Tag: Steve Orlando

Preview Reviews for February 22, 2023: Black Cloak #2, Bulls of Beacon Hill #2, and Local Man #1

Preview Reviews for February 22, 2023: Black Cloak #2, Bulls of Beacon Hill #2, and Local Man #1

Welcome to the latest installment of Preview Reviews.

This week we have a trio of new books to review for you, including one of our most anticipated New Number Ones of the month. We have Black Cloak #2 and Local Man #1 from Image Comics and Bulls of Beacon Hill #2 from AfterShock Comics.

You can find these books at your LCS or wherever you buy books on February 22, 2023. We think they are all excellent.

Also the rest of the #NewNumberOnes for February are here.


Black Cloak #2
Image Comics
Written by Kelly Thompson
Art by Meredith McClaren
Colors by McClaren
Letters by Becca Carey
Cover by McClaren

Original Solicitation:

Murdered prince. Hungry mermaids. Vengeful queen. Plentiful suspects. Dead assassin. Dying Black Cloak. So far this case is going to the devils. And it’s super great that absolutely everything is on the line. No pressure!

PCS Review: Continue reading “Preview Reviews for February 22, 2023: Black Cloak #2, Bulls of Beacon Hill #2, and Local Man #1”

Preview Reviews for 1/25/23: Archie VS The World #1 & Bulls of Beacon Hill #1

Preview Reviews for 1/25/23: Archie VS The World #1 & Bulls of Beacon Hill #1

Welcome to the latest installment of Preview Reviews.

This week we have a couple of New Number Ones for you. We were able to review Archie VS The World #1 from Archie Comics and Bulls of Beacon Hill #1 from AfterShock Comics.

You can find this book at your LCS or wherever you buy books on January 25, 2023.

Also the rest of the #NewNumberOnes for January are here.


Archie VS The World #1
Archie Comics
Written by Aubrey Sitterson
Art by Jed Dougherty
Colors by Matt Herms & Doug Garbark
Letters by Jack Morelli
Cover Art by Dougherty

Original Solicitation:

In a post-apocalyptic future, our hero Archie Andrews is cursed to walk the world alone-well, alone with his souped-up jalopy. But Archie can defend himself-in fact, he’s the master of a brutal, deadly form of martial arts and must use his skills when he comes face-to-face with his rival and evil mirror image, Reggie. This action-packed one-shot is equal parts Mad Max: Fury Road and The Fist of the North Star, and reunites the Jughead the Burgarian team from 2022’s smash-hit comic THE BEST ARCHIE COMIC EVER!

PCS Review: Continue reading “Preview Reviews for 1/25/23: Archie VS The World #1 & Bulls of Beacon Hill #1”

DC Comics Announces a 80-Page Comic Anthology for Pride Month in June

DC Comics Announces a 80-Page Comic Anthology for Pride Month in June

DC Comics has announced that it will be publishing an anthology of comic stories focusing on LGBTQIA+ characters in time for Pride Month this June. The anthology titled DC Pride #1 will be 80 pages and be released on June 8, 2021.

Characters spotlighted in the book will include: Batwoman, Alan Scott, Midnighter and Apollo, Poison Ivy, and more. Writers on the stories include James Tynion IV, Steve Orlando, Danny Lore, Vita Ayala, and Sina Grace, and fan favorite artists on the project include: Amy Reeder, Stephen Byrne, Klaus Janson, Kris Anka, Nick Robles, and more.

The full list of stories and creative teams are:

  • Batwoman (Kate Kane) by James Tynion IV & Trung Le Nguyen
  • Poison Ivy & Harley Quinn by Mariko Tamaki & Amy Reeder
  • Midnighter by Steve Orlando & Stephen Byrne
  • Flash of Earth-11 (Jess Chambers) by Danny Lore & Lisa Sterle
  • Green Lantern (Alan Scott) & Obsidian by Sam Johns & Klaus Janson
  • Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) by Andrew Wheeler & Luciano Vecchio
  • Dreamer by Nicole Maines & Rachel Stott
  • Renee Montoya by Vita Ayala and Skylar Patridge
  • Pied Piper by Sina Grace, Ro Stein & Ted Brandt

There will also be Pride variant covers throughout the month of June on major titles featuring fantastic artists.

This DC Pride book follows up the May DC releases of Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0 and DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1. The commitment to celebrating inclusion and diversity is running strong at DC these days.

 

Source: https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2021/03/11/dc-announces-dc-pride-anthology-comic-to-arrive-june-8-and-more

Preview Reviews for the Week of October 14, 2020: Commanders In Crisis #1

Preview Reviews for the Week of October 14, 2020: Commanders In Crisis #1

Welcome to the latest installment of Preview Reviews.  This is where we give advanced glimpses at some of the comics that will be coming out this Wednesday.

Here at Pop Culture Squad, we are decidedly Anti-Spoiler.  We feel that ruining someone’s experience with something for the sake of getting a scoop or clicks is the wrong thing to do. Therefore, we have decided to publish this column, as necessary, with mostly spoiler-free reviews of upcoming issues.  Hopefully, the information that we share with you will increase your excitement for these books.

This week we have a new series from Steve Orlando and Davide Tinto callled Commanders In Crisis from Image Comics.

You can find these books at your LCS on October 14, 2020.


Commanders In Crisis #1
Image Comics
Written by Steve Orlando
Art by Davide Tinto
Colors by Francesca Carotenuto
Letters by Fabio Amelia
Cover Art by Tinto

Original Solicitation:

The last survivors of the Multiverse live among us under new, superheroic identities, five survivors of doomed worlds…taking a second chance to ensure our world lives on. A new twist on strange superhero comics, with a bleeding-edge eye on the modern moment, COMMANDERS IN CRISIS follows in the footsteps of Doom Patrol and Thunderbolts as five unexpected heroes come together to solve a murder unlike any other. The victim? Compassion itself…This is ideacide!

A new series by acclaimed writer STEVE ORLANDO and artist DAVIDE TINTO, an intense, weird action thriller reminding us about the importance of compassion and hope in the present moment, and putting fists to faces along the way!

PCS Review:

This is a great superhero comic book, but it is also more than that. Steve Orlando is bringing big ideas to this series. I am not often a huge fan of text introductions to comic books. I feel that the story should be told in the narrative, but the introduction by Dan Didio in this book really sets the stage in a meaningful way.

The introduction of the characters in a battle and the follow up sequences are natural,  and Orlando provides easy access to the plot. There is a spark of hope and light that is often missing from other contemporary new superhero universes. I am immediately invested in these characters and their plight.

Davide Tinto and Francesca Carotenuto deliver a bright and vibrant visual narrative, and the plot and art mess in a wonderful way to achieve a completely immersive experience. Fabio Amelia‘s lettering is well crafted to accommodate the necessary introductory information in this debut issue.

There has been a lot of positive buzz about this book, and it is well deserved. Orlando and Tinto are doing big things and we are here to see where they go.

 

Also please check out our SquadCast interview with Steve Orlando to here what he has in store for this series.

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with The Steve Orlando of Comics

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with The Steve Orlando of Comics

Welcome back to another spotlight interview. In this session, we spoke with comics writer Steve Orlando.

Steve has recently fulfilled his exclusive contract with DC Comics and is planning his expansion into lots of new types of projects and genres. He is well known for his work on Midnighter and Martian Manhunter, but also wrote Justice League of America, Unexpected, Electric Warriors, Wonder Woman, and others. He has written Crude for Image Comics, and Dead Kings for AfterShock Comics which were well reviewed here at Pop Culture Squad.

His latest bold project is a collaboration with artist Davide Tinto called Commanders in Crisis, and it debuts this week from Image Comics.

We has a wide ranging discussion of his past work, his influences, and how he views himself in society. It was a wild conversation and one that defies the written word. I tried to pull some highlights as you will see in the abridged transcription below, but this is an interview that needs to be heard.

Steve is a fascinating man and incredibly talented writer who knows what he wants to say and has done an excellent job of accomplishing that up to this point.

You can find the audio recording of our discussion below. We hope you enjoy the conversation.


Squadcast Highlights:

Pop Culture Squad: You said that Commanders In Crisis “is a fight for comics as they need to be.” What does that mean?

Steve Orlando: Commanders in Crisis will give you hope. It will talk about the current moment, and it will do so with some wild comic book s#!t that you could never see at DC.

PCS: What was it like working with Philip Kennedy Johnson on To Kill A Man, soon to be released from AfterShock Comics.

SO: I love working with [Philip]. We make each other better. I am very proud of that book. I think it’s one of the best if not THE best thing that I have been part of as a collaboration, and a lot of that is because [Philip] and I aren’t precious about s#!t. We sort of know when to lean in and lean out so that everything feels real and authentic. Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview with The Steve Orlando of Comics”

With Further Ado #84: It’s a Noir World … or … I See Red Door and I Want to Paint It Noir

With Further Ado #84: It’s a Noir World … or … I See Red Door and I Want to Paint It Noir

Nothing’s ever really black and white. Except for movies. So many of my favorites are black and white. And so many of my favorite black and white movies are Film Noir thrillers. You know the type, those sleek and stylish old time Hollywood movies, the kind with dames and detectives, the kind with revenge and lust, the kind with crime and plenty of punishment.

There’s a lot of appreciation for Film Noir lately in comics and other books, so it’s not a surprise that there’s so much readily available for us all to enjoy. Here’s a few recent good ones that you don’t want to miss:

CRIMES OF PASSION “More Than Maybe”
by Steve Orlando and Greg Smallwood
DC Comics

I wanted to snag a copy DC’s Crimes of Passion #1 because I had read that one of the stories in it was a Wildcat adventure written by Stephanie Phillips. She’s a hot new writer, kicking it into high gear with comics like Aftershock Comics’ The Descendent, the upcoming Artemis and the Assassin and Dark Horse’s Butcher of Paris. She’s going to be a guest at ITHACON 45 (it’s on March 21 & 22nd and tickets are available here), and I’m excited to meet her.  Her Wildcat story, “Pulling Punches”, is great fun. Continue reading “With Further Ado #84: It’s a Noir World … or … I See Red Door and I Want to Paint It Noir”