Posted by Larry Gleeson

First Look at Alliances: Orphans Original Graphic Novel

Written by Stan Lee, Luke Lieberman, and Ryan Silbert, Alliances: Orphans Will Be Published By Dynamite Entertainment’s New Figment Imprint in Summer 2022 and Features Art from Bill Sienkiewicz and Szymon Kudranski.

 

 

November 27, 2020:

Big day for “Alliances: Orphans” Original Graphic Novel, written by Stan Lee, Luke Lieberman, and Ryan Silbert

• Dynamite Entertainment’s new Figment imprint today unveiled a first look at the new original graphic novel Alliances: Orphans.
• Alliances: Orphans is the first Original Graphic Novel in the expanding Stan Lee Alliances universe, and the first story to be written by Alliances co-creators Ryan Silbert, Luke Lieberman.
• Alliances; Orphans features a prologue co-written by Stan Lee.
• Alliances Universe co-creators and Alliances: Orphansco-writers Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert quote: “We can’t wait to share this fantastical story from Stan’s Alliances Universe with the fans. We dreamed about finding the perfect partners to expand the bullpen. With Bill, Szymon, and Nick’s team at Dynamite, that dream is now a reality.”
• Dynamite CEO and Publisher Nick Barrucci quote: “The tapestry created by Luke, Ryan, and Stan is incredible, and the stories have been fantastic. When Luke and Ryan approached us to take their best-selling series, and create the first Original Graphic Novel, we were excited and honored. Great stories like this are the ones that help grow our genre and the entire comics audience, and I could not be prouder to be a part of this series.”
• More on the Stan Lee Alliances Universe (first two novels/audio events):

STAN LEE ALLIANCES: A TRICK OF LIGHT

STAN LEE ALLIANCES: A NEW REALITY

• Alliances: Orphans takes the Alliances Universe into outer space, and reveals a dozen new Stan Lee characters.
• Alliances: Orphans is the first collaboration between acclaimed artists Bill Sienkiewicz and Stan Lee. The deal was negotiated by Michael Lovitz of Lovitz IP for Bill Sienkiewicz. (This is Sienkiewicz’s first writing credit with Lee. Sienkiewicz began his career with the “Stan Lee Presents” title above his work at Marvel.)
• Coming off of an Emmy nomination for The Boys, Orphans is the latest prestige project from Dynamite Entertainment CEO and Publisher Nick Barucci who brought the IP into the company along with Executive Editor Joseph Rybandt who is overseeing the creative team. Susan Karlin is coordinating editorial on behalf of Bill Sienkiewicz Art.
• Award-Winning Artist Bill Sienkiewicz illustrates the Alliances: Orphans cover and the first chapter, Traitor’s Revenge written by Lee and Alliances co-creators Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert.
• Artist Szymon Kudranski illustrates the Alliances: Orphans original material written by Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert, all set in the Alliances Universe co-created by Stan Lee, Luke Lieberman, and Ryan Silbert.
• Alliances: Orphans is the debut of the creator-owned Figment comic book imprint (co-owned by Ryan Silbert’s Origin Story and Luke’s Magik Doom).
• Dynamite CEO and Publisher Nick Barrucci and Luke Lieberman have a long-standing relationship through the best-selling Red Sonja ongoing publications.
• More info on the San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition Thanksgiving 2021 Panel Conversation On Alliances: Orphans:

In 2019, fans were introduced to one of Stan Lee’s final collaborations with the Audible Original A Trick of Light,  the first story in the complex braided narrative of the Alliances Universe. Now, Alliances creative architects, Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert are excited to reveal the next stage of the expanding Alliances Universe which is now in publishing, audio and soon to be graphic novel – Alliances: Orphans featuring a never before seen story written by Lee, Lieberman, and Silbert featuring the art of legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz and fan-favorite Szymon Kudranski.  Sienkiewicz will join Lieberman and Silbert in revealing dozens of new characters and a galaxy-spanning story.  Orphans is Stan Lee by way of Kurosawa as the epic canvas of Alliances is opened up to introduce a giant quest to save the fabric of reality with a band of misfits forced to confront their own dark pasts in order to pave the way for a brighter future. Alliances: Orphans will be published by Dynamite Entertainment (“The Boys”) under the Figment imprint from Ryan Silbert’s Origin Story and Luke Lieberman’s Magik Doom. 

About Dynamite Entertainment

Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Red Sonja, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more. Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt. In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high-profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Gail Simone, Christopher Priest, Leah Moore, Kevin Smith, David Walker, Vita Ayala, Danny Lore, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Mark Russell, Brandon Thomas, Amy Chu, Reginald Hudlin, Nancy Collins, David Walker, Steve Orlando, Greg Pak, Jenny Frison, Matt Wagner, and a host of up-and-coming new talent. Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles – including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger’s Project Superpowers – have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.

About Bill Sienkiewicz

Bill Sienkiewicz (pronounced sin-KEV-itch) is a multi-Eisner-winning, Emmy-nominated artist best known for revamping the style of comic and graphic novel illustration from 1980 onward—most notably with Marvel’s Elektra: Assassin, Moon Knight, and New Mutants (which inspired FX’s Legion and Disney’s New Mutants), and his acclaimed graphic novel Stray Toasters—earning him an international reputation and cult status across media industries. 

A classically trained painter, Sienkiewicz’s renderings incorporate abstract and expressionist influences and any combination of oil painting, acrylics, watercolor, mixed media, collage, and mimeograph – previously unheard of in comics. His paintings have graced the National Museum of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, galleries in New York, Paris, Barcelona, and Tuscany, Spain’s famed La Semana Negra (The Black Week) Festival, and the internationally touring exhibition Marvel: Universe of Super-Heroes.

Sienkiewicz’s retrospective art books include the Eisner-winning Bill Sienkiewicz’s Mutants and Moon Knights and Assassins (IDW), Revolution (Six Foot Press), and The New Mutants: Bill Sienkiewicz Marvel Artist Select Series (IDW). He also illustrated The Island of Dr. Moreau (Beehive), Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix (Kitchen Sink), and Moby Dick (Classics Illustrated). His commentary and artwork will feature in Conde Nast’s upcoming retrospective book on DC’s The Shadow.

Sienkiewicz’s commercial and editorial work includes the comic cover, cast portraits, and promotional artwork for the upcoming Dune, and posters for next year’s The Batman, 2018 Halloween remake, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Netflix’s The Black Godfather, Logan, The Grinch, The Green Mile, Unforgiven, and 2006 Winter Olympics; advertising campaigns for Legion, Nike, MTV and Nissan; CCG game cards for Magic: The Gathering and VS System; promotional art for Titmouse Studios; and magazines such as Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, and Spin. He has also done album covers for Seth MacFarlane, Kevin Smith, RZA/Bobby Digital, Kid Cudi, EPMD, T.I., and Bruce Cockburn.

He has also contributed on-set paintings for HBO’s upcoming White House Plumbers, on-set props and portraiture for Legion, storyboards for The Green Mile, and production and character design for the PBS children’s TV series Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? The character of Kingpin in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was modeled after Sienkiewicz’s interpretation in Marvel’s Daredevil: Love and War.

He has taught at The Illustration Academy in Kansas City, MO and The Kubert School in Dover, NJ, and spoken at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and ArtCenter in Pasadena, CA.

Sienkiewicz has garnered numerous accolades—most notably 2019 Eisner Awards for the Eisner Hall of Fame and Best Archival Collection for IDW’s Bill Sienkiewicz’s Mutants and Moon Knights and Assassins, 2004 Eisner for DC Comics’ The Sandman: Endless Nights, and 1995 and 1996 Emmy Award nominations for Where In the World is Carmen Sandiego? In 2021, the UK’s Tripwire Awards inducted him into its Roll of Honor. In the mid-80s, Elektra: Assassin swept the top comic illustration awards in the U.S. and Europe, with a Kirby Award, Yellow Kid Award, and Gran Guigiri Award. He also earned a Spectrum Grand Master Award, Inkpot Award, four Eagle Awards, Alpe d’Huez Award, Baxter Award, Adamson Award, March of Dimes Award for charity work, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art, which he attended.

About Ryan Silbert and Luke Lieberman

Ryan Silbert is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, producer, and founder of Origin Story Entertainment, a multi-platform entertainment company with a global focus on storytelling. Silbert’s expansive repertoire includes such films as the Academy Award® winning GOD OF LOVE and Spike Lee’s THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE. As the founder of Origin Story Entertainment, Silbert is currently in development on television, film, and immersive narratives projects created specifically for audio platforms including the recent Audible best-seller and Lovie Award winner The Coldest Case starring Aaron Paul, Nathalie Emmanuel and Krysten Ritter. He is a co-creator with Stan Lee and Luke Lieberman on Stan Lee’s Alliances: A Trick of Light and the recently released Audible Original, A New Reality.

Luke Lieberman is a writer, filmmaker, and practitioner of entertainment law who started his career under the mentorship of Stan Lee. He is responsible for the relaunch of the Red Sonja franchise, overseeing more than 50 graphic novels and writing numerous issues himself, including Red Sonja: Birth of a She-Devil and Red Sonja: Price of Blood for Dynamite Entertainment.  Luke is also producing the live-action feature film adaptation of Red Sonja. Stan Lee’s Alliances: A Trick of Light was Luke’s first collaboration with Stan Lee and co-creator Ryan Silbert. 

Together Silbert and Lieberman are the creative architects of the expanding Alliances universe including co-writing the upcoming graphic novel Alliances: Orphans to be published by Dynamite Entertainment.

(Source: News release provided by the Lede Company)