Review: Orchid #2

The first issue of Orchid was kind of like any other first issue of a comic, it introduced us to our characters, set up the world in whichthey live and established the plot of the story. Granted I was taken in by theworld and the plot, but I didn’t really get a feel for the characters due tothe time spent setting up the former. With the second issue, we get a lot moreof the world set up for us and the rest of the time is spent with thecharacters.

We begin with the oceans raising up and swallowing the land.Again we’re informed that the rich own the high ground and new rulers fromdifferent country’s take over. They garnish their own symbols on theirfortresses while others take to ships and sail the seas becoming cannibals. Inthe slave pits Orchid finds her and her brother surrounded by men waiting totake a piece out of them. Simon has taken the opportunity to use the encampmentas a soap box about reform and rebellion. Unfortunately everyone around isbarely educated making it difficult to understand him; with the addition of thefact that that most of them don’t believe that rebellion is possible doesn't help either. The nextday they’re herded to a slave auction where Simon adjusts the scale to weighhim heavier so that he’ll be brought to a particular city for his "strength." He convinces his newmaster to buy Orchid, but the man seems more interested in buying her brotherinstead.

There’s more to the story, but that’s a good place to stop.I will say that there are giant bears with scorpion stingers yet to come whichmake the story interesting. As a whole the world is very well thought out, butI’m finding the characters hard to like. Mostly because they’re situation hasthem at the lowest of the low and they do very little to change it with oneexception. There still isn’t much character development and Orchid inparticular is coming across very one dimensional rather than a full fledgecharacter. At NYCC, Morello said that basically Orchid is going to rise up andlead the Bridge People in rebellion against the rich, but right now I just can’tsee that. Hopefully the next issue will reveal more of the mask and its role inOrchid’s story.

The art is still very fitting for the book. It’s has almosta sloppy feel to it that just fits the post-apocalyptic theme it’s set in. Someof the panels are free forming and in general artist Scott Hepburn uses somecreative storytelling throughout the book. In particular one panel has Simontalking to Orchid as she’s walking away and we see Simon head on, but we alsosee Orchid’s back as she’s leaving. It’s not traditionally what you’d seefor that type of scene; usually we would be shown Orchid walking away from overSimon’s shoulder or his POV. Hepburn instead draws the scene as if it were two differentpanels, but overlaps them and it works out to have a very organic feel to it.

I wish that there was more character development since rightnow I could go either way on caring about the death of one of the characters,and trust me one of them is dying soon. I am enthralled in the world that’sbeen created and the ideas of the new technology and the wilderness. But inorder to continue being a good comic the plot will have to catch up with theworld or readers will start to focus on everything but the charactersstruggles.

Score – 3/5