Tag Archives: Steve Orlando

Jan 13 2016

Midnighter 8

midnighter 8

Today, Michael and Ryan are discussing Midnighter 8, originally released January 6, 2016.

Michael: After the intense Prometheus/Midnighter showdown last issue, Midnighter 8 takes a break from the super serious and opts for the wackier corners of the DCU. Midnighter partakes in a good ol’ fashioned superhero team-up with Dominic Mndawe AKA Freedom Beast – the less racist version of B’wana Beast introduced in Grant Morrison’s Animal Man. Mndawe fills Midnighter in on his ability to create hybrid “chimeras” of different animals. An illegal hunting club called “The Sportsman’s Ambition” has abused Mndawe’s powers in order to create deadly chimeras for them to hunt. The majority of the issue deals with the two heroes taking down the aforementioned Sportsmen, while the end shows the release of Marina Lucas (from Midnighter 2) and Helena Bertinelli’s offer for Midnighter to join Spyral. This is all setting up the next arc: Midnighter vs. The Suicide Squad. Continue reading →

Jan 7 2016

Best of 2015: Best Writers

best writer 2015

In such a collaborative medium as comics, it can be difficult to say where a writer’s influence on the story ends, but there’s no question on where it begins: words on the page. Whether they thrill, elate, chill, or deflate, the best writers create characters, settings, and situations we want to return to, again and again. These are our top 10 writers of 2015. Continue reading →

Jan 6 2016

Best of 2015: Best Issues

best issues 2015
Episodic storytelling is the name of the game in monthly comics. Month- or even multi-year-long arcs are fine, but a series lives and dies by its individual chapters. From self-contained one-offs to issues that recontextualize their respective series, this year had a ton of great issues. Whittling down those issues to a list was no easy task (and we look forward to hearing how your lists differ in the comments), but we would gladly recommend any (and all) of these issues without hesitation. These are our top 10 issues of 2015. Continue reading →

Dec 9 2015

Midnighter 7

midnighter 7

Today, Mark and Spencer are discussing Midnighter 7, originally released December 2nd, 2015.

Mark: Well, shit. After complaining about the anti-climactic fight between Frankenstein and Superman in Action Comics 47, writer Steve Orlando does not make the same mistake in Midnighter 7′s climactic matchup between Midnighter and Prometheus. This is a knock down, drag out battle that serves as an appropriate follow-up to last issue’s shocking reveal. Continue reading →

Nov 6 2015

Midnighter 6

midnighter 6

Today, Patrick and Michael are discussing Midnighter 6, originally released November 4th, 2015.

Patrick: I’ve got beef with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It’s one of my favorite books in the series, largely because of Rowling’s characterization of Alastor Moody. He’s a hard-as-nails, paranoid-but-right nut job, and he gets Harry. Moody understands the severity of the whole Voldemort situation, and he gleefully ushers the narrative into the series end game with a confidence that’s unmatched by anyone else in the book – even Harry. When — spoilers, I guess — Moody reveals himself to really be Barty Crouch Jr., there’s an enormous audience-ally-vacuum. I know I spent the rest of the series desperately looking for someone I could trust as implicitly as I (wrongly) trusted Moody. It’s sort of a genius stroke on Rowling’s part: just like Harry, we will no longer feel even remotely safe in this world. Steve Orlando and Aco have always done a great job of gifting the reader Midnighter’s perspective on the world, through neat little insert panels giving a peek into the inner workings of his fight computer, but they do one better with issue six. While they continue to imbue us with Midnighter’s advantages, it’s in inflicting his weaknesses upon us that their storytelling proves most effective. Continue reading →

Sep 9 2015

Midnighter 4

midnighter 4

Today, Andy and Mark are discussing Midnighter 4, originally released September 2nd, 2015.

Andy: Midnighter 4 continues the search for the stolen God Garden Tech with Midnighter enlisting the help of Spyral Agent Dick Grayson (of Robin/ Batman/ Nightwing fame) chasing a name associated with the stolen tech from the God Garden, Noi Akakyevich. Following a brawl in a Russian Banya, Midnighter and Grayson squeeze a potential hideout out of a trio of Russian Business Bros. A tech modded gangster is offering scummy businessmen the opportunity to slay their own vampire, bred out of lured bums from the nearby alleys. After taking out Polidorin, the big bad, Grayson’s attempt to save the remaining prisoners backfires, and they are burnt to a crisp. Continue reading →

Aug 10 2015

DC Round-Up Comics Released 8/4/15

dc roundup4

Retcon Punch is on Summer Hours, which means we’re going to be writing fewer in-depth pieces for the month of August. But we’re addicts at this point, so we need a place for our thoughts on all those comics we can’t stop reading. Today, we’re discussing Midnighter 3, Detective Comics 43, Batman Beyond 3 and Green Lantern 43.

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Continue reading →

Jul 6 2015

Midnighter 2

midnighter 2

Today, Michael and Spencer are discussing Midnighter 2, originally released July 1st, 2015.

Michael: As it has been said many times on and off the comic book page, superheroes (mutants, meta-humans or otherwise) are the next step in human evolution. The hyperbolic comparison of superheroes to gods is almost as commonplace as any one political party calling the other Nazis or Hitler. The former argument/thesis is probably grounded a little more in reality however. Superheroes’ elevated abilities and roles of authority do necessitate a whole new set of rules. It might not exactly be fair but then again, “fair” is not really a pre-requisite for this life of ours. Midnighter 2 takes a look at how those supergods and corporations look from below – from the human perspective. Continue reading →