Orchid #2 Review!

Orchid #2 starts out by filling us in on more of the background and developments that took place to make the brave new world that our story takes place in.  In fact, a full 7 pages throughout this issue flesh-out the world of Orchid in greater detail.

In the last issue, Ochid’s mother was brutally slaughtered before her and her brother Yehzu’s eyes.  Now, along with a Shadow Rebel agent named Simon, they are all in the clutches of slave traders in the Iscariot Slave Camp awaiting their fate.  Orchid sees their predicament as largely Simon’s fault, and her patience wears thin when Simon starts preaching his revolutionary rhetoric to the incarcerated future slaves.  Needless to say, the guards don’t take kindly to his message either.

Simon may not be a big strong fighting type, but what he lacks in that department he makes up for in knowledge gained from exposure to books, his former experience as a slave, a few tricks he picked up as a Shadow Rebel, and the ability to improvise.  He puts these skills to work at a slave auction, and may be able to help Orchid and Yehzu as well.

Will Simon be able to facilitate an escape attempt?  Even if our heroes could manage and escape; what about the aforementioned nasty wild creatures?  And is that a scorpion-bear (bear-scorpion? scorbear?  scorpius-ursus?) on the cover?  What’s up with that?  Read Orchid #2 to find out!

The powers of the mask worn by General China are hinted at in this issue, and judging by the final cliffhanger page and the new character that appears will prove to have signifigant impact on the story.  I am confident that  these powers will certainly be explored in much more detail in Orchid #3, because it basically says as much in the preview cover for the next issue’s caption.

Overall, Orchid #2 was another fine comic.  The art style is a little loose in a few panels, but totally makes up for it in others — and remains fun throughout, nonetheless.  I would have liked to have seen a little more integration of both species on the scorpion-bears design instead of just adding a tail, to make them a truly horrifying hybrid.  But like the old saying goes, “Don’t look a gift scorpion-bear in the mouth,” (or something like that).  The colors used in the outdoors scenes are bright, bold, and really quite striking.  I like the story and see the start of an epic tale, which Tom Morello had stated was one of his goals with this series.  I expect the story to really start hitting its stride now, and can’t wait to see what comes next.  As promised, Orchid #2 comes with a code to access a free track from the official Nightwatchman website, that is intended to accompany this issue.  So if you haven’t yet, get out and grab a copy of Orchid!  I think this is going to be a fun ride that you don’t want to miss.  Be sure to check back in at Comic Booked for future Orchid news and reviews, not to mention the awesome Orchid coverage we already have up, including:

An Interview with Orchid artist Scott Hepburn from NYCC

First-hand Coverage of The Watchman’s NYCC Live Performance

And my previously mentioned Review of Orchid #1 as well as an Interview with Tom Morello !