"Orla!" #1 is a Romantic Comedy and Monster Thriller All in One

"Orla!" is a new comic published by Mad Cave. Written by John Lees and featuring art by Sally Cantirino, it follows a woman named Orla. She restores antiques for a living, enjoys reading romance novels, and has been on the dating scene in Seattle--and it's been rough. Oh, and she has a man-eating monstrous creature inside her she nicknamed the, "Ick," because it is a manifestation of all her sadness and rage that, as stated, literally eats people. Yes, this comic is a weird mix of genres for sure, and I loved it!

Combining the plot of a romantic comedy with a creature-feature sounds odd when you write it down, but with, "Orla!" it works very well. Much of the comic has us really feeling for Orla, a perfectly kind, thoughtful, and pleasant woman who gets along with her friends and other folks, but she just can't find love. Is Orla going on dates with, "Bad," men so she has an excuse to have her Ick devour them, or is she truly struggling to meet anyone deserving of anything besides her rage and hunger? It's a good question, and when a potential guy who actually is just a nice person Orla knows asks her on a date at the end of the issue, it definitely raises the stakes--along with how some governmental agency seems to be surveilling Orla with suspicions about her powers/curse.

Having a cute romantic comic thrown in a blender with gory monsters is not an idea I ever would have come up with, but I'm so glad John Lees and Sally Cantirino have brought us this stellar first issue of, "Orla!" I eagerly await the second, which is due September 17th, last I checked. Ask your comic shop to order you a copy of, "Orla!" if you'd like to join in on the equally cute and horrific fun, or you can even preorder the whole collected TPB if you don't mind waiting for the whole yarn to be completed.

News, Links, and Other Tidbits for May 2025

May Flowers, Still Getting Showers

We're past the halfway point of May. We got plenty of bad weather this month despite the supposed April showers giving us the May flowers, but so it goes. I feel like March was an utter slog, April did fly by, and May has moved at a relatively speedy clip as well. A number of interesting things have occurred that I would maybe not dedicate a whole article to, but I definitely want to mention. Let's get into it...

Things to Read

Marvel is going to be doing, "Retrovision," variant covers featuring various artists riffing on the Silver Age of comics and before. A number of these look really fun, and I love some faux-nostalgia.

For a title like, 'Mission Impossible," it is funny to think they're on the eighth, "Mission," or so with the newest flick. That said, Tom Cruise is an actor whom I don't like much as a person based on what I've read about him, but I will say the man is great in flicks. He and I also both love popcorn, apparently. The man downs a lot of popcorn, more than a reasonable person or even I would eat.

"The Precinct," is a new game set in the 1980's where you play a police officer with a top-down view reminiscent of the old-school, "Grand Theft Auto," series. Except, as I noted, you're a cop. It's a nice hook, but reviews of the game have been mostly middling. Perhaps I'll rent it for my PS5 or wait for it to come to Game Pass on the Xbox.

NPR ranked all of this season's musical guests on, "Saturday Night Live," as they've been doing for awhile. I mostly agree with the list except I'd move Lady Gaga from the #2 spot to the top and put Lizzo up higher as well, moving Chappel Roan down to where Lizzo was (still decently high). That's just me, though.

Bruce Springsteen is a popular musician and a human being with opinions. He expressed during a performance that he feels Donald Trump is unfit for office (for the record, I agree). Due to the fact Trump is a fascist, he can't stand someone using their freedom of speech to slander him. Hence, Trump is going to investigate Springsteen for...reasons? When a President can sic the government on people in a form of petty revenge for their thoughts, we've moved well into authoritarianism. 

I enjoy visiting Malls and my eldest, Clarkson, adores them as he can't get enough of the escalators and elevators there. Mad Cave Studios is releasing a new original graphic novel titled, "Xero," and it features subterranean and unending Mall that a man named Xero is stuck in looking for his girlfriend. Written by Vaho with art from Felipe Flores, the description mentions, "This haunting dystopian journey blends pop art, manga, and philosophical horror into a searing meditation on late-stage consumerism, false comfort, and the cost of waking up." I'm all here for it, even if this Mall sounds like a place I'd avoid.

Christopher Priest is such a good writer that I will read comics featuring characters I don't normally give a hoot about if he's penning their adventures. With that in mind, I've not read much of, "Red Sonja," but if he is doing the new comic, "Sonja Reborn," you can bet I'm gonna grab a copy!

Lastly, I've been greatly enjoying, "Yes Chef," on NBC/Peacock. It is another cooking competition show but it has some big names as judges (Martha Stewart and José Andrés), plus a clever, vaguely cruel twist where the winning chefs in a competition basically have to choose who gets voted off. It's worth a viewing.

April 2025 Pieces of Assorted News and General Interest

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, so I will say we are due for a ton of flowers this May at the rate the month has been going where I live. While I'm rained in I thought sharing some interesting links would be fun/spread some metaphorical sunshine.

Superman Day just occurred on April 18th. It commemorates the first appearance of Superman in, "Action Comics, "#1 which was published on the 18th of April way back in 1938. I continue to look forward to the upcoming, "Superman," movie this July, and I was excited to see it will have some cool McFarlane-branded toys--that Mr. Terrific is snazzy!

A game called, "Tempest Rising," was supposed to have a special edition version that could be played a week early. A mistake was made, however, and all versions of the game let everyone play right away, basically moving the release date up a week! The developer, to their credit, just let things roll and has promised those who bought the pricier special edition will get extra features. This goes to show how silly these delayed releases can be. I'm not referring to Early Access games, of course, just when a game is done but the full-on release is staggered for no other reason than to make money.

"Speed Racer," is a manga that has had many adaptations from anime to that one zany live-action flick by the Wachowskis that was maybe underappreciated for how quirky it was. Now, there will be a Western take on the series in an interesting new twist. Mad Cave is publishing it with David Pepsoe writing and Davide Tinto on art, so between a quality publisher and great creative team, I'm intrigued.

A, "Full," trailer dropped for, "Fantastic Four: First Steps," and I liked it. There was a cool retro-futurustic vibe and the cast all seem to have great chemistry. I also appreciated it wasn't overly-quippy as some Marvel trailers (or movies, admittedly) can be. There was no attempt to undercut the danger posed by Galactus (who we see a shadow and the feet of) via a joke.

The NHL Playoffs begin today, with many thinking the odds are stacked against the Blues getting to (let alone winning) the Stanley Cup. That said, Saint Louis has its latest good luck charm yet, and possibly the weirdest in some time, Jobu. A fanciful homage to the movie, "Major League," Jobu appeared one day in the locker room out of nowhere (so the story goes) and since then the Saint Louis Blues have been (generally) playing fantastically. Whether it is the song, "Gloria," or Jobu, if the Blues are winning let's not question the superstitions helping them do it.

"Sinners," is a new movie by the talented Director Ryan Coogler and is getting glowing reviews. It also had an intriguing contract clause where, after 25 years, the rights to, "Sinners," will go to Coogler, himself. This is a rare occurrence for a studio flick, and one wonders if it'll start a trend.

Tariffs being on-and-off-and-on-and-off and so forth has played havoc with the economy. Everything could go up in price, and businesses could close. It is already happening as, "Renowned board game maker and publisher Greater Than Games has laid off staff and suspended operations," as a result of tariffs. Many may shrug at a board game company shutting down, but it is just one example of how things could rapidly get worse and snowball into a massive mess.

Finally, over at The Comics Journal, they broke down all the Diamond Comics Distributors bankruptcy drama so far in superb detail, thanks to writer Brigid Alverson. I've blogged about this fiasco off-and-on but Alverson summarizes everything expertly.

Mad Cave Announces its New Manga Imprint, Nakama Press

I am fond of the publisher Mad Cave. They put out a wide range of stuff from Dick Tracy to robot love stories, and plenty of other fun reads. Now, they've announced the formation of a new imprint within the company, Nakama Press. This expansion will focus on Japanese manga but intriguingly won't be limited to just that, with, "...a significant space for Chinese manhua, French manfra, and Korean manhwa," as the Comicsbeat article on this new imprint discusses. I am eager to see what projects Mad Cave/Nakama Press puts out and imagine it'll be as entertaining as previous works from the company!

"Dick Tracy," #1 is a Fun Return to a Classic Character

I wrote about when it was announced Mad Cave would be publishing a new, "Dick Tracy," comic. I was intrigued as Tracy has been around for decades--longer than many other pop-culture characters--and I was wondering how a new take would go. Having read the first issue, I really enjoyed it!

This new, "Dick Tracy," comic is still set in the past, during the 1940s. It doesn't update the character into the modern day but also is by no means a hokey throwback or anything. It keeps Tracy as a skilled member of the police force who has been climbing the ranks due to his keen eye and deductive skills. We immediately are thrown into a mystery involving corruption and certain vintage elements are present such as Tracy wearing his signature yellow getup and villains having nicknames, but this book isn't stuck in a nostalgic rut--it expertly uses the past to tell the timeless story of crime and Tracy trying to fight it.

Credited writers Alex Segura, Michael Moreci, and Chantelle Aimée Osman are great and Geraldo Borges' art is stellar. You feel like you've dipped back into a bygone era and I was especially pleased by how Borges draws the villains in a manner that isn't cartoony but makes it clear who they are (Flattop has the hairstyle you'd expect from his name but it isn't exaggerated by any means, for example). Everyone does stellar work in this first issue.

Whether you're a longtime fan of Dick Tracy and his crime-fighting adventures published years ago or a newer fan who got into Tracy through seeing later takes on the character or even someone who liked the...interesting movie Warren Beatty made in 1990, you'll appreciate this new, "Dick Tracy," comic and its debut. Give it a read!

5 out of 5 stars.

Mad Cave Studios Has Expanded to Lunar For Distribution; The Trend Continues

I wrote earlier this month about how AWA was expanding their comic distribution beyond Diamond to also work with Lunar. I discussed how it seemed like there was a trend where--if I may quote myself--"I'm pretty sure these publishers who are sticking with Diamond but also willing to work with Lunar and/or PRH are hedging their bets on Diamond's comic division folding or otherwise not being used by a chunk of stores." Now, Mad Cave Studios will be working with Lunar as well as Diamond. More publishers expanding to other distributors. Bets are getting hedged.

I honestly think that even if folks hate Diamond, they do need them for the distribution of a chunk of stuff, but ever since 2020 (which seems like eons ago) Diamond has lost its once firm grip on the comic distribution market as the sole entity. As long as Image and a variety of other publishers stick with Diamond as their sole distributor their comic division will struggle along. Plus, many comic and comic/collectible stores will need Diamond for a variety of items besides comics. Still, times are rapidly changing.

News and Links for September 2020

 

As the song goes, "Wake me up when September ends." Why do I say that? Well, October is generally my favorite month and September is kind of meh. Couple that with a horrendous year from 2020 and the sooner we get to a month I like, the better. That said, there has been some interesting news this month, so let's explore it.

News, Links, Fun Readin'

Celebrity cameos have kind of come to dominate much of, "Saturday Night Live," we all know that. The AV Club takes an interesting view in arguing maybe this isn't a bad thing, however?

Graham Smith of RockPaperShotgun pointed-out that people always get so hung-up on if a device can run the game, "Crysis," all these years later (or its new remastered version) that people forget it actually was a pretty creative and fun game wild graphics aside.

Reading that many of the more extreme Wellness-focused communities we find online that used to be pretty far-left have morphed into believing far-right conspiracy theories like that of QAnon is not surprising (they always bought into whacked-out theories about things like vaccines that put them in a paradoxical overlap with far-right people). It isn't surprising, but it still is extremely worrisome.

The co-creator of the Punisher, Gerry Conway, has been outspoken as his disgust at how the character is used as a hero by some. He recently shared some thoughts about the comic-book industry and how he would retool it. His statements that the Direct Market is a mess are accurate, but he goes pretty far in his plan to basically cancel and retool all hero-comics. An interesting viewpoint for sure, however.

The structural and institutional racism and sexism at the Virginia Military Institute is disgusting, as this piece by Michael Harriot for The Root explores.

I myself have said many times that if Trump loses the 2020 election he will refuse to concede. Now he has confirmed himself that he'll have to be dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming. I honestly pray Biden wins and we get a lovely image of Trump being thrown out of the White House in the same manner as Jazz would get tossed out on, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

Mad Cave Studios is a smaller comic publisher who put out some cool books. They just announced they are going to be launching a young adult imprint known as, "Maverick," which has some really cool looking titles on the way.

Stacey Henley is not going to buy the new Harry Potter game because it only serves to help known transphobe J.K. Rowling and states why you should avoid the game as well in this piece. I don't have any interest in the, "Harry Potter," universe so it sounds less impressive I shall avoid it. Still, I'm happy to ignore the game and not give Rowling any more fuel for her hateful fires.

Finally, I was under the impression that Zack Snyder's version of, "Justice League," was done and just needed post-production. I thought that was he had said it constantly to anyone who would listen. Therefore, color me oh-so-surprised they may actually need to shoot some new scenes for his version of the movie. I swear, with however much money HBO MAX is dumping into this I hope they get the desired subscribers and glowing reviews some claim this 4 hour(!) flick will get. It will either be great or a terrible slog, and based on Snyder's track record I am indeed concerned. This is coming from someone who actually has kinda liked his movies, so yeah.

When September Ends...

Now then, I leave you as I have before in September-timed posts with my favorite cover of that classic song by a very talented musician:

Stay safe, everyone.