Welcome Back Fellow Pop Culture Peeps!

We’re back with another exciting week of Corey Comic Corner!

We’ll dive into our comics reviews in a bit but as usual I have a couple little detours into my mind, some snacks and whatever else I think of along the way. Let’s dig in!

I got to take a little breather over this past weekend and enjoyed a buddy trip to NH. 8 guys, a little cabin, a fridge full of beers, a lot of food and a big lake. What could go wrong?? We took in a variety of football games, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, SNL, Chappelle Show, World Series, NHL, etc. etc. We had a lot of time on our hands and we made the most of it. We ended up with a couple guys in a very cold lake and one small bout of projectile vomiting but all and all I think it was a huge success! It was a nice little reprieve from the daily routine and I’m back and ready to rock & roll heading into the end of the year and the holiday season.

My daughter and I also got to try a couple additional items from the POP ROC menu before I left on Thursday. Jason hooked us up with a sampling of some great sauce from The Tatted Chef out of Rochester which they use at the café. Chef Joseph Morey also served as a guest chef for one of POP ROC’s free lunch Fridays recently. He has a long list of accolades and you should definitely check him out @The Tatted Chef on Instagram. You might recognize the sauce name as an homage to the movie Space Jam. The sauce, “Joe’s Secret Stuff”, is an amazing blend of sweet and spicy. It’s like taking your favorite BBQ sauce and mixing it with your favorite hot sauce. Boom! So good! It’s tangy and has some bite but smooths out with a nice sweetness. It was really flavorful and honestly probably very versatile. We all agreed you could use this sauce in a ton of different ways. We actually ended up grilling some chicken and slathering it up with this “stuff” later that evening. The whole family loved it. Below you see my daughter dipping some chicken nuggets in it earlier in the day which we had used as a taste test. Good stuff! Check it out!

We also got to try some Mango Kool-Aid and Tajin spiced pickles! POP ROC has these on their menu now and you should definitely check them out. These pickles started trending on TIK TOK earlier in the year so the team at POP ROC had to take on this challenge and they did it with success! They are a little tart, very sweet and hit ya with a little spice at the end making for a fun little flavor explosion for your tastebuds! It’s a unique and tasty little treat I’d recommend checking out yourself! Order up!

Comic Book Reviews

This week I had a chance to read “Moonknight Annual #1”, “Strange Academy Finals #1” and “Burrito Supreme #37.”

Moonknight Annual #1

Published by Marvel Comics

Written by Jed MacKay

Penciled by Federico Sabbatini

Rated T for Teen

Available now!

Jack Russell is back as the Werewolf by Night paying homage to their classic battle and first appearance of Moon Knight. A full Moon lies ahead, and with it, a chance to rid his people of their terrible curse. A curse that can only be broken by obtaining the blood from the Fist of Khonshu, Moon Knight. If you know MoonKnight, this will be no easy task and something Jack Russell has taken to task many times before.

Just like much of the main series written by MacKay, this is a fantastic issue. MacKay has made Moonknight interesting, fresh and most of all bad ass! Much of the issue finds MoonKnight searching for his daughter with Hunter’s Moon after she disappears. He learns from his Ex and former love of his life that she’s been kidnapped by Jack Russell and is part of a crazy plot to break the Werewolves from their curse once and for all. The kidnapping and blame from his Ex Marlene culminates in a lot of introspection from MoonKnight as well as the setup for some great action scenes to end the issue. Obviously there is no way MoonKnight is giving up his daughter regardless of what happens to him. There is also a great little twist where Khonshu wants Hunters Moon to dispose of MoonKnights daughter but in the end he luckily decides against it as he knows the girl is an innocent party in this whole mess. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go since MoonKnight and Hunters Moon haven’t exactly been best of buds in the rest of the series. If you have been reading the main series this book is essential. Where most annuals can be filler this particular issue actually adds to the Moonknight story and it’s a thrilling and engaging story to boot.

Strange Academy Finals #1

Published by Marvel

Written by Skottie Young

Pencils by Humberto Ramos

Rated T for Teen

Available now!

The students of Strange Academy are back and they are more divided than ever. While the kids take sides over decisions that have been made, Can Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch and the other teachers get the kids back on track? Will the division and tension end up bringing down the school once and for all?

There are a few different plots going on in this book. One being the students fighting amongst each other over Calvin being expelled from the school. Another being Calvin dealing wishes for Gaslamp which has finally caught up with him. Lastly Doyle practices a perception warping spell in class which seems to foreshadow a future where He and Emily will battle for the earth’s fate. It’s a heavy issue that moves along quickly and you can tell that all of these storylines will come together and have serious consequences moving forward. The art is fantastic as always and Skottie continues to write these characters with enough depth and realness that you can’t help but become vested in their futures. We’re not yet sure who is the future villain in this series or how long it will run but right now it continues to be a hell of a ride. One worth taking even if you are new to the book. The first couple trades are available now. Let us know if you are interested!

Burrito Supreme #37

Published by ME! Comics

Written by DeathMark

Penciled by DeathMark

Rated All Ages

Available now!

Chester Chimichanga, dog walker by day (his own), and possible superhero by night (he’s not really sure) is gifted with the sacred spork of something-or-other and chosen to battle as the new Burrito Supreme against his arch nemesis Dr. Defrost and Ice Cube! When he’s prompted into battle by his friend Ravi “Noods” O’Lee and his new mentor Estrella, he decides he will fight alongside an actual superhero not to be outshined and test his possible new abilities.

We were provided a digital preview of this indie comic to review and I got to read it over the weekend while I was in NH. It’s a little nacho cheesy and kind of corny (see what I did there?) in all the right ways! It’s a funny little romp and the characters and story are just as silly as they sound. It’s like taking 1 part Aqua Teen Hunger Force, 1 part Sausage Party and 1 part Sponge Bob and putting them in a blender and then making it all ages. If you did that you might end up with something just like this comic. It’s light, comical and enough fun that I’m curious to see what other characters and stories come from this world. With characters like this you can’t tell me you’re not at least a little curious to find out what this is all about?! It’s definitely worth a read if you are looking for something silly and different. Let us know if you are interested in checking out a copy and we can hook you up with all the details!

With the holidays quickly approaching I’m thinking about pointing out some cool pop culture gift ideas. Stuff that you can either acquire right within the walls of POP ROC or that can be ordered directly. They also custom curate gift packages for folks! All you have to do is fill out a form about your special someone and they do the work putting together the ultimate geek gift package!

I wanted to start with the latest collab between POP ROC and Bull Airs. This was an ultra limited and very unique gift idea for the Sneaker Head in your life! Pre-orders sold out quickly so check out what’s new on the shelves or online before the holiday season really ramps up!

That’s it for this week folks! Let us know what you think and drop us some comments. We’d love to hear from you! Join us again next week as we dive deeper and deeper into the world of pop culture and go where no blog has ever gone before…maybe!

Corey Newell

“Just a guy who loves comics”

⁃ Independent blogger, dad, dork, comic nerd and pop culture lover hailing from Spencerport, NY