Steve Orlando

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

I'm not very au fait with Supergirl's "New 52" continuity, but writer Steve Orlando does a very good job of quickly orienting the new reader. Kara has recently lost her powers (and I guess Superman is dead, but by the time of vol. 2, he's not anymore, so it doesn't really matter), but has agreed to work with Director Cameron Chase of the Department of Extranormal Operations to cooperate with them in exchange for getting show more her powers back. Part of this deal is that Kara will be adopted and raised by a married pair of DEO agents and live as a human, even attending high school.

But just as Kara is settling into her new home and family, the ghost of her old home and family return. National City is attacked by the Cyborg Superman, who I guess Supergirl has battled before—but what she didn't know until now is that he's the Brainiac-revived remnants of her father, Zor-El.

This is basically perfectly-executed light superhero comics. I mean, there is some heavy backstory here, but overall the book's not going for exhausting; it keeps the pace moving and the energy up. I don't think I've ever read anything by Steve Orlando before, but he writes above-average dialogue for superhero comics, which manages to balance action and character and exposition. Orlando moves into position a solid cast of supporting characters, including Kara's new parents, Cat Grant, and a guy at Kara's new school named Ben. You can sense things being shifted into position for an ongoing run, in a good way; this is a setup that should continue to generate stories.

Orlando is ably aided by Brian Ching, who draws all but one of the seven issues collected here, and whose style is a perfect match for what Orlando is doing in the writing. Ching was one of the regular artists on the Star Wars ongoing Knights of the Old Republic back in the day, and was instrumental to that series's success; I'm glad to see him employed by one of the Big Two.

I even really like Steve Wands's lettering. Contemporary comic book lettering is often very samey, but he does some different things here that I found very effective. show less

Midnighter vs. The Suicide Squad
5:29 pm 5 November 2016
Midnighter Vol. 2: Hard - Steve Orlando, ACO
Which is awesome. I loved the last volume so much and I ended up just falling for this character, so I got this one in paperback. The last volume might have had more humor, but this one felt more substantial: getting into the character more and playing with him. And also bringing back Apollo.

Part of the reason I didn't want to wait at the library for this book was that Apollo was coming back show more in the new series, and I wanted to start reading that immediately. I wanted to get the backstory, and after reading volume two and then the first two in the new series? I probably could have read the newest series first, but I'm glad I didn't: this sets up a lot of the little moments in the new series, and explains a lot that added to my enjoyment of Midnighter and Apollo.

It also turns out that I ship Midnighter and Apollo, so I'm glad I got to this. I was missing Apollo without even realizing it, truth be told.

Love, love, love. It's brutal, it's gritty and there are short stories in the back - I'm not sure where they were originally published, but I'm glad they were included here. They range from humorous - more so than the main storyline - to more thoughtful, even exploring Midnighter's weaknesses. (He can't stand to see children cry, for example, and he sucks at relating to people. All this makes me love him as a character even more, though.)

Just a beautiful, meaningful look at this character. I love it so much!
Graphic Novel DC favorite character i ship this read in 2016 show less

I was going to say I need this series to stop stabbing me in the heart with everything that's needed to be dealt with for so long, but I do not want it to stop doing that because it's wonderful.

If you've read it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. One perfect family day.

I am a long-time wrestling and long-time comics fan and this intersection is pretty much the current delight of my life. Kenny's gear makes him look more like a super than a wrestler. The match-ups were fun, for the most part I thought they were well done.

This isn't going to be a long-term huge story, but it is going to be fun, so I'm in. Also? That's my Masshole, baby.