HOAN OF ORCS #1 – Comic Review

HOAN OF ORCS #1, from Blood Moon Comics on 4/12/23, re-imagines Joan of Arc into a fantasy tale about a young Orc destined to lead her people to salvation or destruction with the guidance of strange voices in her head.

The Details

• Written by: Nahuel Sb
• Art by: Nahuel Sb
• Colors by: Nahuel Sb
• Letters by: Nahuel Sb
• Cover art by: Nahuel Sb
• Comic Rating: Teen+
• Cover price: $4.99
• Release date: April 12, 2023

Is It Good?

We love historical fiction. We love historical fiction even more when the fiction part twists and turns the story we think you know into something wholly unique and entertaining. HOAN OF ORCS #1 does just that.

Set in the make-believe realm of Orkia, Nahuel Sb’s story centers on a centuries-long war between Elves and Orcs that takes a genocidal turn when an elf wizard casts a spell that causes all newborn Orcs to become weaker and smaller than the generation before. “Nature” senses an imbalance in the natural order of things and imbues a young Orc girl, Hoan, with a guiding voice to deliver her people… or she could just be crazy.

Nahuel Sb’s takes the Jon of Arc legend and reinterprets the details of Joan’s rise to prominence while leaving the core of Joan’s story intact. You have a people downtrodden by hard times and war. The protagonist is guided out of grief and loss to become a leader for her people. And the setting fits as well in a magical kingdom as it would in medieval Europe.
Overall, Nahuel Sb’s story has a solid structure and gets the basics in place to continue Hoan’s legend with a fair bit of anticipation for future issues.

That said, there are a couple of down points in the issue. They’re not show-stoppers but noticeable.

First, the dialog is clunky in a few spots. It’s unclear if the clunkiness is due to a rough translation into English or if there’s some other factor at play, but there are a few panels where we had to stop and re-read the words a couple of times to get the gist of what was said.

Second, the art is good but very loose. Nahuel Sb frequently uses wide brush strokes for detailed work, sometimes losing the details in the process. For example, after at least one re-read, we still couldn’t tell you what features are on Hoan’s forehead. Are they horns? Are her horns shaved down to nubs? This is a case where cleaner, tighter inks would have made a big difference.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

We begin with a meeting of high-level Elves lamenting a war dragged on too long. Jelema Bodo, an Elf wizard, answers the complaints by casting a spell that weakens all Orcs to be born from now forward, paving the way for the eventual elimination of all Orcs.

Nineteen years later, Hoan the Orc fights alongside her fellow Orc warriors against a group of oversized dwarves. The battle is fierce, and Hoan is badly injured during the fight. While unconscious, Hoan remembers how her family and village were destroyed by soldiers when she was a young girl. Now, strange voices and dreams guide her toward becoming a great warrior and an even greater leader.

We conclude the issue with dead soldiers, despair mixed with determination, and a summons from the “true” King.

Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.

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