Comics are such a fun place. They really are. Given that comics are still described as a niche medium, it’s safe to say that a lot of people are missing out due to stigmas about the entire medium; specifically that every comic worth reading probably has a cape or tight in it, and every “indie” comic (“or whatever!”) is usually some touchy-feely kind of book featuring dumb things like feelings and emotion and people talking.
So fine. Let’s talk about a book that has no capes or tights, and just a whole lot of blood, guts, violence, and insane comic-y goodness: ORC STAIN.
Click past the cut for some gronchy goodness.
Orc Stain is a very easy comic to grasp: a one-eyed orc with a mysterious past out in the wild becomes mixed up in a blood feud that quite literally calls for the removal of his orcy bits. Fleeing from the colossal battle, he finds himself mixed up in a massive and grotesque conspiracy from the Orc Tzar that involves the capture of one-eyed orcs and their injection into a massive beast in the side of a mountain. Now, one orc and his hammer must survive the ponxa gronka on his head and the bearded army out to get him – and perhaps rewrite destiny. Oh, and he may or may not be getting some help from a witch named Bowie and her weird headress Zazu.
Really, at this point you should be out in your local shop or on Amazon.com ordering a copy of the first trade (here’s a helpful link). As a fan of the title myself, I do not understand how that description wouldn’t immediately intrigue a reader – and I’m not saying that to some sort of egotistical end based on my ability to convey. Orc Stain is just a fantastically imaginative comic book with a terrific plot that is, most importantly, excessively fun. It’s like Conan the Barbarian on acid, albeit less so the character and more so the world. Perhaps an even better comparison might be to say: imagine all of the orcs from the Lord of the Rings got their own spin-off, and they spent the majority of it cutting off each other’s dicks in the name of violence. This is a world of intense violence (and, to a certain extent, penises – which is fairly appropriate, given the context) that thrives on its action and thrills with its intensely layered panels for a comic experience rather unique and visceral. Stokoe has invented a world here that feels both new and slightly familiar, with many tropes hidden beneath the surface screaming out things like “destiny” to the reader as we wait for One-Eye to move beyond his selfish nature and become the hero – whatever that really entails. It’s Stokoe at his best: over the top and insular humor that reviles in the world it was created, grandiose sequences of absolutely beautiful blocking, and more detail than your eyes can begin to comprehend in the average time it takes to read a comic. This is a book that demands multiple reads, but is so insanely addictive and entertaining that you’ll barely even understand that its a requirement while you’re on your fifth read of it.
Stokoe’s abilities as a writer is only diminished by his skills as an artist, and therein lies the true calling to the title. There are really few artists out there with as intense an imagination as James Stokoe. This isn’t to entirely blast every other artist out there; far from it – most artists develop a style that works for them, and they’re able to illustrate their images beautifully. But then there is James Stokoe, an artist who defines the term “criminally underrated.” Stokoe stands essentially in a league few others enter into (only Nate Simpson comes to mind), with his art full of hyper-active and incredibly rich details down to the tiniest smidge. Studying Stokoe’s art for any extended amount of time reveals an uncanny amount of intricacies that bring the world to life in a truly unique way, and essentially reveal why only one or two issues of this series come out a year. Part Miyazaki and part Bryan Hitch, Stokoe takes widescreen art to a new level with his beautifully rich artwork (that he inks, colors and letters by himself, mind you).
Continued belowJust take a minute to look at this image:
Yes, that’s real. No, your eyes do not deceive you. Yes, every comic should be this gorgeous. And hey, keep in mind you (probably/maybe) haven’t even read the book yet. Imagine how much better it gets once you start the story, eh? So perhaps I can interest you in a link to a 5 page preview of the next issue of Orc Stain, which reveals a bit of One-Eye’s history (and, really, is fairly spoiler-free all things considered). If you have a good reason for why you haven’t gone out and got a copy of the trade after reading that, I’d love to hear it (besides “oh, I don’t have any money” – that’s not an excuse).
Ok, so only 6 issues of Orc Stain have come out and the trade collects 5 issues that end on a whopper of a cliff hanger rather than the typical end of an arc. That’s not what Orc Stain is about, though – it’s not about telling a story from plot point to plot point. It’s an ongoing epic of gronchy goodness in a fully realized world that sings and tears itself from the page in front of you, forcing you to forget the outside world and exist only within the land of the stained. How many comics that come out on a monthly basis can do this? The list is few and far between, and Orc Stain is a prime example of both the sort of story that can only exist within the pages of a book and proof that sometimes a book coming out monthly just doesn’t matter. When it’s as good as this, I’m fine waiting as long as Stokoe wants me to wait for a comic this beautiful.
The first trade of Orc Stain is in stores now here’s another helpful link), and I can assure you that you will not find a comic book like this anywhere else on the market. If you come to the weekly column Off the Cape with hopes of finding your new favorite book, or at least one that will give you an entirely unique experience in a medium that outside sources are calling stale, here’s your proof of why they’re wrong.
