Stan Lee's 100th birthday is next month, and we're getting a jump on the celebrations. Joining us on the show this week are comic creators Luke Lieberman, Ryan Silbert, and Bill Sienkiewicz, discussing their collaboration on Alliances: Orphans. The new graphic novel from Dynamite Entertainment springs from Lee's imagination and is further shaped into reality by Lieberman and Silbert.

The comic is a cosmic adventure following the Orphans, a ragtag band of desperados who found each other after the alien Hive eradicated their families. After rescuing an earthling named William Ackerson, they discover an equally bizarre and unique stowaway. Together, these heroes challenge the universe and, in the process, save it from blinking out of existence.

Alliances: Orphans recalls the grand ideas and characters that shaped the Marvel Universe while never falling into poisonous nostalgia. Lieberman, Silbert, and Sienkiewicz (with additional artist Szymon Kudranski) are extremely aware of the legacy they're shepherding. They want to live up to Stan Lee's mythology, and part of that is knowing when not to be precious. They'll kill an idea as quickly as they come up with it. They learned from the best.

We begin our conversation with these artists by celebrating Stan Lee. From there, we dig into their collaboration's early days and how Alliances: Orphans is unlike any other project they've worked on. We get philosophical; we get vulnerable. It's a proper Comic Book Couples Counseling session.

Alliances: Orphans is currently available from Dynamite Entertainment. You can find Luke Lieberman on Twitter and Instagram. You can find Ryan Silbert on Twitter, Instagram, and the Origin Story Website. You can find Bill Sienkiewicz on Twitter, Instagram, and his Website.

Don't forget! We're screening Howard the Duck on the big screen at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia. Done in collaboration with the Four Color Fantasies comic book shop. Get your tickets HERE.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.

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