Tag Archives: stephen byrne

Preview: Joy Operations 2 #4

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Joy Operations 2 #4

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Stephen Byrne
In Shops: Sep 18, 2024
SRP: $4.99

Everything was fine until the joy operation: when one of the city trusts implanted the psyche of one of their en.voi’s into master en.voi Joy Corrigan. Now Hampton and Joy live in the same body! They are just getting used to what that means for their life, love, and future when the world decides to blame them for everything that’s gone wrong. It’s now Joy and Hampton against the world. This is the earth-shattering conclusion to this all-new chapter of this sci-fi extravaganza!

Joy Operations 2 #4

Preview: Venomverse Reborn #4 (of 4)

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Venomverse Reborn #4 (of 4)

(W) Dan Slott, Various (A) Stephen Byrne, Various (CA) Tony Daniel
Rated T+
In Shops: Sep 11, 2024
SRP: $4.99

NOTHING BUT VENOMS!

The journey across the VENOMVERSE reaches uncharted territory in the wide, weird and uncanny Marvel Universe(s)! Spider-scribe DAN SLOTT teams up with STEPHEN BYRNE to team NIGHTHAWK up with Venom! JUSTINA IRELAND and KEN LASHLEY travel to the ancient past and never-before-seen present of a Wakanda forged not of vibranium – but of symbiote! And AL EWING and DANILO S. BEYRUTH set the stage for what’s to come for the future of the VENOMVERSE!

Venomverse Reborn #4 (of 4)

Mad Cave announces Synap

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Mad Cave Studios has announced Synap, the newest sci-fi series from Chris Moses and art by Andrea Giannini! It features colors by James Offredi and letters by Reed Hinckley-Barnes, with Cover A by Ivan Tao and Cover B by Stephen Byrne. 

In the year 2030, a family-run private defense company, Synap, secretly puts together the pieces of a mysterious giant robot while training psychically gifted individuals to one day control it. However, with the startling increase in UFO sightings, the family finds their time is running out to assemble the ancient machine.

Synap celebrates diversity with biracial and nonbinary characters, and blends the giant mech action of Mobile Suit Gundam with the conspiracies and other worldly threat of Stranger Things. Synap #1 drops November 27th. 

Preview: Joy Operations 2 #3

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Joy Operations 2 #3

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Stephen Byrne
In Shops: Aug 21, 2024
SRP: $4.99

All hell has broken loose. With their family kidnapped, Joy and Hampton are being hunted through the trust they had sworn to protect. A whole trust that is psychically falling apart around them. They are also being chased by people who were once their teammates and friends! It is up to Joy and Hampton to find levels of partnership they have never found before or everything in their world will fall apart.

Joy Operations 2 #3

Preview: Joy Operations 2 #2

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Joy Operations 2 #2

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Stephen Byrne
In Shops: Jul 24, 2024
SRP: $4.99

Everything was fine until the joy operation. When one of the trusts implanted the psyche of one of their en.voi’s into master en.voi Joy Corrigan. Now Hampton and Joy live in the same body! They are just getting used to what that means for their life, love, and future when the world decides to blame them for everything that’s gone wrong. It’s Joy and Hampton against the world. This is an all-new chapter of an all-new sci-fi extravaganza!

Joy Operations 2 #2

Preview: Joy Operations 2 #1

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Joy Operations 2 #1

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Stephen Byrne
In Shops: Jun 19, 2024
SRP: $4.99

Everything was fine until the joy operation. When one of the trusts implanted the psyche of one of their en.voi’s into master en.voi Joy Corrigan. Now Hampton and Joy live in the same body! They are just getting used to what that means for their life, love, and future when the world decides to blame them for everything that’s gone wrong. It’s Joy and Hampton against the world. This is an all-new chapter of an all-new sci-fi extravaganza!

Joy Operations 2 #1

X-Men Wedding Special #1 Serves as a Great Wedding Story but Not a Strong Marvel Pride Issue

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X-Men Wedding Special

Mystique and Destiny, one of the oldest gay couples in Marvel comics, decide to renew their vows in X-Men Wedding Special #1 by an ensemble of various creatives. Serving as this year’s Marvel’s Voices Pride, read about the wedding of the millennium with one of the comics’ most significant relationships, Betsy and Rachel, facing a dangerous threat by an old foe, a group of young mutants trying to find the perfect wedding gift and more. Although it works better to celebrate Irene’s and Raven’s relationship, X-Men Wedding Special #1 feels like a weaker substitute for the Marvel Voices Pride specials from the past years.

The best aspect lies in the overarching story “Something Borrowed, Something Blue” by Kieron Gillen, Rachael Stott, and Michael Bartolo, which focuses on the wedding of Irene and Raven as the pair have a secret scheme that the guests and their kids Rogue and Nightcrawler do not know about. Aside from the historical nature of the wedding, it also serves as a capstone for Gillen’s work with the pair during the Krakoan era. I enjoy how Gillen characterizes the chaotic and villainous sapphic couple whose love is immortal. Stott’s beautiful art, paired with Bartolo’s colors, conveyed the majestic and gorgeous nature of the wedding. The other stories by Tini Howard, Phillip Sevy, KJ Díaz, Wyatt Kennedy, Jenn St-Onge, Brittany Peer, and more are primarily good but range in quality. 

Outside of the original stories, the issue includes a history of Irene’s and Raven’s relationship, an interview with Chris Claremont, and reprints of two LGBTQ+ X-Men-focused Marvel issues. X-Men Wedding Special #1 does not justify its price tag, even with the included supplementary materials. Granted, it is a super-sized issue, but I wish the special contained more original materials and a more substantial publishing and presentation for the physical printed issue. Considering how last year’s Pride special included more stories, interviews, and other elements, X-Men Wedding Special #1 feels less impressive and a step down in quality and execution. 

Lastly, X-Men Wedding Special #1 serves as this year’s Marvel’s Voices Pride, which does not showcase a large variety of LGBTQ+ representation. By solely focusing on Irene, Raven, and some of the X-Men exclusively, it cuts out the other LGBTQ+ mutant and non-mutant characters teased on the variant covers. Similarly, what should be a meaningful celebration for two beloved queer characters becomes saddled with being the big LGBTQ+ special by Marvel comics. This decision cuts out queer and trans-non-mutant characters, along with not highlighting other spaces of the universe. The representation is more limited and does not portray the breadth of queer and trans characters in the comics. As a result, if Marvel released a 2024 issue of Marvel’s Voices Pride in addition to X-Men Wedding Special #1, my opinions would be more favorable due to the latter not being the sole major queer tentpole special for the year. Outside of being the monumental wedding issue of Irene and Raven, it is also their yearly Pride issue, which comes across as more corporate synergy than a stand-alone celebration.

Overall, X-Men Wedding Special #1 bolsters a talented team of creatives who celebrate a wedding centuries in the making, which conflicts with being 2024’s Marvel’s Voices Pride. I loved the wedding aspect, but I wish it had more stories and materials representing more queer and trans characters outside of solely X-Men ones. With Irene and Raven having Marvel’s first sapphic wedding, its memorability and impact get slightly lessened with the other aspects the issue needs to juggle. As a result, X-Men Wedding Special #1 cannot solely be about their wedding but also has to carry the weight of being this year’s Marvel’s Voices Pride. I prefer if this served as a stand-alone special issue along with having a Marvel’s Voices Pride 2024 issue. X-Men Wedding Special #1 celebrates the immortal love of Irene and Raven while struggling to showcase the diverse LGBTQ+ community in Marvel comics.

Story: Kieron Gillen, Tini Howard, Tate Brombal, Yoon Ha Lee, Wyatt Kennedy
Art: Rachael Stott, Phillip Sevy, Emilio Pilliu, Stephen Byrne, Jenn St-Onge
Color: Michael Bartolo, KJ Diaz, Irma Kniivila, Brittany Peer
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Story: 7.2 Art: 8.3 Overall: 7.3 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

Marvel takes readers to the 85th Century!

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Each August, Marvel Comics commemorates its anniversary with a grand, giant-size one-shot that boldly explores the scope of the Marvel mythos in exciting ways, such as last year’s Eisner-nominated Marvel Age #1000. This year is no exception as all-star creators craft stories set in the far, far future of the Marvel Universe in Marvel 85th Anniversary Special!

Marvel 85th Anniversary Special will feature stories by a wide array of talent, from legendary creators to rising stars, including Ryan North, Alan Davis, Christopher Priest, Iman Vellani, Sabir Pirzada, Steve Skroce, Josh Cassara, Stephen Byrne, Kaku Yuji, Carlo Pagulayan, and more! Discover how history will remember your favorite heroes and their legendary exploits in this daring trip to the 85th century!

In the far future, exploits of the heroes of the Marvel Age are the stuff of legend, half remembered but still celebrated! Come with us now on a tour of the greatest museum in all the cosmos, in which the few surviving relics of those bygone days have been assembled. Each piece tells a unique story – about the Contest of Champions and how it wrought an end to the Age of Heroes, about the greatest triumph of Ms. Marvel, and the final, secret exploit of Excalibur! And more!

Check out Kaare Andrews’ cover and join Marvel’s greatest storytellers for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration this August! 

Marvel 85th Anniversary Special

Preview: X-Men Wedding Special #1

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X-Men Wedding Special #1

(W) Kieron Gillen, Yoon Ha Lee, Various (A) Various (CA) Jan Bazaldua
Rated T+
In Shops: May 29, 2024
SRP: $9.99

WEDDING EXTRAVAGANZA!
Mystique and Destiny are one of the most beloved – and longest running – gay couples in history. Somewhere in their 100+ years together, the pair married, but we’ve never seen the event on the page. This year, Marvel’s Voices: Pride makes history with Marvel’s first woman-to-woman wedding! And with a couple as complex as these two, you know there’s a lot more to the story. We promise party crashing! Villainy! Romance! In the classic tradition of Fantastic Four Annual #3 and X-Men #30, this anthology will be a must-read for every comics fan. Featuring the Marvel debuts of award-winning writers Yoon Ha Lee (Ninefox Gambit, Machineries of Empire) and M. Louis (Agents of the Realm), and much more talent to be announced!

X-Men Wedding Special #1

Betty or Veronica? Archie finally chooses in a new comic from Tom King and Dan Parent

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Archie Comics’ flagship character, the eternal teenager Archie Andrews, has been struggling with a choice almost since his debut more than 80 years ago: Betty or Veronica? This August, he finally tackles the dilemma head-on in Archie: The Decision, a sprawling, antic all-ages one-shot comic by bestselling author Tom King and legendary Archie artist Dan Parent!

A frequent Archie Comics running gag is the mayhem caused by Archie’s inability to decide whom to date, whether it’s for one Friday night or forever. Archie: The Decision opens on a historic moment: Archie has decided to put an end to all of that. Where King and Parent take him next is a joyfully tense escalating series of events that winds up engulfing the entire town, and reflects the expansiveness of today’s Riverdale. 

Archie: The Decision releases August 28 in comic shops nationwide, with inks by Bob Smith, colors by Rosario “Tito” Peña, letters by Jack Morelli, and an open-to-order variant cover by Stephen Byrne. It will be available for pre-order on May 24. 

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