Derf's Picks of the Week (January 7, 2026)

 

It's a New Year but it's business as usual today.

The only difference about theses picks is that it's my first ones of 2026.

Let's find out what kind of year it will be.

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BOOM!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Zord Quest #1

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DARK HORSE

Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Ghost Ships of Labrador #2

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – Tides of Terror #4

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DC COMICS

Absolute Batman: Ark M Special #1

Absolute Green Lantern #10

Absolute Superman #15

Batman #5

DC K.O.: Knightfight #3

JSA #15

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DYNAMITE

The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #5

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IDW

Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #4

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus #2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #4

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla #2

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IMAGE

The Scorched #47

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MARVEL

The Amazing Spider-Man #19

Nova: Centurion #3

Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #4

Spider-Man Noir #4

Star Wars: Han Solo – Hunt for the Falcon #5

Ultimate Wolverine #13

Wolverine #14

X-Men #23

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We that's it for this week.

I hope you saw something you will enjoy,

I know I did.

Until next time, get your READ on!

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Comic Cover of the Week

the Amazing Spider-Man #19 (Variant)

MARVEL

Cover Art by Lee Bermejo

Derf's Picks of the Week (03/01/23)

 It's a new month, so it's time for some  new adventures!

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DARK HORSE

Skull and Bones: Savage Storm #1

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #4

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DC COMICS

Action Comics #1052

Batman: Gotham Knights - Gilded City #5

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead #6

Detective Comics #1069

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IMAGE

King Spawn #20

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MARVEL

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #10

Cosmic Ghost Rider #1

Ghost Rider #12

Hallows' Eve #1

I Am Iron Man #1

Murderworld: Game Over #1

Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #1

Spider-Man: Unforgiven #1

Star Wars #32

Star Wars: Hidden Empire #4

Star Wars: The High Republic - The Blade #3

Star Wars: The Mandalorian #8

Venom #17

X-Force #38

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Well, that is all for this week.  

I hope you find something you will enjoy.

Until next time, get your READ on!

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Saturday Showcase: Firebrand

 

Greetings my fellow Nerds,

It is time once again that I showcase a character that you may have never heard of or simply forgotten.  Last weak I showcased the villain Mirage.  Well, sticking to the villains of the Avengers theme, I chose to discuss the Iron Man villain known as Firebrand.  He made is debut in July of 1970 and was very popular in the 70's and 80's.  He made a brief return in the 2000's as one of the villains that the Hood had resurrected to take on the Punisher.  There have also been other versions of the villain known as Firebrand but I am going to concentrate on the original Gary Gilbert.

Gary Gilbert was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is a superpowered enforcer for corrupt industrialist Justin Hammer.   As Firebrand, he is a former radical activist saboteur who turns to violence after believing peaceful protest produced no results.  Firebrand's "clenched fist" logo on his chest recalls the Black Power movement.

In his first appearance in Iron Man #27 (July 1970), Firebrand describes his experiences demonstrating for the civil rights movement in a speech to Iron Man.  The speech is included in the panel above. (It's an actually good speech isn't it Dr. Jay?)

While the story includes some positive messages about the civil rights movement, Firebrand is presented as a villain, because he sets himself outside of the existing political structure, and is willing to let innocents die to further his political and social aims. 

When Firebrand accidentally kills his own father,  he fell to alcoholism and gave up political activism only to work for other villains because he "needed the work".  He later gave up his costumed identity and became a "supervillain agent", brokering employment for other costumed villains.

[Dr. Jay, does this panel look familiar?  Well it should.]

When news of the Scourge of the Underworld's initial wave of supervillain murders spread among the criminal community, Gilbert took it upon himself to gather several costumed criminals for a meeting to determine what should be done about this menace. The meeting, held at an abandoned tavern in Medina County, Ohio, known among the criminal underworld as "The Bar With No Name", turned out to be a massacre, as Scourge infiltrated the event disguised as a bartender; a few minutes into the meeting, Scourge slaughtered every criminal present, including Gilbert, with machine gun fire.

Firebrand was later among 17 of the criminals murdered by the Scourge, who were resurrected by Hood as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.  After the Punisher is captured, he is present at the ritual where the Hood intends to resurrect the Punisher's family. The Punisher refuses to accept this, and forces Firebrand to burn his family alive, and then Punisher shoots Firebrand in the back of the head.

Powers, Abilities, & Equipment

With his suit, the armored exoskeleton gave him superhuman strength and resistance to fire. It also housed flamethrowers (which allowed him to fire thermal blasts from his hands), one mounted on each wrist, and flying jets that gave him the ability to fly.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  Iron Man #27 (July 1970)

Created by Archie Goodwin (Writer) & Don Heck (Artist)

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: the Mirage

 

Desmond Charne aka the Mirage is an interesting Marvel villain from the 70's.  Sure, the costume wasn't the greatest back then, but his costume wasn't the only one that would have you say WTF? back then.  I was just going through some old comics, and I came across a Captain America Scourge storyline that featured this forgotten villain and I decided to educate you new comic readers to the man known as Desmond Charne but better known by his alias, the Mirage. 

Desmond Charne was a former holography technician who wanted to be a supervillain. He used holograph technology which could make him invisible or create 3-D illusions.  He made his criminal debut at Betty Brant and Ned Leeds' wedding, intending to rob them and their guests, but Spider-Man interfered. Alas, his plans were ruined by your friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man. [Amazing Spider-Man #156]

The next time we see Mirage, he had planned to kidnap the Thing from a hospital, to sell him to the highest bidder. However, Daredevil prevented hiss plans, and defeated him.  [Marvel Two-in-One #96]  No one said he was a successful criminal. (Right Dr. Jay)

Mirage attended the "Bar With No Name" in Medinah County, Ohio and was massacred along with all the other villains present at the incident by the Scourge of the Underworld, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. He was reported to have survived, as part of a ploy to lure the Scourge into a trap. Dressed as Mirage, Captain America captured Scourge, who was then shot to death by another mysterious assailant.  [Captain America #319-320]

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Mirage was later among the 18 criminals that were murdered by Scourge of the Underworld to be resurrected by Hood using the power of Dormammu as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.

Mirage disguises himself and a number of the criminals as the Avengers out to kill the Punisher. The Punisher uncovers the ruse when he knocks out Mirage (disguised as Captain America) and captures him. He interrogates Mirage about the villain's plans, and leaves him with a grenade in his mouth.

He was saved by his crew only to have the Punisher find him once again but it wasn't the Punisher that finished him.  He was silenced before Frank could get him to talk.  [the Punisher #5-8 (2009), Punisher: In the Blood #2]

The Mirage has returned in many storylines since his "reveal" back in 1976, which is proof you can't keep a bad guy down.  They just don't seem to stay dead.  It is the world of comics you know, lol.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  The Amazing Spider-Man #156 (May 1976)

Created by Len Wein & Ross Andru

Alter Ego: Desmond Charne

Team Affiliations:

• Grapplers
• Sinister Sixteen

Notable Aliases: Master of Illusion

Powers & Abilities

Genius Electrician, Physicist and Laser Technologist

Carries a handgun and tranquilizer gun

Costume grants him three dimensional holographic image projection

Which one of these fallen villains should I write about next?

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Silvermane

 

My Saturday Showcases are continuing to feature the characters announced for the Amazon Exclusive Marvel Legends Spider-Man Five Pack.  Today's showcase is on the mobster known as Silvermane.  

Silvio Manfredi, nicknamed "Silvermane" for his near-white hair, is a professional criminal originally from Corleone, Sicily that started his criminal career as a racketeer in the Maggia, eventually forming his own crime family and becoming a powerful Maggia Don.

In his first appearance, an elderly Silvermane forced Dr. Curt Connors to make a potion from an ancient clay tablet in order to grant himself immortality. He first crossed paths with Conners's alter-ego, the Lizard, and Spider-Man during this scheme. Drinking the serum made Silvermane younger, but its effects caused him to de-age further and further until he was a infant before completely disappearing.

 

Silvermane eventually reappeared, as allvillains do, revealing that he had mystically aged to his forties. He started a new career and again quickly rose through the Maggia's ranks until he regained control of his family, then sought to form an alliance with Hydra, determined to take over the world as their leader, the Supreme Hydra. He was defeated by Daredevil, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.  

Silvermane reappeared in New York in an attempt to unite all of New York's gangs under his leadership and take over the criminal underworld, but his plans were complicated by the Green Goblin, who opposed him. During a confrontation between the Goblin, Silvermane and Spider-Man, Silvermane fell from a great height but survived.

In his old age, Silvermane's injuries caused his youth serum to wear off, rendering him an invalid. Though bedridden, he continued to run his criminal empire until Dagger nearly killed him. Silvermane attempted to prolong his life by transforming himself into a cyborg.  Kingpin gained control of his cyborg body until Dagger restored his life energy to him. His cyborg body was badly damaged by the first Jack O'Lantern during a gang war between Hammerhead and the Kingpin. 

Silvermane used a remote-controlled android doppelganger to battle Spider-Man. This was part of an attempt to boost the power of his remaining organic parts by harvesting new ones from Spider-Man's body. He attempted to drain his nemesis's radioactive blood to power a new, much stronger cyborg body.   

Silvermane has also had conflicts with Deathrock, the Punisher (on several occasions), and many rival "kingpins" of crime.  He has met death more than once but he always seems to find a way back.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #73 (June 1969)

Created by Stan Lee (writer) & John Buscema (artist)

Alter Ego: Silvio Manfredi

Team Affiliations:

• The Maggia

• HYDRA

Notable Aliases: Supreme Hydra

Abilities

• Superb hand to hand combatant

• Excellent marksman

• Brilliant strategist and organizer

• Superhuman strength and senses via cyborg body

• Use of various handguns

Until next time, get your READ on!!!

Comic Conversations: the Punisher #1 (2022)

    In efforts to add more content to my blog, I decided to create a post simply called Comic Conversations.  The posts will simply be me discussing what I think about certain topics in the world of comics.  I will mostly focus on new material, but that doesn't mean I won't go down memory lane as well.

    For my first post, I decided to focus on one of my favorite characters from the Marvel Universe and his transition into the organization known as the Hand.  If you know me, you know that the Punisher is sacred to me and I was very skeptical about the changing of the logo.  Well, after reading the first issue, it makes sense.  Let me explain.

    The first issue begins with a flashback to when the Punisher was born.  For those of you who do not know, Frank Castle became the Punisher after his family was slaughtered during a mob hit in the park.   After the flashback, we are brought to the present in a warehouse filled with soldiers (*known as the Apostles) and weapons.  Well, then the lights go out and we see dead soldiers with one left alive to answer the questions of the Punisher. Yes, the Punisher is sporting a new logo but that is because he is now known as "the Fist of the Beast" and he is simply a weapon to Punish the evil in the world.  As we see in the issue, Frank is still learning how to use a sword properly.

    Now,  I know some of you are wondering why is Frank working for the Hand?  Didn't he fight them over and over for all the murders they committed?  The answer is yes, he has fought them before but they made him an  offer he couldn't refuse.  Was it a peaceful transition at first?  Hell no, Frank is a killer of killers, so he had to take some out first.

    The members of the Hand knew they would die, but they saw it as an honor.  Because if they succeeded, the Hand of the Beast would be reborn and cleanse the world of evil.  It was the Arch-Priestess of the Hand that allowed Frank to see that they were actually on the same side.  Of course, it didn't hurt that the Hand seemed to have something he has been looking for since the day the Punisher was born.  What is that you ask?  I'm not spoiling that.  You need to read that yourself.

    I was skeptical at first, but I have to admit, I am more intrigued now to see where this is going.  The promise and gift the Hand gave Frank may be a Hand ruse or it could be real, who knows?  All I know is this is just the latest arch in the story of Frank's life.  For those of you who refuse to read the book because the Punisher skull has changed, just remember two things. First, the skull has already changed more than once and second, we know Frank's future is to become the Cosmic Ghost Rider.  SO, like I said, this is just a small part of the story that is the Punisher.

I give the first issue a 5 out of 5 rating and I look forward to the next issue.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Comic Cover of the Week (11/27/19)

Comic Cover of the Week

Punisher 2099 #1 Variant (2019)

MARVEL

Cover Art by Ron Lim

Saturday Showcase: Jigsaw

   What do you think of when you hear Batman and the Joker, Spider-Man and Venom, Wolverine and Sabretooth, or even Superman and Doomsday?  I think of the battle of Good Vs Evil but put to the extreme.  One is the Ying to the other's Yang.  When you think of the Punisher, you cannot help but think of Jigsaw.

    With the 2nd season of the Punisher coming to Netflix on the 18th, I decided to showcase the importance of William Russo aka Jigsaw.  We were first introduced to the mob boss Jigsaw back in '76.  His first appearance was in issue #161 of the Amazing Spider-Man series.  He made his first full appearance one issue later in Amazing Spider-Man #162.

That time Frank got himself arrested to get his hands on Jigsaw.

    When he was first introduced, he was a terror on the streets and didn't care who got in his way.  This is still true in later years, but he was much more to Frank.  He was an obsession, the one that got away you might say.  I mean, what fun would the Punisher titles be if he successfully killed everyone?  So, naturally you need a nemesis that can escape and resurface to tackle Frank head on anther day.

    One of my favorite Punisher/Jigsaw story-lines is the time that Frank got himself arrested on purpose so he could get his hands on Jigsaw.  That was the first issue of the Punisher I ever owned.  In fact, I still own all issues of that series as well as it's reintroduction as a graphic novel.

Amazing Spider-Man #162

    One thing is for sure, I am glad they changed his look.  When he battled Spidey, he was in a god awful outfit.  At least, in the Punisher titles he had some class and knew how to dress the part of a leader of a secret organization.  

    It's no secret that the Punisher is my favorite character in the MARVEL universe. With that said, William Russo aka Jigsaw will always have a place in my heart as a great antagonist.  I loved the portrayal of Jigsaw by Dominic West in the film Punisher: War Zone and I have enjoyed the life that Ben Barnes gave Billy on the 1st season of the Punisher Netflix series.  I cannot wait to see his take on the Jigsaw persona in season 2 (Available 1/18/19).

Ben Barnes as Billy Russo aka Jigsaw

    I hope my showcase has intrigued you into learning more about the character.  I could say more but I want you to do your research on this one.  The only way you can truly understand the Punisher Vs Jigsaw dynamic is to pick up key issues of the Punisher series and read them for yourself.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Here's Billy!

Vital Stats

First Appearance:

Cameo Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #161 (October 1976)

Full appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #162 (November 1976)

Created by Len Wein & Ross Andru

Abilities:

Experienced street fighter

Exceptional strategist and tactician

Highly charismatic criminal organizer

Wears a special exoskeleton

Required Reading:

the Amazing Spider-Man issues #161-162, & #188

the Punisher Vol. 1, #1, & #4-5

the Punisher Vol. 2, #35-40, & #55-56

the Punisher Vol. 3, #2-4, & #9-10

the Punisher War Journal Vol. 1, #61

Punisher War Journal Vol. 2, #11, #18–20, & #22–23

Daredevil Vol. 2, #61-64

(Jigsaw has been in many titles, but these titles are the ones I would read.)

This Day in Comic Book History

On this day in Comic Book History, 

The Punisher first appeared (Amazing Spider-Man #129, October 30, 1973)

Saturday Showcase: Moses Magnum

    This week's Saturday Showcase is dedicated to the first villain that I thought really kicked ass and his name was Moses Magnum.  You have to understand, when I was a child Marvel was on top of the world and I was really into Spider-man, the Uncanny X-men and the Punisher titles.  So, when I see this dude debut in a Spider-man title and then beat up on the X-men, my mind was blown.  I am still confused to this day why they did not keep Moses around.

   Moses Magnum got his start back in '75 in the Giant Size Spider-Man #4.  He was created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru. In this issue, Moses is an arms dealer who battles Spider-Man and the Punisher.  At the end of the issue, the Punisher exposed him to chemical weapons, but as we find out he lives to fight again.  As a result of this encounter with costumed heroes, Magnum takes matter into his own hands and fights any hero that stands in his way.  This list is not short list, but some of the big names are Luke Cage, Black Panther, Deathlok, and the X-men.

    Why the X-men?  Well, it turns out that Moses had some help from none other than Apocalypse (Image Above)  in reaching his full potential.  He stood toe to toe with Colossus and actually knocked him on his ass. (Image Below)

        I am really sad at how Marvel handled such a wonderful character that is Moses Magnum.  I would love to read a recent issue of the Punisher or the Defenders and see Moses pop up.  Hell, it would be cool to see him appear in the Netflix universe.  One can dream.  What it comes down to is that Moses Magnum is a bad man and he could take on anyone.  Marvel needs to bring him back in the fold.

First Appearance:

Giant Size Spider-Man #4 

April 1975

MARVEL

Abilities:

Releasing Seismic energy through his fingertips, 

using it to create earthquakes or shockwaves.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Comic Picks of the Week

To see what I am reading this week, click here.

Cover of the Week

Punisher #219

MARVEL

Cover Art by Clayton Crain

Until next time, get your READ on!

May the FORCE be with you!

the Punisher (Netflix) Official Trailer #2

Marvel's the Punisher Official HD Trailer

Can't Wait!

Derf's Comic Picks for 7/26/17

7/26/17 Comic Picks

Comic Cover of the Week

the Power of the Dark Crystal #5

BOOM! Studios

Cover Art by Sana Takeda