Hey there, everyone! Welcome to another installment of Reading with Robin! As a librarian who loves to read, I also love to talk about books and connect other readers with books they can fall in love with. In these posts, I’m going to talk about what I’ve been reading, what I liked about the book, and who I’d recommend the book to next.
This entry’s book is: Midnighter and Apollo written by Steve Orlando and illustrated by Fernando Blanco!
Many of you might not know this about me, but I am an avid comic book reader. My first foray into the four-colored world was in pursuit of a familiar fandom, as I was desperate to follow the “Season 8” adventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and crew. That was back in 2007 and since then, my graphic novel tastes have grown eclectic to say the least. An entire room in my house is devoted to an ever growing comic book collection and my husband and I are proud to say we have attended Emerald City ComicCon for over 10 years straight (2020 would have been our 12th year attending — we were heartbroken when COVID-19 cancelled the event).
One of the best comics I’ve read recently has got to be this six-issue gem from 2016 – 2017, Midnighter and Apollo. Written by Steve Orlando and illustrated by Fernando Blanco, Midnighter and Apollo follows the romantic relationship between two very different superheroes: the dark, violent vigilante Midnighter and the superhuman Apollo. An old enemy conspires to cause them pain and Apollo is in fact killed, his soul sent to hell. But Midnighter has never backed down from a fight, and he doesn’t intended to start now — even if he has to fight all the demons of hell to get the love of his life back.
I think what I liked best about this book was that you get all the action (and then some) of your typical superhero book with so much more drama and emotion. Midnighter and Apollo’s relationship is the heart of this story, the driving force behind every bloody beat. It was refreshing to see a relationship between supes be seen not as a weakness or vulnerability, but a strength – something that makes the pair of them unbeatable.
Fans of Orlando’s 2015 series Midnighter will definitely want to pick up this book and give it a read, but it’s appeal is far wider. If you enjoy reading writers like James Tynion IV, Tamsyn Muir, or Brenden Fletcher, this might be the perfect book for you. If you enjoy watching television or films like The Umbrella Academy, The October Faction, or The Old Guard, give this book a spin – it could be right up your alley!
Robin Jeffrey 