Author: Marcus Orchard

Giant Days: Where Women Glow and Men Plunder BOOM! Studios Writer & Artist: John Allison Giant Days holiday specials are now an annual tradition and a wonderful one at that. Each one-shot gives John Allison the opportunity to explore unusual angles, which is often fun and engaging. Giant Days: Where Women Glow and Men Plunder is the third-holiday special and takes the story to Australia. With Chrismas right around the corner, Ed Gemmel is off to see Nina for the holiday season. The previous holiday specials have felt somewhat experimental, but this issue feels much more grounded. Rather than an…

BOOM! Studio Press Release Below: BOOM! Studios unveiled a first look at Waves, a new hardcover original graphic novel on-sale in May 2019 that poignantly captures a woman’s exploration of pain and loss. Waves is a deeply moving story based on author Ingrid Chabbert’s (The Day I Became a Bird) own experiences trying to conceive, with art by Carole Maurel (Luisa: Now and Then). After years of difficulty trying to have children, a young woman and her wife finally announce their pregnancy, only to have the most joyous period of their lives become one of unexpected heartbreak. While drowning in…

BOOM! Studios today unveiled the first look at characters designs from Buffy The Vampire Slayer by Russ Manning and artist Dan Mora (Klaus, Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers). Debuting in comic shops on January 9th, 2019 in partnership with 20th Century Fox Consumer Products, Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1 reimagines the groundbreaking pop culture phenomenon from the very beginning! Alongside Mora, Eisner Award-nominated writer Jordie Bellaire (Redlands) and series creator/story consultant Joss Whedon (the visionary writer/director behind Firefly, Marvel’s The Avengers, and more) invite readers to meet a Buffy Summers like the one they know – trying to make friends…

VirtTrade and Valiant Entertainment have announced the official launch of Valiant Heroes – Card Battles, available now for iOS devices. Developed by VirtTrade, the card-collecting and battle game features characters from the vast Valiant Universe, including Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, and Faith, plus many more. The game was initially announced in September. In Valiant Heroes, characters join forces to fight in single and multiplayer battles across the Valiant Universe. Players can collect cards and battle with them to gain XP, and build collections to improve their ranking against other players globally. Additionally, players can compete in the “Fight Zone,” where they are able to trade and…

Action Comics #1005 DC Comics Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Ryan Sook So far, Brian Michael Bendis’ Action Comics run has felt grounded compared to the rest of his DC titles. While Superman centers on – Well, Superman, Action Comics focuses on the daily lives of the those in Metropolis. The Daily Planet feels full of life, which is something that I haven’t seen in a while. Of course, this has resulted in much slower storytelling, and in some cases, Action Comics has been a bit too slow. Still, the emphasis on the characters is much appreciated. Action Comics #1005…

Fence #12 BOOM! Studios Writer: C.S. Pacat Artist: Johanna the Mad Fence has been one of my favorite series of the year. It isn’t the flashiest comic book on the stands, but few series have the heart that C.S Pacat and Johanna the Mad have brought to its pages. Fence #12 marks the end of the ongoing series, but the story is expected to continue in a graphic novel series in the future. If this was the end of Fence, this would be a somewhat disappointing final issue. The tournament has come to a close, and the fencing team has…

Update: Every Mini-Expansion card has been revealed. Cygames is now revealing Shadowverse’s Omen of the Ten’s mini-expansion cards. This will add 17 new cards to the set: A legendary and gold card for each craft, as well as one neutral gold card. Below you will find an updated list of the revealed Omen of the Ten additional cards. The following cards will be available after the November 25th maintenance: Neutral Gold: Lyrial, Archer Throne Portalcraft Legendary: New Order Portalcraft Gold: Rukina of the Resistance Havencraft Legendary: Holy Lion of Salvation Havencraft Gold: Assault Priest Swordcraft Legendary: Magnolia, Battlefield Muse Swordcraft Gold: Giantsbane…

Smooth Criminals #1 BOOM! Studios Writers: Kurt Lustgarten & Kirsten ‘Kiwi’ Smith Artists: Leisha Riddel Smooth Criminals #1 brings 1999 with a groovy touch to comic books. The new series by Kurt Lustgarten, Kristen ‘Kiwi’ Smith and Leisha Riddel is an action-comedy series and mostly succeeds in what it sets out to do. In 1999, super hacker Brenda is stuck in her dead-end job. She insists that she is a force to be reckoned with but simply isn’t taken seriously by those who have power over her. When she is stuck cleaning a random backroom, she finds a mysterious…

Uncanny X-Men #2 Marvel Comics Writer: Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, Kelly Thompson Artist: R.B. Silva The debut for Uncanny X-Men was one of my favorite X-Men issues of the year. In the oversized issue, the creative team managed to bring back the character banter and fun that makes the X-Men great. With Uncanny X-Men #2, the series’ writers are able to capitalize on the previous issue’s momentum thanks to the weekly comic format, even if it comes with a few hiccups. The trio of writers’ most noteworthy strength is their ability to write the characters well. X-Men is fun again,…

Middlewest #1 Image Comics Writer: Skottie Young Artists: Jorge Corona & Jean Francois Beaulieu 2018 has been a great year for Skottie Young. He is showing a wonderful amount of improvement as a writer, and his creator-owned series are off to a strong start. This especially applies to Middlewest, which is already my favorite work from the talented creator. Middlewest feels like your usual coming-of-age story, but it has an impressive amount of spirit behind it. Middlewest follows Abel, a young boy who lives in what appears to be a normal midwestern town. He is dealing with an awful…