One of my favorite comics of 2025 was Mad Cave Studios' ORLA! After a few weeks without new comics, I made into the shop on Wednesday and I got my hands on issues 4 and 5 this week.
ORLA! is a romcom/creature feature mash-up about a lonely woman struggling to navigate the Seattle singles scene while sometimes turning into a man-eating monster. Love is a monster. Orla Bard is an antique restorer, romance novel enjoyer and keen birder. She also believes in true love, continuing to navigate Seattle’s singles scene despite repeated disappointment. But Orla has a secret. She is afflicted with The Ick, a man-eating monstrous entity dwelling inside her, who violently emerges whenever she gets too angry or afraid. Unable to rid herself of this curse, Orla uses The Ick to save other women by removing the scummiest men from the dating pool…permanently. Hearts (and bodies) will be broken in this offbeat romcom/creature-feature mashup!
I found the premise of ORLA! immediately interesting when I thumbed through the first issue at the comic shop..
Orla is a plus-sized woman who men routinely approach and try to sleep with, while showing next to no interest in her as a person. She gives them plenty of chances to show depth or redeeming qualities, feeding only the worst of the worst to her monstrous alter ego, the Ick.
What took it to the next level for me was the introduction of Gwyn, a male acquaintance who obviously is smitten by Orla as a whole human being. The sweet and mildly flirty tone of his dialogue when he appeared in the first issue made it clear that he was on a collision course with Orla’s secret one way or another.
We’ve also seen that a team of shadowy suited agents led by Agent Quiche is surveilling Orla without her knowledge. And Quiche suspects that Orla is a serial killer.
By issue 4, the circle is closing around Orla, so she decides to make the world a better place by taking out superstar manosphere influencer Rick Holester, the idol of many of her previous victims.
Issue 5 brings all the plotlines together in a bloody, hilarious finale, just in time for Valentine’s Day, which I assume was the publisher’s intent. It was definitely intentional on my part to drop my review of the series on Friday the 13th.
John Lees’s script for ORLA! works hard to bring together romance, comedy, horror, and action under one coherent story, and succeeds. The conclusion of the series is satisfying enough to stand alone, but also builds a world that could be returned to in the future. Sally Cantirino's cartoony yet naturalistic drawing style seems equally comfortable with the demands of horror, romance, and comedy beats.
ORLA! was one of my favorite comics of 2025. If your Local Comic Shop is awesome like mine, you could probably pick up all 5 issues from the back issues. If not, Mad Cave is dropping the Trade Paperback collection in March.
You can also buy digital copies or pre-order the Trade Paperback on the Mad Cave Website
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