Today is a Brand New Spider-Day (With No Spoilers)

Spider-Man Brand New Day:             

Rated “PG-13” Runtime 2h 25m

Director:          Destin Daniel Cretton

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink

 

As we rejoin our intrepid hero, Spider-Man, it has been some four years that have passed since the events of No Way Home, and Peter is now an adult living entirely alone in Queens, NY, having voluntarily erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves. Given his chosen solitary life, fighting crime in a New York that no longer knows his name, he's devoted himself entirely to protecting his city as a full-time Spider-Man. This is where Peter proves how resourceful he is, Given that no one remembers who he is, and he is now totally and completely on his own, with no back-up or support from Stark Industries, he has had to create all of his own tech. Peter has created his own artificial intelligence assistant E.V. (often referred phonetically as E.V.I.E. and voiced by actress Naomi Watts).

 In his fight against crime in NYC, Spidey has formed an alliance with NYC Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) with whom he is connected with not only by phone but an app that alerts each of them to crimes being committed throughout the city.  However, as the demands on him intensify, and his increased isolation weighs on him, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crime gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced.

As the film opens Peter is shown setting up his apartment in what was essentially a storage unit filled with boxes and junk. He also monitors the video TikTok postings of his friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) who has been hanging out and traveling with MJ (Zendaya)—which naturally adds to Peter’s depression and anxiety). This is followed by what this long-time Spidey fan can describe as the most amazingly spectacular footage of Spidey swinging through the steel and glass canyons of midtown Manhattan. All of which is interspersed with Spidey taking down an impressive array of his rogues’ gallery, including (but not limited to) Scorpion, Tarantula, Tombstone, Boomerang, and Ramrod. He also goes up against several ninjas from The Hand, a traditional Daredevil set of villains.

Also appearing (and having a major presence in this film) is the organization Damage Control. In the comics, Damage Control is a private business that is tasked with repairing damage created during battles between Marvel heroes and villains. Here in the MCU the group has been transformed into a paramilitary/quasi-governmental establishment tasked with capturing and housing super-criminals. As the film kicks into high gear, there is a massive tank blowing through the streets of the city heading towards the Damage Control building.

As Spidey is swinging down the streets avoiding machinegun and rock fire, he runs afoul (and over) by The Punisher’s (Jon Bernthal) van. This results in an exchange between the pair (who obviously know each other as revealed by Spidey about an interaction they had on Staten Island, where Spidey saved Frank Castle’s life). Spider-Man manages to stall Punisher, and follows the tank to the Damage Control building where it crashed through the side of the building.

Once inside this sets off an amazingly cool chase sequence where the driver of the tank is revealed as an elderly woman, only we immediately see that she isn’t so much the driver of the tank, as simply as someone who is being possessed by somebody else. As soon as she is discovered, the entity begins jumping from person to person as they race through the building to get to the rooftop were Damage Control cops are loading Scorpion into a helicopter, escaping the chasing Spider-Man.

From here we follow Peter through the film as he works his way through the mystery of who the entity is (you may already know, but I’m not going to reveal that here), tries to protect MJ from the entity, deals with Frank (and his murderous tendencies), recapture Scorpion, reconnect with MJ & Ned, and deal with his own evolving physiology. To do this last part he reaches out to Dr. Banner, who is now a teaching professor at Empire State University. To deal with the entity and scorpion, he connects with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) who is now going by Black Widow.

Throughout all of this we gain a real connection with Peter and his struggles to live in a world that no longer knows who he is, including his best friend and (more tragically) the love of his life, who knows she is missing something, but is wholly unable to understand quite what that thing is. All of which gives us, the viewing audience, something that is more than just “another superhero punch-em’-up), but a fully functioning, completely fleshed out story beautifully panted across a two-and-a-half-hour film that is full of equal parts sentimental emotional highs and lows, and several high-octane fight sequences each designed to bring thrills, chills, heartfelt emotions, as well as an thoroughly enjoyable experience.

So, yeah, not only is this a most amazing cinematic experience, it is the best Spider-Man film created to date (yes, even better than the first Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire (which I waited some 10 years from it’s announcement to debut) and yes even better than Spider-Man: No Way Home which was stunningly brilliant. This film is the whole package, and it is really that good. I remember when the first Spider-Man film came out and it help kick off a golden era of superhero films. Hopefully, this film will re-kickstart a new golden era, of superhero films as we head over the next three years including Clayface (October 23, 2026), Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026), Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (June 18,) 2027),  Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027), Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027), The Batman 2 (February 18, 2028), and Dynamic Duo (June 30, 2028), Black Panther 3 - December 15, 2028.

Oh before I go, I do want to reveal two non-spoiler, very cool Easter eggs I saw in the film (I’m sure there are more). One is There is a scene where The Hulk is chasing Spidey down a hallway that is reminiscent of Him chasing Black Widow through the Helicarrier in the first Avengers film. The second isn’t so much an MCU reference as it is a film reference. There is a shot of Spidey and MJ on the roof of a building with the lit-up Silvercup sign, that seems to be a call-back to the first Highlander film. Both very cool.

A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to See Spider-Man Brand New Day

Spider-Web pizza Little
Caesars

Like most of the known world, I went to see Spider-Man Brand New Day today (Thursday) with my nephew, and great-nephew, at the AMC Marquis 16 in Trumbull, CT. About 20 minutes into the film the entire theater lost power (there was a massive rainstorm that may have contributed to it). Fortunately, within just a few minutes, the power came back on to the excitement of us all. However, after some 30 minutes or so of no film, the sound returned but not the visuals of the movie itself. Needless to say, we wound up sitting thru about 15 minutes of that, putting us some 45 minutes back on a film that started after 5:00 on a school night with a 10-year-old. We finally just left.

Sider-Flavoradditive

Thankfully, the theater promised to refund tickets to everyone on site. Still, the entire experience was such a major bummer. Anyway, we eventually were able to book tickets to catch the film on Sunday morning, so that part’s good. So, finally having finally seen the film, I want to say that it was truly amazing. In fact, the first several minutes of it with Spidey swinging through the streets of downtown Manhattan were truly spectacular.

Then nephews and then I chose to re-book our Spider-viewing experience for Sunday at a different theater, which we did. And, of course, even that trip was fraught with its own tribulations, as there was a two car accident on the highway which delayed each of us (coming in different directions) towards the theater. Still, we both managed to make it to the film as the trailers were rolling (good thing modern movies come with 15 to 20 minutes of trailers, promo material and commercials before the actual film starts. 

Spider Popcorn bucket and drink cup

Spidey theater pin

And just to prove all the nay-sayers who are trying to tell us that we are suffering from some kind of “Superhero Fatigue” the film’s opening weekend was (according to Box Office MoJo)  $927,000,000. Proving that what audiences are tired of are, is bad writing and direction, not the story or characters themselves. What people seem to forget is that throughout cinematic history we’ve gone through multiple phases of trends, including musicals, westerns, war films, gangster films, Sci-Fi, horror, and more. Right now, we’re in a superhero trend, and yes, it will eventually morph into something else, but as far as I’m concerned, this superhero trend will continue for quite some time to come.

Oh, and while I’m on the subject of my favorite superhero, I might as well as admit that I purchased quite a number of Spider-Related swag, both from the movie theaters, and elsewhere. Some of which has appeared supporting this admittedly self-indulgent essay.

All of the Spider-Swag you see here (including the mini-Lego-like figures plus way more are part of my personal collection. And then there is the non-alcoholic beer endorsed by Tom Holland and sold by Bero. Yeah, I bought that was well. Oh, and there are a pair of Spidey pajama bottoms from SuperheroStuff.com on the way.

Not all comicbooks are about superheroes:

 

Or,
5 (More) Reasons Why Cognitive Behavior Therapy Doesn't Work

It was just about a year ago that I wrote a review of the amazing graphic novel, 5 Reasons Why Cognitive Behavior Therapy Doesn't Work, written by Dr. Alan Domian, Ph.D. However, as I wrote at the time, while “I’m not a psychologist myself…I don’t feel qualified to discuss the medical aspects of this particular tome, however, as a comicbook historian, with some 50 years in the field of comics (as a fan, journalist, and creator) I feel fully qualified to comment on the nature of the book itself.”

Having said all of that (and more) back then, Dr. Domian felt it necessary to update his book with some additional material and issue a revised second volume. That done he sent me a copy of the new volume so I could review the updates as well. To talk about the graphical (ne comicbook) portion of the book itself, it is wonderfully illustrated by Paola Amormino, colored by Francesca Ingrassia, lettered by Giuseppe Naselli, and edited by longtime comicbook writer and editor Paul Kupperberg, with production by Freelance Ink. For his part, Kupperberg has been writing comics for over 50 years with editorial stints for DC, Archie, and a number of other comic companies. Again, while not a psychologist myself, the story itself is well presented and plays out over 124 pages.

As for the updated material (15 additional pages), include an expanded introduction, a breakdown/explanation of the various chapters, an article on the flawed concept that feelings are an arbitrary choice by which Dr. Domian explains, in paragraph form, the basic problems of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Then, about a third of the way through the book, he again breaks into text to offer Dr. Bernard Apfelbaum’s Ph.D interpretative neutrality, reclaiming insight into psychotherapy. Apfelbaum (1926–2016), was an American clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and sex therapist based in Berkeley, California. He is best known as the director of the Berkeley Sex Therapy Group and as a pioneer who coined the term “autosexual” in 1989.

Dr. Alan Domian, Ph.D.

This is followed by an essay where Domian discusses the various characters in his graphic novel their motivations, and what they are all about. Finally, he winds up with an endnote to talk about his purpose in writing the book. This is followed by a longer discussion of what happened to Amelia, the main character of the book who is being counseled by her new therapist, Dale. Dr. Domian winds up his new volume with an article on resolving psychotherapy effectiveness anxiety, a pair of examples of ego analytics, references, and a brief “about the author” bio of himself.

Finally, while I am unqualified to weigh in on the clinical aspects of the book, I will again state that the storytelling aspects of it are most excellent, and the fact that Dr. Domian took the time to realize that his first (noble) attempt to present this material was a tad wanting, so that he took the time to update, and enhance the original volume by adding the additional medical material. As a 25+ year practitioner in his field, he clearly knew what he was talking about, and then, after his first foray into publishing a graphic novel (a wholly unique experience) he took the time to update and refine his work, we feel it necessary to give him high marks in both his work, and its presentation.

The Writing (and Publishing) Life.

         I’ve been writing professionally for nearly 50 years,

My first published work was as a radio ad copywriter, for a number of radio stations in Fairfield and New Haven County. I had gotten an internship at a local radio station in 1977, during my senior year in college, as I had been working as a DJ in my college radio station and our station manager referred me to the station.

While that phase of my writing career only lasted a few years, I soon moved into a phase that is—on at least some level—is still with me. In 1981 my first published article appeared in print in Amazing Heroes, a comicbook-themed publication, this was followed by articles in numerous other comicbook, trading card and similar-themed publications, kicking off a nearly two-decade run of articles, interviews, and reviews making me one of the most prolific journalist in the field of comicbook reporting.

I even spent a goodly amount of time writing marketing and PR material for most of the major comicbook companies. This, of course, led to me creating and writing a comic of my own for an Indie company, in 1986. That comicbook was Agent Unknown, for Renegade Press. Unfortunately, that comic only lasted three issues, as there was a massive crash of B&W comics in ’87, so we canceled the comic, and sadly it would be nearly 20 years before I created another comic.

In 2006 I was approached to contribute a short story to a horror comic entitled Psychosis. From there I started contributing stories to several other Indie comicbook companies, including Pronto, Main Enterprises, Red Anvil, and others. In 2025 I inked a publishing deal with Dark Fire Press to produce comics and prose novels. It was here that my comicbook Wülf Girlz, and its accompanying novella Taste the Moon have appeared.

Meanwhile, unwilling to allow my past comicbook stories to disappear into the dustbin of comicbook history, I decided to gather together some of my older work into omnibus editions. The first such edition was Funnybook City, Jump the Shark issue, which collected stories I had published over at Main Enterprises (Funnybook City being the name of my self-publishing company, chosen because my Uncle always referred to comics as “Funnybooks”).

 My second book (which just dropped to Amazon) is titled Funnybook City Yesterday’s Neurosis and contains wok that originally appeared in Guild Works Publications, Atlas Unleashed, and elsewhere. Rounding out this issue are a handful of 500-word flash fiction and other prose stories that I penned. This volume will be followed by a third Funnybook City collection titled Lickety Split Tales which reprints stories I wrote for Pronto Comics. 

I also reprinted two articles from the beginning of my print career entitled Remembering Steve Ditko which covered both Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr.’s respective runs on Spider-Man, which ran in a book I put together for my appearance at the 2025 DitkoCon in Johnstown, PA. A second compilation I produced is called Wings of Man, which gathered together several “flight” stories, including a couple that involved a German Immigrant named Gustave Whitehead who not only lived in my home town, but built and flew a plane two years before the Wright brothers.

Future issues I am planning on publishing include a collection that reprints my Renegade Press Agent Unknown comics, as well as some related stories. I’m also compiling a number of short prose stories for an anthology, as well as writing and producing more Wülf Girlz stories and comics. Hope to see you when they arrive.

A Clockwork God Review

   The world isn’t quite what we think it is. At least according to Paul Kupperberg’s new novella, A Clockwork God. In his book, he postulates a world where all of the various gods from all of the multitude of pantheons return to earth to set up shop, and rule over whatever part of the Earth that they have chosen as theirs. And now, 20 years have passed since their return, and someone is killing them. Meanwhile the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is nowhere to be seen. Hence, positioning him as a “clockwork god”—that is to say, a god who set the world in motion, and then simply walked away from it allowing it to run on its own.

All of which is a little ironic as Kupperberg is a self-confessed atheistic Jew. He is also an American writer and editor with a long career in comics working at DC Comics, and other companies. He is currently a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. After leaving DC he became the executive editor of Weekly World News. These days he spends his time writing novels, comic books, and newspaper strips. Some of his titles include The Same Old Story, the short story collection, In My Shorts: Hitler's Bellhop and Other Stories, JSA: Ragnarok, I Never Write for the Money but I Always Turn in the Manuscript for a Check, the Young Adult novel Emma’s Landing, and his latest novella, The Blank.

But that’s not why we’re here, for the gods have returned—and they are demanding worship. Welcome to the ReDeus Event. It is the year 2032. As previously stated, it has been 20 years since the gods of myth and legend returned to Earth. Twenty years since they carved the world into territories ruled by rival pantheons. Twenty years since every man, woman, and child on the planet was forced to swear fealty to their ancestral deities—or be branded as heretics and hunted down without mercy.

And now, a man calling himself Junker George (Junker Jörg (Knight George) was the alias used by the Protestant reformer Martin Luther while he was in hiding at Wartburg Castle in Germany between 1521 and 1522) has emerged as one of the most unlikely and perhaps most dangerous individuals in this fractured new age of faith. Claiming to be neither prophet nor priest, George is actually the possessor of a most holy Relic of Christianity, a survivor who is effortlessly moving through the fault lines between gods and mortals.

    Much to his dismay FBI Special Agent Irwin Benjamin, a weary, middle-aged atheist who has spent his life trusting evidence over faith and reason over revelation is now being drawn into George’s growing insurgency. For Benjamin, it means confronting a universe that no longer makes sense...and deciding whether his disbelief could be the most powerful weapon left to rescue all of humanity.  As George moves through the various pantheons, wantonly killing various gods Agent Benjamin discovers that for him, staying neutral is no longer an option...and that the price for defying the gods may be higher than anyone imagined.

Kupperberg’s writing is both crisp and compelling as he builds this brave new world filled with gods from multiple pantheons, Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Indigenous Americans, and beyond. Truthfully, the sheer volume of research required of Kuperberg to piece together the various gods, their names, attributes, and associated pantheons must have been staggering, but just know that for someone that has been making up names, abilities, and superpowers for some 50+ years, none of the gods presented here are make believe. (Seriously, who knew so many pantheons existed?)

There are so many random details that make this story not only so amazingly compelling, but so insightful about today’s political and global situations. From the tiniest detail to random conversations by the primary characters, all building to an ending that completely surprised this reviewer. This story was not only grippingly entertaining, but seriously quite a bit of fun to read as well.

Available on Amazon

Secret Agent X vs. Doctor Death

 It's 1936, just three years prior to World War 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt had just won the presidency in an historic landslide reelection, the Hoover Dam officially reached completion, the Baseball Hall of Fame had just been founded, and it was the year Life magazine debuted. It was also the age of the rise of Masked Men in the U.S. Long before the dawn of the age of Superheroes, Masked Men were on the rise in American Pop Culture literature arising out of the Pulp Noir of the depression era these iconic, fedora-and-trench-coat-wearing vigilantes populated radio serial broadcasts, film, and pulp novels. Characters like The Clock, The Spirit, The Shadow were the heroes of the day.

While these characters have largely faded into the past, authors like Will Murray are doing what they can to keep them alive. William Murray is an American novelist, journalist, short story, and comicbook writer. He has spent years penning stories about Tarzan, Doc Savage, Sherlock Holmes, and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu among others. And then, in 1991 along with artist Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange), he co-created the superhero, Squirrel Girl.

His latest novel, Secret Agent X vs. Doctor Death pits one of these Masked Men. Secret Agent X was the title of a U.S. pulp magazine published by A. A. Wyn’s Ace Magazines, as well as the name of the main character featured in the magazine. The magazine ran for 41 issues between February 1934 and March 1939. Doctor Death was also the title of a short-lived pulp magazine from 1935, this one published by Dell Magazines, as well as the name of the magazine’s main character. Unlike Secret Agent X wo was a hero, Doctor Death, as his name implies, was an archcriminal who wanted to return the world to a primitive condition and used supernatural tools such as zombies and magic in his plots against humanity.

    In Murray’s 2026 novel, even though the world believes Doctor Death is deceased, the clinically insane super-scientist and occultist still lives, and is still quite determined to drag civilization back into the Dark Ages utilizing all of his skills in the dark arts of the occult. The reason the world believes Dr. Death to be dead, is that a secret society of select individuals—calling themselves the Secret Twelve—are convinced that they have put him down for the count. Unfortunately, they are not only sadly mistaken but currently disbanded as the novel begins, one of the twelve—Tony Caminetti, a self-styled king of the underworld—turns up dead, seemingly killed by his own hand.

The mystery deepens when, upon investigation by the local police, it becomes clear that first impressions of the apparent suicide weren’t quite as they seemed, and there were unexplained, mysterious elements that added new layers to the events. As the story progresses, we learn that one of the “cops” that were involved was actually Secret Agent X in disguise, and that it was a still alive Dr. Death who was somehow behind Caminetti’s death. Afterwards, other members of the disbanded Secret Twelve, originally organized to defeat Death, also began succumbing to violent, malevolent forces not of this world, and dying horribly. The Authorities suspected that the former Professor Rance Mandarin—Dr. Death—was still alive and was scheming to remake the world in his twisted image.

Fortunately, rising to meet the challenge was the Man of a Thousand Faces, known yet unknown as Secret Agent X. needless to say the man of mystery had never before faced a foe possessing supernatural powers, and as malevolent as Dr. Death, a man who controlled zombies, and other terrifying creatures of the night. To do the job, X recruits a new team of masked men to bring down Death.

If you never read any Pulp Noir fiction you are in for a treat upon reading Murray’s very amazingly purple prose, which so clearly mimics the type of writing from that era you would swear that he is somehow channeling the ghosts of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, and others. Murray’s style is to use very stylized language to weave his very complex and highly descriptive stories. Reading a Will Murray tale is truly a delightful experience, as he has a very unique way with words.

The story crisscrosses in an out of numerous scenarios with a wide array of very colorful characters each with their own unique characteristics, mannerisms, and eccentricities. The story itself intertwines in and out of several exotic scenarios as X and his team track down Dr. Death even as Death himself and his various minions including the haughty Egyptian, temptress Charmion, as well as his zombies, vampire bats, Minotaurs, and other creatures of legend. The story is exceptionally compelling and holds your interest from over to cover, delivering riveting action, layered storytelling, and thrills galore as you wind your way through the intriguing plot.

The book is currently available on Amazon.

Don’t fight. Agreeable Man is here!

So, this past Sunday (4/16/26) I attended my first Cod Con which took place in Hyannis, MA (yes, that’s out on the cape). It was not only my first Cape Cod comic con, but it was my first time back on the cape in some 25 years. I had a great time at the show, meeting up with some old friends (Len Mihlalovich, Ian Chase Nichols, as well as Colin Devonshire—whom I never actually met, but have been backing and promoting his way-cool Kickstarter, By the Time I Get to Dallas).

Before I get too far into this post, let me say that I had a most amazing time at the show, and hope to be back again next year.

Well, the reason for this post is that while at the show, I became aware of a couple of young lads who not only created their own comicbook, but actually produced it, and printed up a few copies which they were selling at the show. The comic’s title is The Amazing Feats of the Agreeable Man. I was so impressed with the comic, that I bought a copy, and man-o-man, was it a fun read.

The comic itself was nine pages long, plus a cover. It was printed on 8½ x 11 white photocopy paper, printed double sided in black and white with the pages stapled together. The comic came with a cover price of $2.00 but was selling at the show for $10.00, which I happily paid. I believe that the boys had around a dozen copies, which they completely sold out of long before the end of the show.

The comic had a visually engaging layout (indicating that these kids clearly had read their fair share of comics before sitting down to create this one). Both the drawing and the lettering are crud, but in an entertaining, kid sort of way, which by no means detracts from the book but, in fact, adds to its charm.

The story starts out with an explosion, a car crash, and a mugging, all before we are introduced to Agreeable Man, who comes swooping into the story on page three. From there we meet a gang of well-armed thugs, followed by Agreeable Man crash-landing into his fortress of solitude, the Agreeable tower. This is followed by a short origin story for our hero. Next up is some random ultraviolence, the arrival on the scene by Agreeable Man, and—on the final page—the arrival of a very large baby-faced individual carrying a large sledgehammer and a long gun, with a “To be continued” caption at the bottom of the page.

Again, the story is entertainingly engaging, and we hope that the boys who created this continue creating comics, and that their skill in production (and production) improves as they continue to do so. Personally, I remember my older brother and I drawing stick-figure comic strips when we were around that age. While Ron grew out of comics I never did, and—as it turns out—his younger son is not only a comics fan, but so is Ron’s grandson. So I guess some of that love comics was passed down.