Comics Review: Emily and the Strangers and Orchid

These two may not seem like an obvious match. The connection is that they were both acquired via a Dark Horse Rock & Roll Comics weekend sale.

There were other books included in the sale. I already had Killjoys and Umbrella Academy, of course, but it made sense to keep Killjoys with yesterday's post. I wrote a little about Umbrella Academy when I was just getting started, but I may revisit it later. There is supposed to be a new chapter in development.

Technically I ended up getting hard copies of Emily and the Strangers from the Kickstarter, so I probably should not have bought the digital copies, but they were on sale and sometimes it is convenient to be able to bring them up on computer.

The other book that was on sale was House of Gold & Bones (by Corey Taylor of Slipknot), which I decided against. Other reasonable inclusions for Rock & Roll comics, if we included other publishers, would include IDW's Killology, which has Marky Ramone as a character, and Lobo from DC, written by Scott Ian of Anthrax. There is a lot of room for collaboration between rock and comics, and I like that.

Let's get to the comics I bought and read through the sale!

Emily and the Strangers, written by Mariah Huehner and Rob Reger, art by Emily Ivie.

Emily's quest to win her idol's guitar requires a band, which leads to creative difficulties for the habitually solitary Emily.

Emily's a bit of a pill. That was frustrating for me in terms of enjoying the character, as she can be arrogant and rude and an ingrate. That wasn't so much a flaw as the point, though, as she has to learn to work with the others, and perhaps even enjoy it.

The solutions for the problems end up being pretty easy most of the time, with occasional delays due to stubbornness, but there was never a lot of dramatic tension. Where I ended up being totally engaged is with the art.

The first page of the first issue has an intricate background, an Escher tribute in the foreground, and visual interest everywhere. I could look at the pages all day long. It is totally logical that while Emily might start as a brand mascot, that she would become more, because there is something alluring about her.

Also, I love the way cats are constantly overrunning everything. The artwork for the cats is good, but they are used well for humor and frustration.

Orchid, story by Tom Morello, art by Scott Hepburn, colors by Dan Jackson, and letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot.

Rising sea levels resulted in a brutally deadly world with many oppressed. A mask that can destroy or empower the wearer is pursued by a tyrant and used by a prostitute.

My problems with Orchid started with the opening. During the setup there is a line, "When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed" leading to pictures of animals mutating in uniformly terrifying ways. (I believe After Earth went in a similar direction.) Anyway, I remember thinking that it wouldn't go down that way, and so I didn't get lost in the world as much as I could have.

This may have been for the best, because it was an exceedingly ugly world. I don't mean that based on the artwork or the writing, because it was pretty well done. The symmetry between Opal's experience and then Orchid's made sense, and the turnaround at the end, was well-written. Orchid's putting on the mask the first time made sense.

There were things that did not feel real to me, and that took me out of the story. Some of it was minor, like the relationship between Anzio and Simon felt tacked on at the end (to be fair, a romance between Orchid with Simon would have felt much more forced). It felt like something would have to happen with Yehzu, so that worked but was underdeveloped. Though, as part of that arc, you knew Tomo's death was assured when he killed Radius, and the page where Barrabas saw it was drawn exactly right.

Mainly though, I feel like the philosophy behind it was missing. If being able to wear the mask requires being a saint, I can see how Opal's desire for a better world, and to protect Orchid, qualifies her, but it feels wrong that Orchid's desire solely for revenge should. The bridge people working together is the kind of change that should turn things around, but again, if everyone is planning to die in the pursuit of vengeance, how did they get their better world? That requires them to be the kind of people, and have a vision, that they are rejecting. Ultimately, it never felt real.

One thing that I did like is a recurring theme that reading is transformative. I do believe in that.