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Godzilla writer/artist James Stokoe takes on kung-fu revenge stories with Dark Horse's Orphan and the Five Beasts: Bath of Blood this fall

The second series of Alien and Godzilla cartoonist James Stokoe's kung-fu craziness hits the stands (literally) this September

Orphan Mo header image
Image credit: Dark Horse

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It’s been years since the fearless warrior Orphan Mo has been able to continue the mission given to her dying master — but, this fall, comic book visionary James Stokoe is ready to return to her story in Dark Horse Comics’ upcoming psychedelic kung-fu series Orphan and the Five Beasts: Bath of Blood.

The new series picks up right where Stokoe’s original Orphan and the Five Beasts series left off — with warrior Orphan Mo having dispatched two of the five beasts she was ordered to destroy by her late mentor in an epic battle. With three remaining, Mo might be forgiven for thinking her path forward might be about to become clearer and easier… but she doesn’t know that others are also searching for the remaining beasts, for their own purposes.

(For those familiar with kung-fu movies, Stokoe has teased in an interview that an inspiration for this run is Chung Sun's Shaw Brothers movie Human Lanterns, which is reason enough to get excited in its own right.)

That first miniseries, published from 2021 through early 2022, won attention and acclaim thanks to the mash-up of kung-fu and grindhouse genres and Stokoe’s over-the-top attention to detail in his artwork, as seen in projects including Godzilla: The Half-Century War and Alien: Dead Orbit. Sure, it might feel like it’s been a long wait for Mo’s path to revenge to continue — but that’s true in all of the best revenge stores, isn’t it?

Orphan and the Five Beasts: Bath of Blood #1 (of 4) will be released September 24. Take a look at Stokoe’s cover below.


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Graeme McMillan

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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