Orc Stain #2

by James Stokoe

Orc Stain is well on the way to becoming one of my favourite regular series. Stokoe's new comic is an amazing showcase for his particular brand of comics weirdness. In this issue, our hero One-Eye is betrayed by his partner, and almost gets his gronch cut off when he can't pay a proper tribute to the local Orc leader. What follows is a flurry of violence, and the lopping off of a gronch or two.

If you aren't sure what a gronch is, it's pretty much exactly what you would expect. Apparently, they are currency in the Orc world.

Stokoe is imbuing each page of this book with a high degree of visual creativity. His Orcs are incredibly detailed, as are their surroundings. He is inventing some very interesting things, such as Dillo leather armchair disguises and living pop cans, while also constructing Orc culture and traditions. I've always liked Stokoe's art, but it looks better than ever in the lush colours he is using here.

He's really taking his time to establish some of these characters and their surroundings, before he flings One-Eye into the main plot, which involves a territorially aggressive Orc who is hunting for the one-eyed Orc to help him gain great riches.

This is fantastic stuff.