Good afternoon, comics fans! Welcome to not only the first Comic X-Change issue of the new year, but the big whopper – Issue Number 10! For such a special issue, and to kick this brand new year off right, I decided to reach out to one of my very best comic friends and gurus, Kevin Smith of Third Eye Comics in Mechanicsville.
This issue, we’ve got some good hearty amuse-bouches for you to appetize your palate after the holidays. Kevin is bring us some big hitters to watch for in the lands of Marvel and DC, and then I’m going to close us out with the big topic my brain can’t shut up about – Stranger Things Season 3. Let’s get down to business, y’all.
“Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2” by Saladin Ahmed and Javier Garron
“Previously [Miles Morales] had taken over one of the Spider-Man books that Peter had started years ago, but now he has one all to himself.” said Smith.
“The Immortal Hulk #12” by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett
“[Bruce] Banner was killed about three years ago in Civil War II, and thought to have been gone for awhile, and had been brought back,” said Smith. “Marvel’s taking The Hulk back to his origins, the way he was back in the 60s when he was created, where Banner and Hulk are more of a Jekyll and Hyde creature now.”
“Web Of Venom: Venom Unleashed #1” by Ryan Stegman, Juan Gedeon, and Kyle Hotz
“I’m really enjoying this because [Venom writer Donny] Cates has decided to take Venom and, instead of just being one character, [write] the mythology and the history of the symbiotes,” said Smith. “[He’s] taking them back literally to the dawn of time.”
“Heroes in Crisis #5” by Tom King and Clay Mann
“DC has created this super secret place called Sanctuary,” said Smith. “Someone has gone into the Sanctuary, somebody has found the video files of the heroes where they take their masks off and confess what happened.”
“Die #2” by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans
“This is something best described as the kids from Stranger Things, mixed with the kids from IT, mixed with Jumanji,” said Smith.
On January 1st, Stranger Things fans were gifted not one but two wonderful presents, and just as we thought the holidays were winding down to a close. Both the official release date poster artwork (above), and a new trailer that also confirmed the official release date, were released as we rung in the new year. We still have just under another six months to go before all of our questions are answered in eight new episodes, but let’s take a look at some things.
“One summer can change everything.” So the new season will take course over the course of the summer of 1985, which we kind of figured when the first teaser came out and showed Mother of the Year Steve Harrington working his new summer mall job. The final episode title is “The Battle of Starcourt,” so while it’s safe to assume that the mall is where the showdown with the big-bad is going to play, is it centered around July 4th? What specifically about July 4th is so crucial?
Also, why are four of the kids stoked for the fireworks, while El and Mike are the only ones wigging out?
Let’s also backtrack a little bit more and dig deeper into theory land. A month or two ago, David Harbour posted on his instagram about shaving his mustache. While this in and of itself is innocuous enough given that he has been filming Hellboy and probably has a new project to work on, something else feels weird. He did go into a long speech about how Hopper was the greatest role of his life…
Now granted, he could just be generally excited that filming is over, and ready to see how fans react to the new season. Or you could be me, dig much deeper, and question if Harbour just released a backdoor spoiler. Is it a possibility that beloved asshole sheriff Chief Jim Hopper dies this season?
Guess we’ll find out in another one hundred and seventy-seven days. But who’s counting?
