steve orlando

In terms of most-anticipated superhero comics of 2017, Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis' Justice League of America has to be up there towards the top. With a stellar creative team and a diverse and interesting roster including Vixen, The Atom and The Ray, the new Justice League promises to showcase the true face of 21st century heroism in bold, exciting superhero stories that are increasingly rare these days. While the first four members of the team were announced earlier this month at New York Comic Con, today DC has unveiled the rest of the line-up, which includes veteran members Black Canary and Batman, and the surprise addition of everyone's favorite bastich bounty hunter, Lobo!

The Batman books tend to be at their best when they're working with self-contained storylines that focus on a different aspect of the character. That's been especially true with the Rebirth era, where Batman was relaunched with grand, over-the-top superhero action and Detective Comics put the spotlight on the Batman Family operating as a team under Batwoman, and where Nightwing was specifically about distancing Dick Grayson from his mentor --- at least for a while. With that in mind, it was pretty easy to worry that "Night of the Monster Men," a six-part crossover that ran through all three books, would derail that focus. Instead, it shored everything up, tying those ideas together in a way that strengthened all of it, and managed to pull off one of the best revitalizations for a villain that I've seen in a long time.

If the stated goal of DC's line-wide Rebirth was to restore the connections and the sense of history that have been building between those heroes for 75 years, then at this point, I think we can call it a success. For the first time in a long time, the DC Universe feels like a universe again, and that foundation of interconnected characters and relationships, all those bits and pieces that can unify all these disparate stories, have led to some truly great comics. The unity of the Batman books, the bizarre excesses of Superman and Son battling against an island of dinosaurs, the breath of fresh air that's giving the Green Lanterns a whole new appeal, and all the way down the line. For a reader like me, who has a love of that universe that's built on those connections and tied up into those relationships, there's so much out there that's genuinely great. And nothing on the stands has done it better than the first issue of Midnighter and Apollo.

Earlier today, we broke the news that The Ray will be joining Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis' upcoming Justice League of America ongoing with a one-shot by Orlando and Stephen Byrne but Ray Terrill won't be alone. Throughout today at various outlets and on DC's own website, the publisher has announced the new Justice League of America line-up featuring some fan-favorite characters getting their moment in the sun!

DC Comics has been very secretive about its upcoming Justice League of America title. So far, all we've known is that Midnighter and Apollo writer Steve Orlando will helm the book, but there have been few other details announced, until today. ComicsAlliance can exclusively reveal that Ray Terrill AKA The Ray will be joining the team, kicking off with a one-shot titled Justice League of America: The Ray by Orlando and recent Green Arrow artist, Stephen Byrne --- and he may be one of the first LGBTQ heroes to join the team.

A while back DC announced plans to revive Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth in January in a form that, to say the least, is a little unique. It's called The Kamandi Challenge, and the idea --- loosely inspired by 1985's DC Challenge and its game of storytelling hot potato --- is that the twelve-issue series will feature a new creative team, randomly paired together from a list of twelve writers and twelve artists for each issue, each picking up the story where the previous team leaves off. It's an interesting way to mark the 100th anniversary of Kirby's birth in 2017. In advance of New York Comic-Con, DC has revealed a first look at some of the artwork from the series, plus new details of how the creative teams will approach the story.

On June 12th, 2016, a gunman entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and killed forty-nine people, as well as wounding fifty-three more. It was the biggest terror attack on American soil since September 11th, and a purposeful attack on predominantly Latinx gay and bisexual men in what was supposed to be a safe space. This December, DC Comics and IDW are coming together to publish an anthology titled Love Is Love, which sees over one hundred comics creators coming together to contribute stories, with all proceeds going to Equality Florida and the fund to benefit the survivors of the attack.

Two comics about the afterlife, and one comic with Composite Superman on the cover: December's going to be a good month for DC Comics. ComicsAlliance has an exclusive first look at the covers and solicitations for Midnighter and Apollo #3, Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #2, and Super Powers #2. They're all great covers, but they couldn't be more different in tone!

Writer Steve Orlando's career has gone from strength to strength thanks to his work on critically acclaimed books such as Midnighter, Undertow, and Virgil. He's now working with some of the most fascinating heroes in the DC universe in his new ongoing Supergirl series and the upcoming Midnighter & Apollo, and he was recently announced as the new writer on Justice League of America. But he continues to balance these books with more personal projects, like the four-issue Boom fantasy miniseries Namesake, about a man hopping worlds to bury his two fathers' remains. ComicsAlliance sat down with Orlando at Flame Con in Brooklyn last month to talk about queer heroes, the market for marginalized fans, and building bridges between creators and their critics.

When DC Rebirth was announced, it promised to bring back a sense of levity and community that had been missing from the DC Universe since the shift to the New 52 --- and there's nothing like a holiday special to lighten the mood and remind people of the communal relationships between superheroes, so that's what we're getting this holiday season!