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
If You Love ‘Star Trek’, Try These Comics Next
This year we're celebrating fifty years of Star Trek, and as part of the celebrations there's not only a brand new film in cinemas now, but Bryan Fuller is also working on a new television series titled Star Trek: Discovery, due out next year.
Star Trek's vision of the future can represent the very best of who we can be as a species, but often it shows how easily it is to become corrupt. We've selected five of the best independent sci-fi comics to check out after seeing Star Trek: Beyond in the cinema. Love that? Try this!
Thanks Obama: Task Force X Gets A Presidential Review In ‘Suicide Squad Rebirth’ #1
Next week the world goes Suicide Squad crazy with the release of the much promoted feature film starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto. DC Comics is capitalizing on the buzz by launching a number of new Suicide Squad titles to coincide with the film's release, including a brand new volume of the titular series, and we've got a preview of Suicide Squad Rebirth #1 by Rob Williams, Philip Tan and Jonathan Glapion.
Marvel Comic Book Releases for October 2016 [Solicitations]
Courtesy of Marvel, ComicsAlliance brings you an advance look at new periodical comic books, collected editions and graphic novels going on sale in October 2016 (and in some cases beyond) from the publisher’s mainline Marvel Universe titles, its licensed properties, and the creator-owned label Icon.
All The Major Casting Announcements From San Diego Comic-Con [SDCC 2016]
San Diego Comic-Con always offers a wealth of announcements for upcoming Marvel and DC movies and television shows, and this year might be the biggest one yet. With more comic book adaptations than ever, and studios diving deeper into the publishers' rosters of heroes and villains, there's a lot to keep up with, so we've rounded up all the major superhero casting announcements from this year's show.
Rogues’ Gallery: Who Is The Flash’s Greatest Enemy? [Poll]
A hero is defined by their villains, and the world of superhero comic books is filled with some of the scariest and silliest bad guys around. Rogues’ Gallery aims to settle the score and determine who is the true arch-nemesis for some of favorite superheroes, and we need your help to do it!
The Flash's villains aren't as scary as Batman's or as personal as Spider-Man's, but they are a collection of some of the strangest villains associated with any character in comics. Yet the question remains, which Flash villain can be considered his arch-nemesis?
Teenage Dream: How ‘Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane’ Was Ten Years Ahead Of Its Time
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane is an overlooked and underrated classic that ran in multiple forms from 2004-2007, and broke the mold for what a superhero comic released by a major publisher could be.
Originally by writer Sean McKeever and artist Takeshi Miyazawa, the series followed the day-to-day high school drama of Mary Jane Watson and her friends as they dated, fell out, and made up, while Spider-Man and The Vulture occasionally crashed their homecoming game. One could call it low-stakes storytelling, but stakes are a matter of perspective. Great drama can be found anywhere.
Hell On Two Wheels: A Tribute To Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider, the daredevil stuntman with a skeleton head made of fire, debuted in Marvel Comics on this day in 1972, and despite being one of the most definitively '70s Marvel concepts, along with Power Man and Iron Fist, the character has retained a lasting appeal and remains endlessly fun.
Vote Hiram Lodge For Mayor In Waid & Fish’s ‘Archie’ #8
Good ol’ Archie Andrews can’t seem to catch a break, having recently been discharged from hospital with a concussion courtesy of his ex-girlfriend Betty Cooper’s errant homerun baseball while sneaky Reggie Mantle tries to worm his way into the life of his current girlfriend, Veronica Lodge.
How could things get worse for Archie, you ask? How about if Veronica’s father, a man who has no shortage of contempt for our hero, ran for Mayor of Riverdale? We’ve got a preview of Archie #8 by Mark Waid, Veronica Fish, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn & Jack Morelli, to give you a sneak peek at the Lodge campaign.
21st Century Monarch: A Tribute To T’Challa, The Black Panther
On this day in 1966, in the pages of Fantastic Four #52, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the world to Wakanda, the most technologically advanced civilzation in the world, hidden in the heart of the African continent. At the head of this great nation was its king, T’Challa, who had recently assumed the throne from his father, and with it the title of the Black Panther.
DC Revives Round-Robin Storytelling Series ‘DC Challenge’ Featuring Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth
In the mid-eighties, DC Comics tried a bizarre experiment known as the DC Challenge, a story told by twelve different creative teams over twelve comics, with the catch being that each issue would end on a cliffhanger that the next team would have to get themselves out of. Announced at Emerald City Comic Con, DC is reviving the series in the form of Kamandi Challenge, thirteen creative teams over twelve issues telling one complete story with the classic Jack Kirby character, Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth.
The original DC Challenge featured the likes of Elliot S! Maggin, Mike W. Barr, Dave Gibbons, Gene Colan and so many more legendary creators. and featured the additional caveat that they could use any DC Comics characters, except ones they were currently working with elsewhere. The series culminated in a jam-packed final issue which was divided among six of the previous creative teams.
Elektra Returns In Soule And Buffagni’s ‘Daredevil’ #6 [Preview]
A lot has happened to Matt Murdock since returning to New York; there’s no Foggy or Kirsten, no-one remembers that he’s Daredevil, and he has a brand new sidekick called Blindspot. Following the recent battle with the villainous cult-leader Tenfingers, Daredevil’s world is set to get rocked once again as his first love Elektra returns, and we’ve got a preview from Marvel of Daredevil #6 by Charles Soule and Matteo Buffagni.
Penelope Pitstop Gets A Makeover In New Designs From DC’s Hanna-Barbera Beyond Titles
All the WonderCon buzz this weekend is about DC Rebirth, but DC Comics dropped some more information about another line of comics this weekend in Los Angeles, namely the new Hanna-Barbera titles. At a panel on Friday, we got a closer look at some of the titles, including Amanda Conner’s designs for The Flintstones, and a detailed look into how bizarre Wacky Raceland is going to be.