Welcome to the new economy, same as the old economy.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ted Anderson
Art: Nuno Plati
Colors: Joao Lemos, Nuno Plati
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
What They Say:
The city of Albany. Old friends. Old times. Old wounds. Freedom of speech. The paradox of money. High walls and far sight. An attack from unexpected directions.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Orphan Age is a book that continues to scratch a very particular itch for me. I like the what-comes-after stories that we get pretty regularly but most are dressed up in a lot of overt violence, such as zombies and plagues and the like. Here, Ted Anderson deals with killing everyone off and moving us forward quite a few years so it’s less about the initial survival and rebuild of civilization. It’s now about civilization and what type to have. And Anderson is very well-paired with Nuno Plati as this is a great looking book. I love their character designs in general but our core characters are distinctive and intriguing. Plati also really does a great job of capturing the look of this world as it’s not in ruin but rather continuing its transition into what it will be, so it’s earthy but not in a way that feels like nobody cares about it.
The arrival at Albany is definitely a shock to young Princess because even though she’s heard the tales about it, it’s far more than she could imagine. The city is of a good size with thousands of people there, currency, a few actual restaurants, and even power on occasions. Bourdeaux is able to get them to a contact of his as Princess has a definite plan she wants to present to the Council to get help for Dallastown. Lindy, who has known Bordeaux for quite a few years, is on the council herself and she’s engaging here as she takes in what Princess has to say about the New Chuch and what she hopes for in terms of help. The reality is that Albany’s not exactly the best place for something to get put together like this, but Lindy can tell there’s something special about Princess and I really loved how seriously she took her when they met. They’ve all been through a different world and have to really pay attention to each other here.
There’s a lot going on in this book as we see Princess finding an old friend that moved here years ago, Stella, and their discussion allows Princess to finally start accepting what happened in Dallastown and for its impact to be felt now that her initial mission has been accomplished. Willa’s tension as she roams the town at night alone is engaging since there are New Church believes here as well, and that’s not something that she really wants to see. We also get a good bit of time with Lindy and Bordeaux as they catch up, filling in a few more worldbuilding blanks in a good way while also touching more on how the council will likely work in addition to the New Chuch itself. None of it goes out the window when the New church does arrive outside the gates at the end of the issue but it does help to show where everyone stands and why they just might roll over pretty quickly.
In Summary:
I continue to really dig Orphan Age and have hopes that it actually has a good and lengthy run ahead of it. I can see some easy stopping points to do smaller stories with and I’d even be in favor of a series of miniseries exploring the post-event around the world. I just want to see more of what’s being explored here. Right now, Princess’ story is very strong with some great character material combined with excellent artwork that fits perfectly. It’s an engaging book that delivers exactly what I got out of early Walking Dead issues with how to handle a vastly changed world and what’s needed to survive. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: July 10th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
