05/27/2026
It’s a great day to be a comic book enthusiast! It’s Denver Fan Expo week and Vault 35 will be at table A103 helping premier new art from AC Canales. There will also be a special pre-order QR Code available for the variant cover of Event Horizon #2. Don’t miss out on this along with picking up some new art for the wall. With that said, it’s a very full comic week so let’s just cut right to what you need as we’ve got five stacked high ready to fly!
#30> THE QUINTESSON WAR is at its end! Sacrifices are made! Lives are lost! Life on the Sacred Ring will be changed forever! The most cataclysmic story of the Energon Universe ends here! (Next issue we'll check in on Skuxxoid to provide a bit of a breather, you're going to need it!)
(S) Robert Kirkman (A) Patricio Delpeche, Andrei Gressam
Smurfs Take> It’s been good, almost great and I think this issue will easily push it into the great category. Are we going to lose a major character? Will there be a new ruling class for the planets? So many directions it can go but it’s been so damn good.
: #1> In a corner of far-flung space, a world explodes. A lone rocket escapes the destruction and races through space, ultimately landing on a small farm in small-town Kansas. A kindly couple steps with trepidation toward the alien craft as the door opens. Out steps a man named Jor-El, the sole survivor of the planet Krypton! As Jor-El fits in to his new home, he realizes that he can help the world, not just with his newfound powers but with his intellect as well. Witness how a Man of Steel and Science saves the world!
(S) Kenny Porter (A) Danny Earls
Smurfs Take> I like Superman stories the best when he’s not in the typical setting. I know Elseworlds excel in this area and have been some of the most creative takes on the character. This looks like an all-new direction for an updated age of a “The Boys” style hero and who knows what crazy direction it can go.
#1> THE DAYS OF DOOM! Doctor Victor Von Doom is a great scientist, an unparallelled sorcerer and the ruler of his own nation. He is, by any measure, a great man. And yet Doom wants more. And when Reed Richards - Mister Fantastic, his greatest enemy and eternal rival - is showcased at a prestigious international event to which Doom wasn't even invited, Doom is outraged. Reed shares his plan for his eventual retirement project: the total optimization of history. He intends to go back in time, to all the eras humanity wasted on war and conflict, and fix them, saving trillions of lives and ensuring humanity can achieve its greatest and final glory. The idea of Reed rewriting history in his own image is, of course, antithetical to Doom, and so he decides to do it before Reed does. But when the Fantastic Four intervene, Doom finds himself in a battle he never intended - across all of time and space! DOOMQUEST is an evergreen Doom story: the perfect introduction and exploration of his character. This fun and adventurous miniseries takes readers into the heart of Victor Von Doom, across the depths of time and space and into action-packed battles you can't see anywhere else - and beyond.
(S) Ryan North (A) Francesco Mobili
Smurfs Take> KNEEL BEFORE DOOM! I have been in heaven with all the Doom focused stories. Marvel has taken it’s time to cultivate some long-lasting tales that have been instant hits weather you’re a Doom fan or not. And while I thought we had explored just how diabolical he can be we now do an even deeper dive, so ready for this ride.
#2> As Foy and her undead father begin their quest, they encounter evil beyond comprehension. But in these woods, it may be man who poses an even greater threat than monsters...
(S) Michael Chaves (A) Rico Renzi, Matthew Roberts
Smurfs Take> Alrighty. Not sure what I read in the first issue, but I liked it, so much I’m back for more and might even double up. This was a very fun clever first issue the kept me entertained through every page turn and I think was a better success than a few of the other first issues that hit at the same time…just saying.
#7> INFERNAL HULK vs. the X-MEN! When Infernal Hulk exerts mysterious control over all mutantkind, drawing them to his growing army in the horrific LIVING CITY, can the X-Men resist the call? Can they save mutantkind from their monstrous new leader? And when Hulk attacks them head-on, which of them will he try to kill…and which will he recruit?
(S) Phillip Kennedy Johnson (A) Adam Gorham
Smurfs Take> So much chaos, so much destruction and it’s fantastic. A whole new Hulk for a new world and it’s got my attention and it’s rather unexpected. I had my doubts at first and was a little hesitant after the end of the last series, but this has proven beyond any doubt that Hulk is the king of the monsters.
Picks From the Vault
#2> With a murderous plague spirit on the loose, the Mistress of Magic makes a stop in Memphis, Tennessee, hoping to find aid in a ghostly and melodious ally. However, the enigmatic Agent Di Manes of the Department of Occult Affairs lurks in the shadows, biding his time, going over his own script, ready for his cue.
(S) Jamal Campbell (A) Jamal Campbell
Smurfs Take> Great start, strong start but to be honest that’s never been a problem for Zatanna. It’s always the sharp falloff from the following issues or takes a sharp left leaving the reader in the weeds and a little lost. I want these stories to be a hit and let this character get their deserved time in the spotlight, and fingers crossed this is the one.
