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morgiei's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
sandphin's review
4.0
Superhero Midnighter goes to hell to rescue his true love, Apollo.
This was very fun. Good to read if you, like me, are hella sick of the "bury your gays" trope. These gays are unkillable yeah!
Content notes: blood, gore, demons
This was very fun. Good to read if you, like me, are hella sick of the "bury your gays" trope. These gays are unkillable yeah!
Content notes: blood, gore, demons
bohemienne's review
5.0
Was inspired to write this review sooner rather than later bc the only review on GR for this series as of this writing is from some white dude who felt the need to leave a review that he's "Uninterested" in this series, lmao.
So. MIDNIGHTER & APOLLO, a 6-issue run from Steve Orlando, is pretty much goddamn perfect. The story is well-paced across six issues without feeling too much like a paint-by-numbers fantasy quest. The artwork is gorgeous and there are some seriously stunning and inventive panel layouts (I'm still thinking about when Midnighter beats up the water beast in Issue 2, or storms Neron's castle in Issue 4). For an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, Orlando did an exceptional job of letting us forget we're reading an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, focusing instead on Apollo's backstory (both pre- and post-experimentation) and Midnighter's moral qualms, or maybe lack thereof, regarding his pretty much constant murdering. The design of this particular Hell is phenomenal, still recognizably Hellish while offering up some great new twists--I especially loved the design for the Gardens of Carnage. And I really need a Mansions of Happiness board game now because that shit's wonderfully over the top and amazing.
BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THE QUEER REP OKAY
Midnighter and Apollo are gay. Not "you could maybe read it as romantic if you want to but we're not going to define it that way" gay (cough Russo brothers), not "we'll cut away and let you decide for yourselves" gay (cough loads of other Marvel lines), not "okay sure we'll have some dudes kiss but it was OBVIOUSLY just a ploy to get information" gay (cough Daken), not even "wow these dudes sure will travel through complete hell for each other are we SURE they aren't lovers" gay (COUGH PLANET HULK: WARZONES). They are frank relationship discussions, coming-out backstories, dinner parties complete with post-cleanup kitchen sex gay and it's never lampshaded but it's also never treated as anything less. Their friends know and embrace them (and are in many cases queer themselves); their enemies know and don't use it against them any more than they would exploit anyone's romantic bond. The story is very clear about who they are and what they are to each other--a rare enough thing in mainstream comics--without MAKING that the story (almost unheard of in the Big 2).
I keep wanting to compare this series to Planet Hulk: Warzones, but that's really unfair, because Midnighter & Apollo is the superior series in every way. On the surface, they're similar: our lead journeys through a gruesome wasteland against all odds in a desperate attempt to save his lover/"warbound", and must confront hard truths about himself along the way while tenuously accepting aid or seeking boons from creatures whose motives are unclear. But where PH:Z fails the most--the art's good but not mindblowing, the setting's ridiculous and questionable in numerous ways, but where it really fails--is in its lack of definition. All its edges are blunted--the flashbacks end before their true emotional impact can land, in some cases where it clearly feels it's BECAUSE they wanted to avoid putting a name to Steve & Bucky's relationship, so instead you just get Steve wailing "Buuuucky" a lot without giving us much grounding in why. (They aren't even 616 S&B, so we can't fall back on their 616 history together for any kind of context. They're just two dudes who joined the Supersoldier program together after some sort of pie heist, then hulkapalooza happens.)
But Midnighter & Apollo gives us that emotional connection upfront. It gives us their relationship, and most of all, it gives us a complex relationship. They have their fights, they have unresolved issues--this isn't their first go, and even as they work past what hindered their relationship before (I haven't actually read that story arc but I feel like this series provided the context perfectly) they're both Dealing With Their Own Shit. Midnighter undertaking this task feels momentous rather than contrived; it will change their relationship, but not as much as it will change each of them. And the ending--just--glorious. It's satisfying and character-growing in all kinds of excellent ways.
AND THERE'S NO "BURY YOUR GAYS" TROPE. THEY LIVE. ALL THE QUEER PEOPLE LIVE. THEY FUCKING GET A HAPPY ENDING AND A PERFECT RESCUE KISS BECAUSE THIS IS AN EPIC LOVE STORY OKAY. THEY GET TO HAVE THAT.
I'm glad this was always intended to be a limited run because the story is all the more powerful and tightly knitted for it, but I do hope we'll get more Midnighter & Apollo in other DC lines. They're accused of being the bargain-basement takes on Batman and Superman, but the story confronts that--acknowledges their origins as such, especially in Apollo's case--and gives them the depth they need to be so much more. More Midnighter & Apollo, please. More comics like this, please. And more queer representation in comics that laughs at the very idea of being considered "token." For Midnighter & Apollo, they're anything but.
So. MIDNIGHTER & APOLLO, a 6-issue run from Steve Orlando, is pretty much goddamn perfect. The story is well-paced across six issues without feeling too much like a paint-by-numbers fantasy quest. The artwork is gorgeous and there are some seriously stunning and inventive panel layouts (I'm still thinking about when Midnighter beats up the water beast in Issue 2, or storms Neron's castle in Issue 4). For an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, Orlando did an exceptional job of letting us forget we're reading an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, focusing instead on Apollo's backstory (both pre- and post-experimentation) and Midnighter's moral qualms, or maybe lack thereof, regarding his pretty much constant murdering. The design of this particular Hell is phenomenal, still recognizably Hellish while offering up some great new twists--I especially loved the design for the Gardens of Carnage. And I really need a Mansions of Happiness board game now because that shit's wonderfully over the top and amazing.
BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THE QUEER REP OKAY
Midnighter and Apollo are gay. Not "you could maybe read it as romantic if you want to but we're not going to define it that way" gay (cough Russo brothers), not "we'll cut away and let you decide for yourselves" gay (cough loads of other Marvel lines), not "okay sure we'll have some dudes kiss but it was OBVIOUSLY just a ploy to get information" gay (cough Daken), not even "wow these dudes sure will travel through complete hell for each other are we SURE they aren't lovers" gay (COUGH PLANET HULK: WARZONES). They are frank relationship discussions, coming-out backstories, dinner parties complete with post-cleanup kitchen sex gay and it's never lampshaded but it's also never treated as anything less. Their friends know and embrace them (and are in many cases queer themselves); their enemies know and don't use it against them any more than they would exploit anyone's romantic bond. The story is very clear about who they are and what they are to each other--a rare enough thing in mainstream comics--without MAKING that the story (almost unheard of in the Big 2).
I keep wanting to compare this series to Planet Hulk: Warzones, but that's really unfair, because Midnighter & Apollo is the superior series in every way. On the surface, they're similar: our lead journeys through a gruesome wasteland against all odds in a desperate attempt to save his lover/"warbound", and must confront hard truths about himself along the way while tenuously accepting aid or seeking boons from creatures whose motives are unclear. But where PH:Z fails the most--the art's good but not mindblowing, the setting's ridiculous and questionable in numerous ways, but where it really fails--is in its lack of definition. All its edges are blunted--the flashbacks end before their true emotional impact can land, in some cases where it clearly feels it's BECAUSE they wanted to avoid putting a name to Steve & Bucky's relationship, so instead you just get Steve wailing "Buuuucky" a lot without giving us much grounding in why. (They aren't even 616 S&B, so we can't fall back on their 616 history together for any kind of context. They're just two dudes who joined the Supersoldier program together after some sort of pie heist, then hulkapalooza happens.)
But Midnighter & Apollo gives us that emotional connection upfront. It gives us their relationship, and most of all, it gives us a complex relationship. They have their fights, they have unresolved issues--this isn't their first go, and even as they work past what hindered their relationship before (I haven't actually read that story arc but I feel like this series provided the context perfectly) they're both Dealing With Their Own Shit. Midnighter undertaking this task feels momentous rather than contrived; it will change their relationship, but not as much as it will change each of them. And the ending--just--glorious. It's satisfying and character-growing in all kinds of excellent ways.
I'm glad this was always intended to be a limited run because the story is all the more powerful and tightly knitted for it, but I do hope we'll get more Midnighter & Apollo in other DC lines. They're accused of being the bargain-basement takes on Batman and Superman, but the story confronts that--acknowledges their origins as such, especially in Apollo's case--and gives them the depth they need to be so much more. More Midnighter & Apollo, please. More comics like this, please. And more queer representation in comics that laughs at the very idea of being considered "token." For Midnighter & Apollo, they're anything but.
meepelous's review
3.0
As someone who is only reading this book for the hype, I would rate this book as very good for people who are jumping into these characters for the first time because of the hype. OK, maybe not your first super-hero title ever but it was nice to jump into something so far outside of my general superhero wheelhouse and to be taken on a journey that wasn't too hard to follow because you were supposed to have read a million other books first... IDK
Pretty standard and average for a superhero comic (which I certainly enjoy but is what it is) it did fall into the unfortunately large category of m/m books that I have a hard time getting into. One of the few things that really reminds me that I am pansexual is the fact that I've always had a harder time getting into m/m romances, I do try and still pick them up from time to time and they do sometimes strike my fancy, but yeah - that's my big subjective take on it.
Art-wise I am noticing that, besides being rushed, being much better at illustrating action scenes then exposition or more pedestrian scenes is probably an issue with more dc comics then I have realized previously. So while I do think this detracts from the book overall this is not a unique issue and combined with the turnaround times some of these books has is likely a stupid thing to complain about.
On a totally random note, this book is the first hell centered comic that I have read since I really stopped believing in a literal hell. Obviously hell in comics and movies never really coincided with what I believed and was taught about hell, but now that I'm 100% a Christian who does not believe the Bible ever really mentions hell, since popular culture hell in North America is generally loosely based on bad Christian readings of the Bible, Hellrazer may now be ruined forever for me. I need to pick up this series again soon just to check.
To conclude, along with being a solid first as far as openly gay relationship representation in DC comics goes, because Midnighter looks like Batman to me so thinking about who gay batman might be was pretty fun as well.
Pretty standard and average for a superhero comic (which I certainly enjoy but is what it is) it did fall into the unfortunately large category of m/m books that I have a hard time getting into. One of the few things that really reminds me that I am pansexual is the fact that I've always had a harder time getting into m/m romances, I do try and still pick them up from time to time and they do sometimes strike my fancy, but yeah - that's my big subjective take on it.
Art-wise I am noticing that, besides being rushed, being much better at illustrating action scenes then exposition or more pedestrian scenes is probably an issue with more dc comics then I have realized previously. So while I do think this detracts from the book overall this is not a unique issue and combined with the turnaround times some of these books has is likely a stupid thing to complain about.
On a totally random note, this book is the first hell centered comic that I have read since I really stopped believing in a literal hell. Obviously hell in comics and movies never really coincided with what I believed and was taught about hell, but now that I'm 100% a Christian who does not believe the Bible ever really mentions hell, since popular culture hell in North America is generally loosely based on bad Christian readings of the Bible, Hellrazer may now be ruined forever for me. I need to pick up this series again soon just to check.
To conclude, along with being a solid first as far as openly gay relationship representation in DC comics goes, because Midnighter looks like Batman to me so thinking about who gay batman might be was pretty fun as well.
caphewritings's review
5.0
4.5/5
Apollo says fuck your Bury Your Gays bullshit.
Kind of feels like another Midnighter solo run at first, but Apollo really (literally) shines in the last two issues. Love how casually gay everyone is. Fernando Blanco's art is beautiful and I absolutely adore how Romulo Fajardo colors. Steve Orlando is probably my new favorite comic writer now, I gotta check out his other works.
Apollo says fuck your Bury Your Gays bullshit.
Kind of feels like another Midnighter solo run at first, but Apollo really (literally) shines in the last two issues. Love how casually gay everyone is. Fernando Blanco's art is beautiful and I absolutely adore how Romulo Fajardo colors. Steve Orlando is probably my new favorite comic writer now, I gotta check out his other works.
davidareyzaga's review
3.0
Yeah, it’s DC’s gay couple, and that’s a great achievement (a little too late though), but it’s nothing to write home about. Maybe I was expecting a more complex relationship, or I need way more context. As a gay reader, this was entertaining, but I’ve read better stories involving gay characters.
tinkeringlibrarian's review
2.0
Not my jam
At all. The dial is set on maximum gore and the relationship is very masc 4 masc grinder ad.
At all. The dial is set on maximum gore and the relationship is very masc 4 masc grinder ad.
ariadna's review
3.0
I read this as soon as I finished the meh that was [b:Midnighter, Vol. 2: Hard|29633087|Midnighter, Vol. 2 Hard|Steve Orlando|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1520151841l/29633087._SY75_.jpg|49984048] and it turned out to be great.
There are high stakes, magic shenanigans, Midnighter kicking and killing, Apollo trying to battle for his own soul, and Midnighter/Apollo moments. There are a handful of naughty moments here and there where they, you know, busy (nothing above a PG-13, imo).
TL;DR: A good conclusion to the Midnighter/Apollo saga with a grand adventure and banter that might border the OTT line. I borrowed it from my local library.
There are high stakes, magic shenanigans, Midnighter kicking and killing, Apollo trying to battle for his own soul, and Midnighter/Apollo moments. There are a handful of naughty moments here and there where they, you know, busy (nothing above a PG-13, imo).
TL;DR: A good conclusion to the Midnighter/Apollo saga with a grand adventure and banter that might border the OTT line. I borrowed it from my local library.
deweydenouement's review
4.0
I'm such a sucker for the Apollo/Hyacinth story and that's really the icing on the cake of love i have for these two