Derf's Picks of the Week (March 25, 2026)

 

Greetings to ALL my fellow Comic Nerds out there.

I apologize for my absence the past few weeks.

I went through:

 -home renovations

-family health scare

-vandals causing my internet to go down

&

-just recently had health issues of my own.

I'm feeling much better now.

But that is not why you re here...

So, let's see what comics hit the shelves today.

*********************************************************************************

BOOM!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers / TMNT III #5

*********************************************************************************

DARK HORSE

MegaGhost #1

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – Pathfinders #1

Tomb Raider: Sacred Artifacts #3

*********************************************************************************

DC COMICS

DC / Marvel: Superman / Spider-Man #1

Detective Comics #1107

The Flash #31

Green Lantern #33

Justice League Unlimited #17

*********************************************************************************

DYNAMITE

ThunderCats #25

*********************************************************************************

IDW

Star Trek: The Last Starship #6

TMNT: Saturday Morning Adventures #35

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #6

*********************************************************************************

IMAGE

Capes #5

Gunslinger Spawn #52

Skinbreaker #7

Spawn: The Dark Ages #4

Void Rivals #28

*********************************************************************************

MARVEL

The Amazing Spider-Man #25

Dungeons of Doom #3

Fantastic Four #9

The Fantastic Four: First Foes #1

Inglorious X-Force #3

Marvel Knights: Punisher #4

Predator: Bloodshed #2

Psylocke: Ninja #3

Punisher #2

Rogue #3

Sai: Dimensional Rivals #3

Uncanny X-Men #25

Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #2

*********************************************************************************

Well, that's it for this week.

Until next time, get your READ on!

*********************************************************************************

Comic Cover of the Day

Psylocke: Ninja #3 (Virgin Variant)

MARVEL

Cover Art by Aka

Derf's Picks of the Week (03/27/24)

Before I share my Picks of the Week,

 What are your thoughts about the X-Men '97 cartoon?

It has kept me interested myself.  

The only thing I haven't gotten used to yet are some of the new voice actors.

Please, take time to write a response in the comment section.

Now, let us see what the last week of March 2024 has in store for us.

********************************************************************************

DARK HORSE

Ghostbusters: Back in Town #1

The Goon: Them That Don't Stay Dead #1

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures - Crash Landing #1

********************************************************************************

DC COMICS

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5

Amazons Attack #6

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #11

Batman: Dark Age #1

Detective Comics #1083

Green Arrow #10

The Penguin #8

Primer #1

********************************************************************************

IDW

Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures #3

Star Trek: Defiant #13

********************************************************************************

IMAGE

Duke #4

King Spawn #32

Nights #6

Sam and Twitch: Case Files #1

********************************************************************************

MARVEL

The Amazing Spider-Man #46

Cable #3

Daredevil #7

Edge of Spider-Verse #2

Jackpot and Black Cat #1

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #18

Predator: The Last Hunt #2

Rise of the Powers of X #3

Spider-Punk: Arms Race #2

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi #6

Superior Spider-Man #5

Thunderbolts #4

Ultimate Spider-Man #3

Wolverine #46

X-Force #50

X-Men '97 #1

********************************************************************************

Until next time, get your READ on!

Please be safe and enjoy your Easter Weekend!

********************************************************************************

COMIC COVER OF THE WEEK

X-FORCE #50 (VARIANT)

MARVEL

Cover Art by George Pérez

Derf's Picks of the Week (May 18, 2022)

DC COMICS

Batman: The Knight #5

Catwoman #43

Earth-Prime #4: Stargirl

Nightwing #92

Shadow War Zone #1

*********************************************************************

IDW

TMNT: Best of - Rat King #1

The Transformers #43

Usagi Yojimbo #28

*********************************************************************

IMAGE

A Town Called Terror #2

King Spawn #10

*********************************************************************

MARVEL

Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4

Fantastic Four #43

New Mutants #25

Spider-Punk #2

Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca #2

Thor #25

Venom: Lethal Protector #2

Wolverine: Patch #2

*********************************************************************

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Zero (Mutant Liberation Front)

Can't touch this

    Not much is known about the character named Zero from the MLF (Mutant Liberation Front).  What we do know is Zero was created 2000 years in the future by the Askani as a prototype for the Ambient-energy Damping Automated peacekeeping Mechanisms (ADAMs). Zero was damaged and found by the mutant tyrant, Stryfe, who opposed the Askani. Stryfe reactivated Zero, leaving it mute and obedient. Zero would become Stryfe's most trusted ally. When Stryfe's armies were defeated, Stryfe and Zero fled, travelling back in time to the late 20th century.

Saved by Zero

    It is in the 20th century where Stryfe gathered a group of mutants and formed the terrorist organisation known as the Mutant Liberation Front. Stryfe's new team fought against Cable and the New Mutants and X-Force. During the X-Cutioner's Song, Stryfe was defeated on the Moon and Zero disappeared and was deactivated.  Leaving the secrets of Stryfe unknown to the world...but would those secrets remain hidden?

    This wouldn't be the end of Zero.  He would be reactivated later by a group of Mercs (including Deadpool) looking for the ultimate weapon.  This weapon was Zero.  Zero was now capable of speech and following his original programming: peace-keeping. It scanned its surroundings for any object and person who were a threat to peace on Earth and eliminated Slayback. He was about to eliminate Deadpool as well, but Deadpool convinced Zero that he had potential for good. Zero gave Deadpool the benefit and left.

Allies til the End?

    Zero went on to try to become more human.   His new goal was to achieve full sentience and become "alive". It sensed the potential to be alive in the techno-organic being known as Douglock and gave it independence from the Phalanx. Zero set out to teach Douglock about his new existence, but Zero was now hunted by killer androids, programmed by Stryfe to destroy Zero in case of his death. Zero and Douglock were assisted by Excalibur and together they tried to deactivate the androids from Stryfe's secret base below the Pentagon. Here, Zero realized that he had become sentient and also the reason why Stryfe wanted him killed: locked within his data banks, Zero had all the secrets of the Legacy Virus, Stryfe's final "gift" to the world. This revelation activated Zero's self-destruct sequence and the killer androids in Stryfe's base. 

    Shadowcat managed to remove the self-destruction device, but Zero realized that his sentience was a cruel joke and that Stryfe had programmed him to think it was alive. Zero sacrificed itself to protect Excalibur, Douglock, and a family of innocents from the base's self-destruction.   In Zero's last few moments on Earth, Zero transferred all of its memories to Douglock. So while its body is destroyed, the data that made up Zero's mind is still contained within the mind of Douglock.

the MLF

Powers:

• Teleportation: Zero is capable of opening gateways linking to places spatially without having to traverse the space between.
• Tracking: Zero can find a needle in a haystack so if you are trying to get away, you got no chance
• Intellect: Zero is a highly sophisticated android with an intelligence to match.  His data banks make it almost impossible to out think or out maneuver him.  

First Appearance:

• New Mutants #86 (Feb 1990)
• Created by Rob Liefeld and Louise Jones Simonson
• Published by MARVEL

ZERO

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Sunspot

Sunspot

    As my original followers know, I am a huge fan of the Contest of Champions app from Marvel and made by Kabam.  Anyway, the recent Update was for a new story line starring two of the original New Mutants, Warlock and Sunspot.  When I first saw the image of Sunspot, I liked how bad ass they designed him.  I immediately knew that I had to do a showcase on this underrated hero.

Sunspot as seen in Contest of Champions

    Sunspot was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod. He first appeared in The New Mutants (Graphic Novel, September 1982).  Immediately following, he became part of the regular cast of The New Mutants, as seen in Marvel Comics.

    Sunspot, or Roberto da Costa, is Brazilian, the son of wealthy Brazilian businessman Emmanuel da Costa and an American archaeologist Nina da Costa.  Sunspot possesses the ability to absorb and channel solar power. He is idealistic and impulsive, but is considered a close friend of many of his teammates. 

Sunspot Vs a Sentinel

    Sunspot is a mutant whose cells have the ability to absorb solar energy and convert it for use as physical strength. He is also able to create thermal updrafts for flight, project heat and light, as well as concussive blasts of solar energy.  At will, he is able to take on a superhuman "powered up" form that is entirely non-reflective black, save for his eyes which turn a solid bright white. Though the color black optimizes solar absorption, he absorbs solar power at all times, not only when he is in his "powered up" form. If he has not absorbed sufficient amounts of solar energy in normal form, he will be too weak to "power up". Likewise, when not in direct sunlight, use of his superhuman strength rapidly exhausts the stores of energy within his body.

    When in his solar form, Sunspot also has a corona effect, an aura that has been depicted in multiple ways.  Although Sunspot can absorb energy from stars and reflected solar energy from the moon, the amounts that reach him on Earth are too minuscule to add significantly to his power.

Sunspot's Rage as seen in War of Realms

Team Affiliations

• New Mutants
• Avengers
• A.I.M.
• Costa International
• Fallen Angels
• Hellfire Club
• Mutant Liberation Front
• New Avengers
• X-Corporation
• X-Force
• X-Men
• Young X-Men
• U.S.Avengers
• S.H.I.E.L.D.

    Well, I hope you enjoyed this Showcase on Sunspot.  Do yourself a favor and look up some old New Mutants or X-Force comics to see his back story.  Then, check out the kick ass role he plays in War of Realms.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Nimrod

    Nimrod is a fictional character who first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #191 and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Romita Jr.

    Hailing from the "Days of Future Past" timeline, Nimrod is a powerful, virtually indestructible descendant of the robotic mutant-hunting Sentinels. Nimrod is a mutant-hunting Sentinel from an alternative future and was created by the Sentinels ruling that timeline. When Rachel Summers travels backwards in time to the present, he follows Rachel.

    While on the hunt for Rachel, he comes across the Uncanny X-Men.  It was here when a memory formed in my young mind that made me a fan of Nimrod.  The classic battle between Nimrod and the Juggernaut, is forever etched in my mind.  When I saw the cover of Uncanny X-Men #194, I was intrigued and when I read the pages within, I was hooked.

the Uncanny X-Men #194

    Never before has anyone dealt a blow to Juggernaut like Nimrod did.  He made Juggernaut looked like a chump.  It took Rogue absorbing the powers of several of the X-Men to even present a challenge to Nimrod.

    Eventually the X-men were victorious and were able to "put him down".  Nimrod, however. was far from being down and out.  He would return time and time again to be a pain in the side of all mutants and their supporters.  I mean, he is a sentinel after all.

Nimrod 2.0 takes on Cable and the X-Force

Powers/Abilities:

• Superhuman strength, durability and regeneration (Took on the Juggernaut)
• Energy projection
• Computer interfacing
• Shapeshifting (To appear human until he is ready to attack)
• Teleportation (Not time travel, just from place to place)

Affiliations:

• Purifiers
• Sentinels

Notable Aliases:

• Nicholas Hunter
• Oracle
• Rod Walker

First Appearance: the Uncanny X-Men vol.1 #191 (March 1985)

Ambush (As seen in Uncanny X-Men # 209

    Well, I hope you enjoyed my spotlight on Nimrod.  I only hope that he has a future in the X-Universe.  Since he was created by the Sentinels and was a member of the Purifiers, I would love to see him appear on The Gifted.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Shatterstar

    Today's Showcase is about one of my favorite "mutants" of all time.  Mojoworld knows him as Gaveedra-Seven but you know him as Shatterstar.  Shatterstar was a created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza for the New Mutants/X-force titles.  He is an expert swordsman who is willing to do what it takes to make sure his team wins. (above panel, 'nuff said)

    Shatterstar first appeared in New Mutants #99 in March of '91.  He quickly became a member of the team of X-Force and began taking names and kicking ass from the very get go.  Even though he is originally from Mojoworld, he fit in on Earth very well.  

    After a few years as a member of X-Force, he became a solo sensation in his own mini-series before joining the ranks of X-Factor.  It is during his time with X-Factor tat he learns he is related to another one of my faves, Longshot.  He then leaves X-Factor to start out on his own helping his friends from time to time.

    Shatterstar is and always will be one of my favorites.  He has changed looks through the years but I am a fan of his original look.  I know he has been the focus of major story lines as well as being ranked #29 on Comics Alliance list of Top 50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics, but I feel Marvel could have done so much more with the character.  Hell, I would love to see a Deadpool and Shatterstar team-up in the near future.  Of course they would have to fight each other first, lol.

(Deadpool vs Shatterstar)

   So do yourself a favor, and checkout  any titles at your local comic book store that have Shatterstar in them, you will be glad you did.  

Until next time, get your READ on!

Derf's Picks of the Week

Can you spot the shout out to yours truly?

http://somewhatnerdy.com/home/derfs-picks-of-the-week/

Derf's Comic Picks of the Week

http://somewhatnerdy.com/home/derfs-comic-picks-of-the-week-52/

Warpath

Warpath by spidermanfan2099

Lines by Robert Atkins

Color by Simon Gough (aka spidermanfan2099)

http://spidermanfan2099.deviantart.com/

Psylocke vs Ninjas

Artist: Edgar Tadeo

X-Force clashes with the Age of Apocalypse

X-Force and AoA as seen by Kubert

Uncanny X-Force: Deathlok Nation

I just read the second collection of the Uncanny X-Force by Marvel Comics.  This collection is titled Deathlok Nation.  It did not disappoint. 

For those of you out of the loop, the new X-Force team consists of Wolverine, Deadpool, Fantomex, Psylocke, and Archangel.  This team is full of people who are willing to do the unthinkable to save the world from extinction.  In this case, they are battling Deathloks from the future.  They are not ordinary cyborgs, no they are Deathloks made out of the Earth's greatest heroes. 

I am not going to go in more detail about the book because I want you to read it for yourself.  I will tell you that there is an appearance from Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers. 

I give the book a strong 9 out of 10.

The Uncanny X-force: the Apocalypse Solution

I have to admit, I do not get to read every issue of every comic that I want.  Especially at $ 3.99 a pop!  So, I am forced to wait for trades so I get more for my buck.  Well, the other day I got my copy of the Uncanny X-force: the Apocalypse Solution trade.  And I have to say, I love it!  It was one of the best reads this year! For those of you who might know, when Cyclop's "Death Squad" was disbanded, Wolverine started a new X-force with the help of Psylocke and Archangel.  Who else is on the team? Why Fantomex and Deadpool that's who.  This trade follows the new teams first mission, find and kill the reborn Apocalypse.  Without giving too much away, I just want to say that this trade is worth getting and I am sure any trades that follow will be worth getting to.  Get this trade especially if you are a Deadpool fan because he has some good jokes as well as his normal insanity in this issue.  Enjoy and Happy Reading!

I leave you with some of the Deadpool humor that I am talking about.

Theres a new team in town

Beware the new X-Force