to relish in his performance here – he stands confidently with other heroes of the DC universe as being distinct but of that world.

The film also has that old-fashioned feel, thanks to a great supporting cast – Morrison along with Nicole Kidman play Curry’s parents well, in a well-done prologue showing the quick romance between the two that leads to young Arthur being born. Patrick Wilson decides to chew his scenery as the villainous Orm, deciding that other royal sibling-relation superheroes are OTT enough, with none of the charm of Loki, the nuance of Killmonger or even the manipulation of Ares, this time around we get a shouting Wilson, going for absolute broke and clearly having an absolute blast. Willem Dafoe and Dolph Lundgren aren’t used to their full potential, but they flesh out the world, and are convincing even as they pretend to swim in the underwater world.

It’s actually the secondary villain of the revenge-driven Black Manta played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II that gets some of the best sequences, he has a cool suit and the guy looks like he means business, laying waste to a small Sicilian village in his revenge quest against Curry.

There are some fun cameos along the way (Julie Andrews voices a giant sea monster for one), and the score by Rupert Greyson-Williams flips between a superhero score and something resembling Tron’s soundtrack, but it works. This is a love letter to those swashbuckling adventures of days gone by, and the film doesn’t mind being silly.

There are some awkward issues: a lot of action sequences begin with someone being blindsided by an explosion, and the underwater hair effects seem a little uneasy, but even so, neither undo the film because Wan knows not to do the same old action sequence. There’s a fun Tron/Star Wars style escape from Atlantis, there are sword fights, parkour rooftop running, and good old-fashioned fisticuffs.

By no means does this make for a perfect viewing, and at two and a half hours the film does sometimes go into overlong time, but even as the CGI heavy third act begins to weigh hard, there’s another bizarre sea monster ready to show up, including giant angry sharks, big crab people, a CGI Djimon Hounsou, seahorses big enough to ride and enough jokes to keep you going.

In the end, this is a movie that doesn’t want to upset or bore, it wants to entertain, offering good old-fashioned thrills without being too tethered to the movies before it, taking a leaf from Wonder Woman’s book and like that film heralding a brighter future for the DC Universe. If Shazam! and Birds of Prey can keep up this momentum, DC might have a future after all, and as for Aquaman, if there was ever a reason to go see a big movie it might be the sight of an octopus playing the drums.

Final Grade: A

Top 15 The Walking Dead Comic Book Moments of 2017

December 21, 2017Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

2017 has been an awesome year for The Walking Dead comic series and there was many great moments that came out from the issues. Today i will rank the top 15 moments of 2017 from The Walking Dead comic series. If you have not caught up to issues 162-174 or volumes 27-29, there are major spoilers below.

15. The Debut of The Princess (#171: Fear The Princess)

New character introductions in the universe of The Walking Dead can be a hit or miss but this one is obviously a mix bag. While some members were traveling to Ohio, they reached Philadelphia to see it empty but to only find this character. The Princess claimed that she has not seen a living person in one year and she comes off as very talkative and jittery. I can see why since i would most likely snap if i did not see one person for a year. I would love to see Rick’s reaction once he sees her in the future.

14. Beta’s unexpected return (#172: Hilltop Reborn)

Everyone has wondered what has happened to Beta after The Whisperer War ended earlier this year and when would he return. He returned on the end of this issue in a jump scare moment that even caught me off guard. While Jesus and Aaron were setting camp for the night, Beta sneakily approaches Jesus from behind as he is ready to attack.

13. Siddiq’s Confession (#170: On The Road)

Since Rosita was killed back in issue #144, there was speculation that Eugene’s baby was not his. By the end of this issue, Siddiq admitted that he fell in love with her before she died. This enraged Eugene as he did not think that she cheated on him before she died and this caused a rift between Siddiq and Eugene in the next issue.

12: Sherry’s Death (#166: No Surrender)

Rick and Sherry had a debate about Rick’s leadership and their state with The Saviors ever since Negan was dethroned. Things got heated during the debate and then Sherry attacked Rick. Rick then pushed her back into the table which caused her neck to be snapped as she died right after. You can tell that Dwight will not be happy about this.

11: The Saviors’ attempted uprising (#165: Opportunity)

While everyone in Alexandria were steering the megaherd away from their community, The Saviors showed up (lead by Sherry) to announce that they will no longer be part of the connection with other communities. Dwight tried to convince his ex-wife and The Saviors to stand down, but a fight between him and John happened. This was a good moment because The Saviors have been mostly out of the spotlight since All Out War Part 2 ended a few years ago.

10: Empty Pittsburg (#170: On The Road)

Eugene and a few others decided to go to Ohio to see Stephanie who they have had contact through the radio for the last 15 or so issues. Their first pit stop was at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. We have not seen another state in quite a while in the universe of The Walking Dead so this was a treat for the readers. As soon as they arrived, they noticed that there is not one person there as it was a ghost town.

9: Mega Herd invades Alexandria again (#163: Conquered)

The ending of The Whisperer War showed us that Beta and the rest of The Whisperers released the mega herd that Alpha showed Rick back in issue #143. When Dwight and the rest return to Alexandria, Rick told them that there were not hundreds, but thousands of Walkers that will approach. This made me question why Rick did not tell his group about this before the war started. The mega herd invades alexandria and it is much worse this time than it is last time. Rick, Negan and the rest fought many of them while Michonne, Dwight, Andrea and others redirected many of them out of Alexandria.

8. Beta’s Death and identity along with The Whisperers (#173: Final Fight)

Many can argue that this should have happened earlier this year but i am happy that it has happened this way. After Beta tried to stab Jesus, they have a fight and Beta is shot by Aaron. When they unmasked him, it was revealed that he used to be a famous basket ball player and actor before the outbreak happened as both Jesus and Aaron recognized him. This explains why he was very tall and very quick whenever he fought someone. Also, the last remaining Whisperers finally met their demise.

7. Andrea has a walker bite (#165: Opportunity)

This happened at the same time as The Saviors’ attempted uprising as Andrea and the rest were still getting the mega herd away from Alexandria so you can imagine how chaotic it was to see it happen. While she was saving Eugene who was about to meet his demise as he was surrounded by the undead, Andrea saves him but during the scuffle, she somehow got bitten. Nobody knew it until the end of the issue as it remains one of the most shocking moments in The Walking Dead history.

6: Rick and Negan’s conversation (#164: A Fallen House)

Right when the mega herd invaded Alexandria, Negan and Rick went into one of the houses to shelter themselves while the Walkers were flooding the community. It is there where they both decided to have a conversation about their pasts. Negan brings up his ex wife and how he left her there to die and Negan has showed Rick that he is a changed man and that locking him up in a cell for a few years really taught him a lesson.

5. Maggie and Dante’s kiss (#174: A Solitary Life)

Ever since Dante was introduced, many readers thought that him and Maggie would get together. It took a few volumes but it has finally happened. It took Maggie years to move on from Glenn and she is finally able to trust another man. Lets see how this relationship goes in the future.

4. Stopped in Ohio (#173: Final Fight)

The group has traveled all the way from Washington, D.C and now they have finally arrived in Ohio. Eugene has been in contact with Stephanie for some time and we do not know if their group (called The Commonwealth) is good or bad. They were stopped by solders in this community and we will find out more about them when issue #175 New World Order begins in January.

3. Negan Stops The Saviors (#168: The Road’s End)

Right during The Saviors’ attempted uprising and after Sherry’s death, Negan steps in to set them straight. He also asks if they would like to go back to the old ways and only mark kneeled down and when he did, Negan punched him and gave all of The Saviors a speech about why they will never go back to the old ways along with making mention that because of Rick and everyone in all of the communities, they are still alive and trade supplies. This speech made the reader think that he has fully ditched his old ways.

2. Maggie and Negan’s closure (#174: A Solitary Life)

This is the moment i have been waiting for ever since Negan killed Glenn back in issue #100 back in 2012 so this is five years in the making. While Negan is alone and trying to make another bat with barbed wire (Lucille 2.0), Maggie stops him. They have a conversation about their former lovers and Negan apologizes for what he has done and all the pain he has caused her. Negan even wanted Maggie to kill him right there but she refused to do it as she wanted him to live knowing that she will never forget what happened and that she does not want to give what he wants.

1. Andrea’s Death (#167: A Certain Doom)

This is the biggest TWD comic character death since Glenn and this entire issue was an emotional roller coaster. After Andrea revealed the bite to Rick, everyone said their goodbyes to her as everyone was heartbroken this entire issue. Even Negan said his goodbye too. Rick was the last person to see Andrea alive as they both had a conversation before she died and reanimated into a Walker. Rick also had to be the one to put her down as it was hard for him to do it. This issue was so sad that Robert Kirkman did a tribute to her character at the end of the issue instead of the normal letter hacks.

Marvel Comics Legacy & Secret Empire Omega #1 Spoilers: Who Is The Last Steve Rogers Standing & Who Is Captain America?

September 13, 2017Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Marvel Comics Legacy spoilers follow for Secret Empire Omega #1.

Secret Empire doesn’t appear to be over with Secret Empire Omega #1. The book ends with…

idolized figment of Kobik the sentient Cosmic Cube’s imagination Steve Rogers remaining Captain America while real yet corrupted Steve Rogers remains jailed as Hydra Supreme.

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Top 10 The Walking Dead Comics you should read

August 24, 2017Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

I have been a fan of The Walking Dead comic series dating back to the end of 2005 and look at where it is now. It has created a very widespread fanbase across the world whether if it is the TV Show or the Comic Series. Today, i count down the top 10 The Walking Dead comics you should read.

10. Vol 24- Life and Death (Issues 139-144;2015)

I kick off the countdown with this story arc that features the leader of The Whisperers Alpha’s views on how the living should be during the post apocalypse vs Rick Grimes views. During this Story arc, Michonne Returns since last being seen during All Out War, Dwight takes control of The Saviors, Carl and Lydia becomes an couple and much more. But the biggest moment that happened in this story arc is when Alpha took off her walker skin and snuck in the Alexandria Safe Zone during an festival and proceed to kill an total of 12 people (4 each from ASZ, The Kingdom, The Hilltop, and the Sanctuary) and put their heads on tall spikes on The Whisperers’ border. Among of those killed, the two biggest were Rosita (who was also 8 months pregnant with Eugene’s child) and Ezekiel.

9. Vol 1- Days Gone Bye (issues 1-6; 2003-2004)

The First Story arc from the beginning gave everyone an feel of what is bound to happen in the future. After being shot and being put in a coma, Rick Grimes wakes up a few months later to find out that the world he knew is no longer the same as zombies have taken over the planet. Along the way, he meets Morgan, Glenn, Carol and more characters as he searched for his family. When he meets up with his son Carl Grimes and his wife Lori Grimes, he finds out that her and Shane were having an affair. By the end of this story arc, Rick and Shane had a fight which leads to Carl Grimes Killing Rick’s best friend Shane.

8. Vol 10-What We Become (issues 55-60; 2008)

So some interesting things happened in this volume. First, you see that Rick and Abraham are either going to absolutely hate each other and probably kill each other, or they are going to both go mad holding hands and be best friends. Hot and cold with these two. Their personalities are both dominating ones, so they aren’t getting along all that well. You also get to learn a little more about Abraham’s past and why he is the way he is. Like what happened to his family; which, as it is expected, is really stinkin’ sad. The third thing is that the group finally gets to deal with a legendary herd they kept hearing about from Abraham. And I am talking like two thousand little roamers. Like that’s insane. How have they not come across a herd yet is really the question at the time. Also, this arc had the scene where a bunch of bandits tried to rape carl and attack Rick and Abe (Remember that scene on the season 4 Finale?), Maggie’s suicide attempt, and the return of Morgan who is a different person from what he was before.

7. Vol 8- Made To Suffer (issues 43-48; 2007-2008)

In this volume, we finally see how cruel The Governor can be. The reader knows he is evil, but may not have understood how evil until now. Not only does the reader see his only motive is pure greed, the reader sees that he will truly stop at nothing to get what he wants. Even when The Governor has lost countless people from his side, both by death and the fact that they no longer wish to fight for him, he will not stop. His greed was his tragic flaw. A few themes of this volume are cliffhangers, distrust, sanity, revenge and greed. The theme of cliffhangers works because this volume is not only the end of the volume, but the end of the first compendium. It ends after everyone has fled the prison. The entire group is separated. No one even knows who all has been killed and who has safely escaped. The theme of distrust appears for the people of Woodbury. They’ve no idea how evil The Governor truly is. They believed that he was leading them into army against savages when in reality, they were good people with children. The theme of sanity arrives when we witness The Governor’s rampage, with also is under the themes of revenge and greed. Some highlights include the death of The Governor, Tyreese, Judith, Billy and Lori. More characters died in this story arc than any other after this one.

6. Vol 21- All Out War: Part 1 (issues 115-120; 2013-2014)

If you are looking forward to season 8 this coming fall as i am writing this, this story arc is a good start since AOW part 1 and 2 will be season 8. Rick, Jesus and Ezekiel come together with their 3 communities to fight against Negan and The Saviors in this action packed story. Some highlights includes Negan killing David, the bombing of Alexandria, the death of Ezekiel’s tiger Shiva, zombies flooding into The Sanctuary, and the bait and switch with an zombified Holly. This is a must read for readers who would want to know what the war was like before the TV adaptation airs. Also, Issue 115 has the second most variants out of every issue and it was the highest selling comic of 2013.

5. Vol 16- A Larger World (issues 91-96; 2011-2012)

Here on this arc, we are introduced to Jesus. He is a scout for The Hilltop. He is very fast and he can catch anybody by surprise. Rick and the survivors thought that Alexandria was the only community left but Jesus told them that their world is about to get larger. He introduces them to The Hilltop and they find out that although they have much more food and crops there, it comes with a price as The Saviors takes half of their supplies every month. Rick and the group vows to Gregory (their leader) to take Negan and The Saviors down but little does he know, that will cost one of the groups lives.

4. Vol 5- The Best Defense (issues 25-30; 2006)

In this volume, the story moves from a simmering internecine struggle to a more dangerous external conflict for the first time, as the sudden appearance of a helicopter leads Rick, Glenn, and Michonne to the doorstep of another survivor camp. This group is led by a man named Philip, who has styled himself as The Governor. This new player in the story is quickly established as certifiably insane, as well as the extreme example of securing authority through the “might makes right,” do-anything approach to keeping people safe that Rick has been struggling with up until now. As the three protagonists begin their ordeal in the Governor’s hands, the rest of the group back at the prison wait anxiously for their return, with no idea that a new, non-zombie threat is now bearing down on them. This was an arc that will leave your jaw drop once you get passed The Governor’s introduction.

3. Vol 11- Fear The Hunters (issues 61-66; 2009)

This Volume introduces the second main antagonist group called The Hunters. They are lead by a man named Chris (Gareth on the TV show) and the way they survive is by eating other humans. Yes you just read that, they are canibals. The Hunters tried to take down The Survivors for food but they manager to get only one of them which was Dale. They chopped off and ate his leg without realizing that he was bitten by a zombie a few hours earlier. Rick and the group managed to find them and kill them and sliced their bodies apart and burning them. Also, it was in this arc that Father Gabriel debuted, Bill killing his brother, and the death of Dale. By the end of this arc, Carl revealed to rick that he has killed Bill.

2. Vol 14- No Way Out (issues 79-84; 2010-2011)

Rick and his new community are in terrible danger when a herd of roamers take down a section of what was thought to be sturdy wall. Just when they thought they had found a tiny modicum of security, everything begins to fall apart. This herd is one of the biggest threats that they have faced in a long time, and not everyone will make it out unscathed. During this arc, Walkers floods the streets of Alexandria, Morgan dies after being bitten, Carl got shot at his eye and much more crazy stuff happens. The group in this arc was down but that did not stop them from killing every zombie that invaded Alexandria. Also when this volume started back in 2010, the TV Show of The Walking Dead aired for the first time.

Honorable Mentions:

Vol 28-A Certain Doom (issues 163-168; 2017)

Vol 18-What Comes After (issues 103-108; 2012-2013)

Vol 26-Call To Arms (Issues 151-156; 2016)

Vol 22- A New Beginning (issues 127-132; 2014)

Vol 4-The Heart’s Desire (issues 19-24; 2005)

1. Vol 17- Something To Fear (issues 97-102; 2012)

If you would like to know where did Negan made his first appearance, it is in this story arc (or Issue 100 if you buy the single issues). Rick and the group had no idea what they were up against when they decided to kill some of The Saviors. If you thought that The Governor was evil, you have not seen nothing yet. Negan and his Saviors are haunting and they showed Rick that they were to be taken seriously at all times. Some highlights include Dwight killing Abraham and Negan killing everyone’s fan favorite, Glenn. My jaw dropped when i first read issue 100 5 years ago as i could not believe what i have just saw. I would recommend everyone to read this entire arc to see how it went down.

Top 10 banned Yu-Gi-Oh cards

December 11, 2014Julian Cannon Leave a Comment

Since 2004, there has been certain restrictions to cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game. There are 3 lists for players to follow and to build their decks. “Forbidden” means that you are not allowed to have any copies of the particular cards in your deck, “limited” means you can only have one copy of a particular card in your deck and “Semi-Limited” means you can have only two particular cards in your deck. Whatever cards that are not on these lists, you can have a max of 3 cards in your deck. The reason for these lists is for balancing issues and to prevent powerful cards being used to win duels or to cut strategies. I have played the game from 2001-2008 and I have came across these lists in that time span. Every 6 months, these lists are updated and certain cards are either switched from one list to another or removed entirely. Now it is time to count down the top 10 forbidden cards in Yu-Gi-Oh history.

10. Dimension Fusion(Spell Card)

The most powerful spell for special summoning ever created. It took a long time to be forbidden but the card can easily create otks (one turn kill strategy). You can use just your own banished monsters and dont need ur opponent to have any. This card is crazy since it gives you the ability to get so many powerful banished monster cards out at once. Very few cards in existance have that ability.

9. Imperial Order (Continuous Trap Card)

Best negation ever created. Almost free and negates(cancels effects) any regular, quick-play, or ritual spell card.It can almost kill certain decks. maybe it would be weaker in a 10+ trap and less spell format, but not many decks would ignore this card. Also, there are certain cards that allows you to not pay any life points so be warned if someone use a card with that effect and this card at the same time.

8. Fiber Jar (Flip-Effect Monster Card)

While I must say that the Jar cards are weird as hell, this takes the cake. It’s a very unique and extremely badly designed card, but why? Because it’s essentially a reset button that I honestly think any and every deck would include on the simple basis that it saves you more than any other card could.

Not only does the game reset barring Life points which is in and of itself as luck based as it could get, this in tournaments can easily extend duels to be far longer than they should and draw everybody into overtime. This could possibly be what got in banned in the first place, since duels used to be far slower than they are now.

The card, like the other Jars, has a backing in luck to it. Morphing Jar gambles your opponent drawing 5 good cards, Cyber Jar gambles your opponent getting good cards AND enormous field presence, this risks your opponent getting a good opening hand.

It’s beyond the luck of the other cards in that it flips the bird to most of what happened prior to this card’s flip. There’s so little skill involved and it’s just a lazy reset button for anybody who’s in a poor situation, plus, the idea of people running this at 1 frequently gives the possibly for 2 to go off in one game. Duels would have potential to be the length of matches.

It makes things tedious and somewhat boring, on top of it. It’s just annoying to run into this and have to re-rely on luck because of a cheap flip-effect that re-does all but life points, meaning you could then re-open terribly.

The card itself is too good on almost every level to come back and most certainly would heavily impact the game. Should stay at 0, forever. Pojo opinion, begin.

7. Exchange Of The Spirit (Trap Card)

One of the fastest otk cards ever created. The duel can easily end before even starting your first turn. Easy to get 15 cards in the graveyard and comboing this with Hand Destruction easily ends the game. Nothing can stop this when you dont even get the chance to set a card. broken beyond belief. In fact, I was defeated a number of times due to card combos involving this card and cards that can damage your life points due to the number of cards that are in the graveyard.

6. Raigeki (Spell Card) and Harpie’s Feather Duster (Spell Card)

The reason these two cards are tied is because they both do almost the same action. Raigeki’s effect allows you to destroy all monsters on your opponents side of the field and the Feather Duster allows you to destroy every Spell and Trap on your opponents side of the field. Now imagine using these two cards in the same turn. Completely unfair. Raigeki was one of the first cards to be on the Forbidden list in 2004 and in October 2014, it was finally removed after spending 10 years on lockdown.

5. Thousand-Eyes Restrict (Fusion- Effect Monster Card)

This card annoyed the living crap out of me so bad that I refused to duel against anybody who had this card in their deck. All monsters except that one on the field cannot attack or change their battle positions. Plus, you can take control of one of your opponents monsters and have it as your own and whatever attack that monster is, will be transferred to this monster.

4. Tribe-Infecting Virus (Effect Monster Card)

Another card that is really powerful. It is too powerful because the effect is not once per turn. It can destroy any monster card on the field that you call (for example, Dragon, Zombie, Spellcaster types and more) as long as you discard a card from your hand. Every turn you can literally wipe the field with this card. The only way your Monster cards cannot be affected is if you have them on face down defense position.

3. Number 16: Shock Master (XYZ Effect Monster)

The effect is similar to the previous card but it really slows down the pace of a turn of using a card. Imagine that you cannot use an effect or activate a certain type of card until the end of your next turn. Talk about a serious cut down.

3. CHAOS EMPEROR DRAGON – ENVOY OF THE END (Effect Monster)

The only card in the game to clear everyone’s hand and field in one shot. Once you pay 1000 life points, every card on the field and both players hands are sent to the graveyard and your opponent takes 300 points of damage for each card sent. Imagine that there is 20 cards on the field and about a different number in both players hands. You can deal up to between 6000-8000 points of damage to your opponents life points in one turn. Now that is an overkill.

2. Sixth Sense (Trap Card)

The effect of this trap card can be both good and bad. The reason it can be good is because if one of the dice number results land correctly, you can draw as much cards depending on one of the selected numbers. If one of your two choices does not come up on the result of the dice roll, then you have to discard the number of cards from your deck. This can actually be dangerous because there are certain monsters with effects that can activate once they are discarded from the top of the deck. Also, the effect of allowing you to draw that many cards can benefit the player if they desperately need powerful cards.

1. Yata-Garasu (Effect Monster)

The most notorious card on this list. This card was banned the moment tournament players discovered exploits with this card to lock down players from drawing a card during the “draw phase” at the start of every turn. There are hundreds of combos to execute the “Yata-Garasu lock” and even more ways to prevent this card from ever leaving the field. I highly ever doubt that this card will ever get off the forbidden list due to the many exploits you can do with this one card every turn.

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