Review – Burn The Orphanage – Born To Lose #2 (Of 3) (Image)

Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Daniel Freedman & Sina Grace
Artist: Sina Grace
Release Date: 4th December 2013

If I could review this book for the page the way I would IRL all I would say is “THAT WAS TOTALLY FREAKIN AWESOME!”

Sadly for me it’s expected of me to elaborate on the book a bit more for the benefit of those of you yet to commit your hard earned money to a title you may not have picked up yet.

This is the second chapter in the born to lose trilogy (Seriously go buy issue one already) and picks up with our hero Rock on a bit of a downer. After flash kicking the head clean off the man who ruined his life he finds himself with nothing left to fight for, He still gets into fights but now he lacks purpose until the mysterious Elyse approaches him in a bar, puts a spell on him and promptly “gets down to business” *ahem*.

Once Rock comes to his senses it is revealed that Mann (bad dude from part one) was contracted to take part in a fighting tournament on a mysterious island to celebrate her birthday and by killing him, Rock is now contracted to take his place.

What we get from here is a clear homage to the classic beat-em ups like Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter 2. We get demonic warriors, dudes with cyborg arms, ninjas and a luchador wrestler with the head of a goat all competing in a tournament to the death, a thoroughly entertaining tournament to the death at that.

Sina Grace and Daniel Freedman are clearly wearing their hearts fully on their sleeves with this series as it truly comes across as being a labour of love. Burn The Orphanage is a series destined for cult success amongst the folks its aimed at, guys and gals like me who grew up in a simpler time, when our games consoles peaked at 16 megabits and had blast processing (whatever that actually meant) power. When we’d form an orderly que at the arcade to have our asses handed to us by that older kid who knew all the special moves, when our action heroes were all muscles and punching instead of brooding and deep. Yes folks those times are gone but not forgotten and BTO is the perfect series for those of us with a fond sense of nostalgia for the 80’s/90’s.

If I was to fault this series in any way, shape or form. It would be that 3 issues IS NOT ENOUGH. Fortunately the final issue is set to be an oversized special and frankly, I can’t freakin wait.

Unlike it’s titles suggestion, Burn The Orphanage is most certainly not born to lose and is a must read for anyone who grew up on a steady diet of video games, comics and action movies.