Assistant editor at ComicsAlliance and responsible for recurring features such as This Magazine Kills Fascists and Rogues' Gallery. He is also the co-host of the podcasts Journey Into Misery and Animal Crackers, as well as a contributor to various independent 'zines. John Cena is my patronus.
Kieran Shiach
Jerrica And Rio Finally Talk It Out In ‘Jem And The Holograms’ #25 [Preview]
It's not all fun in the sun for Jem and the Holograms at the moment, because even though they're enjoying the sandy beaches of Hawaii, there's a dark storm clouds of emotion hovering over everyone, threatening to ruin their fun. It all comes to a head with Kelly Thompson, Gisele Lagace, W. Victoria Robado and Shawn Lee's Jem and the Hologram's #25 as secrets are revealed, but do they offer transparency or treachery?
Raul Allen Gears Up For Valiant’s ‘Secret Weapons’ [Interview]
Secret Weapons was a Valiant team-up book from the '90s that starred Livewire, Bloodshot, and Geomancer. Later this year, the franchise gets a 21st century reboot that places Livewire front and center where she belongs. In June, Eric Heiserrer, Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín will relaunch Secret Weapons as Livewire rounds up the kids with powers deemed too insignificant for Toyo Harada's Harbinger program.
ComicsAlliance chatted with Allén about his collaboration process in defining the visual language of Secret Weapons, Livewire's role as a lead character, and the re-emergence of iconic Valiant villain Rex-o.
Ryan Browne And Pete Woods On Their Superhero Satire ‘Project Superpowers: Hero Killers’ [Interview]
Dynamite Entertainment founded its Project Superpowers line as a way to reverently pay respects to the Golden Age superheroes that had fallen into the public domain, but later this year a new series is taking a decidedly irreverent spin on the concept. Ryan Browne and Pete Woods' Hero Killers is set in a town where everyone's a superhero and the old guard aren't retiring to make way for the next generation, so the up-and-coming heroes decide to do something about it.
Ahead of the release of Project Superpowers: Hero Killers #1, ComicsAlliance chatted to Browne and Wood about their take on beloved characters and their influences in applying satirical tropes to an established superhero universe.
The Eye In Team: What Do We Lose When A Comic Doesn’t Have Its Own Artist?
Recently, the subject of rotating art teams in superhero comics reached a tipping point, and people have started to wonder if the concept does more harm than good in the long run. With double-shipping in superhero comics becoming more prevalent and artists’ contributions are becoming seen as interchangeable, it’s important to stop and ask: Are rotating artistic creative teams good for comics in the long-run, or does it start us down a path of recognizing the writer’s contributions as inherently more important to the finished product?
Bond After Brexit: Kieron Gillen Declassifies ‘James Bond: Service’ [Interview]
Later this year, Kieron Gillen and Antonio Fuso team-up for a one-shot at Dynamite titled James Bond: Service, which sees the infamous spy caught up in a plot to end the Special Relationship between the United States and Great Britain with a single gunshot. ComicsAlliance chatted to Gillen about what makes a modern Bond story, making Bond his own, and what James Bond means in a post-Brexit world.
Jenny Sparks Enters The Scene In Ellis And Davis Hunt’s ‘The Wild Storm’ #3 [Preview]
Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt's The Wild Storm has so far lived up to its promise of reinventing the familiar through the most modern and forward thinking of lenses, creating a global spy conspiracy that brings together fan-favorite characters like Grifter, Voodoo and The Engineer. Next week sees the release of The Wild Storm #3, which features the return of one of Ellis' most popular creations, Jenny Sparks, radically re-imagined for a millennial age, and we have a preview of Jenny's new powers in action.
How Conner And Palmiotti Reinvigorated Harley And Reimagined ‘The Jetsons’ [Interview]
Over the past few years, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti have carved out their own little corner of the DC Universe and filled it with some of its weirdest antics and strangest characters. The writing team has been responsible for shepherding Harley Quinn through her most popular years in pop culture, and will soon take on the duties of re-inventing The Jetsons for a modern age.
ComicsAlliance caught up with the team, who are also a married couple, to talk about their approach to Harley, their luck with artistic collaborators, and translating millennial fears to a hopeful post-apocalypse.
Reading List: The Ten Essential Grant Morrison Stories
Grant Morrison is a polarizing creator, with some people writing off entire swaths of his career for being "too confusing," while others proselytize about its virtues, so long as you understand these very specific references and cult theories he's alluding to. It can be tough to decide where you stand on him, so if you're struggling to find a way into Morrison's impressive career and body of work, we've assembled a Reading List of the ten top stories that could turn you into a die-hard Morrison devotee.
MVP: The Top Ten Golden Age Heroines
In the debut edition of MVP, we asked for your votes to determine the greatest heroine of the Golden Age of comics, and the votes have now been tallied, giving us a solid top ten of some of the most iconic heroes in comics. While a few of the entrants on the list may come as no surprise, there's one or two entrants who cracked the top ten that could benefit from a modern age revival.
Eddie Brock Is Back In Black In Costa And Sandoval’s ‘Venom’ #6 [Preview]
The current Venom series has been a bit of an enigma. It doesn't quite explain what happened to Flash Thompson, and has flipped the roles a bit to the point that the new host, Lee Price, is a bad egg who wants to do crimes, and the symbiote is the angel on his shoulder, trying to convince him not to. However everything changes next month as the original Venom, Eddie Brock, returns to the comic, and potentially returns to the role. Check out a first look at Mike Costa and Gerardo Sandoval's Venom #6.