"Orla!" is a new comic published by Mad Cave. Written by John Lees and featuring art by Sally Cantirino, it follows a woman named Orla. She restores antiques for a living, enjoys reading romance novels, and has been on the dating scene in Seattle--and it's been rough. Oh, and she has a man-eating monstrous creature inside her she nicknamed the, "Ick," because it is a manifestation of all her sadness and rage that, as stated, literally eats people. Yes, this comic is a weird mix of genres for sure, and I loved it!
Combining the plot of a romantic comedy with a creature-feature sounds odd when you write it down, but with, "Orla!" it works very well. Much of the comic has us really feeling for Orla, a perfectly kind, thoughtful, and pleasant woman who gets along with her friends and other folks, but she just can't find love. Is Orla going on dates with, "Bad," men so she has an excuse to have her Ick devour them, or is she truly struggling to meet anyone deserving of anything besides her rage and hunger? It's a good question, and when a potential guy who actually is just a nice person Orla knows asks her on a date at the end of the issue, it definitely raises the stakes--along with how some governmental agency seems to be surveilling Orla with suspicions about her powers/curse.
Having a cute romantic comic thrown in a blender with gory monsters is not an idea I ever would have come up with, but I'm so glad John Lees and Sally Cantirino have brought us this stellar first issue of, "Orla!" I eagerly await the second, which is due September 17th, last I checked. Ask your comic shop to order you a copy of, "Orla!" if you'd like to join in on the equally cute and horrific fun, or you can even preorder the whole collected TPB if you don't mind waiting for the whole yarn to be completed.
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