A great follow up to the first volume. I definitely enjoyed being able to read this second volume and find out more about this world, the characters, and the plot.

I can see why this series is so popular in Italy. It's Ender's Game crossed with Halo. Whatever it is, it's a blast. The story alternates between the Orphans as young teenagers training to be sent among the stars to retaliate against the aliens who attacked Earth and now as they make planetfall and take the fight to the enemy. I love how this twists throughout the book into a completely different scenario by the end. I can't wait for volume 3.

The story continued exactly where Vol.1 left off. What I truly loved was that the art and the storyline itself was much more darker than previous one. Like in the first volume, we could see at first parts with characters as children and tha stages of making them stronger; parts of emotional traumas they had to go through, and then we jumped right into present where we can see how they fight with aliens and how some of them try to cope with the loss of one of the members of the team. More than 300 pages full of action, different kind of emotions and likeable characters. Brilliant twists and fantastic cliffhanger at the end, can't wait for vol.3!

A massively popular series by Italian authors Roberto Recchioni and Emiliano Mammucari, this series is about a group of orphans, left behind when an energy beam strikes earth, becoming a group of elite soldiers who are sent to do something about the aliens deemed responsible for the attack on their families. Serbian scientist, Jsana Juric and Japanese army colonel, Takeshi Nakamura, train them and administer a vaccine to combat the deadly radiation on the planet, a course that must be repeated every day.

I quite enjoyed Orphans vol 1 when I read it earlier this year. I loved the orphan characters and how they came in a group. I seriously enjoyed the dual timeline plot when they were children training and grown soldiers. And the whole crazy aliens who we don't know the motives of but can do crazy things like appear in thin air were sensational. So where to take all this goodness? Can it be topped? Actually it takes it to even crazier places and Orphans vol 2 totally tops vol 1... and I can't wait to see how vol 3 goes even bigger. The same great things from vol 1 return in Orphans vol 2 the orphan group, the dual timeline, the crazy aliens... plus we get mind boggling twists, unexpected deaths and a new character!!

The art is so consistent that I marvel that different artists work on it. Recchioni and Mammucari have done an excellent job creating character designs that you connect with both visually and story wise, plus relate to both the older and younger versions of each character. It really is magnificent. I always find fascinating frames and shots that are unexpected and add a shot of energy to the story. The thing is there is this gritty sci-fi feel to the art that adds a ton of atmosphere. The problem with this style is that it can be long on atmosphere but puzzling on what matters, but NOT here!! I'm surprisingly never in doubt as to what is going on or what characters are feeling!

I was quite tense the entire time with Orphans vol 2!! I was waiting for Ringo with baited breathe because I love him and Brat together... So I was quite flat footed when the character dynamics changed suddenly. And I love the new character too, I already understand what Brat likes about this character. Poor Ringo!! And while I've always been a fan of Juno and Jonas they took more of a back seat this volume and I was fine with that. It turns out Jsana Juric is not just an unethical scientist... she may well have a more major role as the antagonist! It's the lack of motivations though that keep tension high, just why the hell are they doing all of this?! What do they get out of it...?

The plot of Orphans vol 2 was quite shocking. I'm still loving how the past and the present are connected and the bearing that it brings on events in the Orphan universe. For anyone who things this is just the same old dystopian, sci-fi alien invasion story you will be ecstatic to know its no such thing! I love layered twists and how revealing events at just the right moment creates these surges of emotion... it makes the entire story stronger and more compelling, even if you know one thing that is going to happen it still has elements you don't expect. Orphans vol 2 makes this series the most exciting graphic novel series I read in 2018!!

Orphans vol 2 brings the action, the sci-fi, the twists in an explosive and compelling second act. This story gets bigger and better and I can't wait to learn more about our orphans... Pick up Orphans vol 2 and like me you'll be dying to get to vol 3... definitely a series you'll want to pick up your own copy.

I've got the chance to read the reading copy of the first volume of this comic book series through the copy that the publisher has provided. I was really anticipating the second installment of this series because I want to know about what happened to Ringo. The flashback story of the orphans, especially about Ringo and Sam, will give readers an idea of why they have a close relationship and who really are their true enemies.

Just like the author, Ringo is definitely my favorite character among the orphans because regardless of how tough he acts in the outside, he has a soft spot for Sam. Another character I like is Raul because his personality is similar to Ringo and I reckon that he also like Sam based on how he secretly takes care of her. I'm also curious about Raul's life because of how the Doctor mentioned that she will try to find the truth behind him.

The action scenes are vividly illustrated and the sequences are easy to comprehend. The ending is another cliffhanger just like the first book and that both volumes end with Ringo's story. The extras, in the end, must not be skip because readers will learn a lot from the characters' personalities in the story. Lastly, this part also shows about the development through the writer and illustrators behind this amazing comic book series. This is another graphic novel that I will definitely follow because the story, characters, and illustrations are all carefully planned and done.

'Orphans Vol. 2: Lies' by Roberto Recchioni with art by Emiliano Mammucari continues the story of a world that is changed and the children brutally trained to defend it.

As in the first volume, the stories move back and forth in time, showing the characters as children then as grown adults dealing with the emotional trauma they've lived with. This time around, we learn more about the quieter members, Sam and Ringo. Both are loners, and we get good flashbacks from them. There is also plenty of combat and alien fighting along the way.

This collects the next three issues, but these issues are over 100 pages long, so there is a lot of art and story. There is also a nice collection of extras with lots of sketches and character formation background.

I really liked the first volume, and this one feels even stronger. It's a good story with solid art, and I look forward to finding out where this story goes.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The intention of perception is relegated, at least in narrative, the way the characters perceive their existence or, by extension, their purpose in our mind’s eye. In “Orphans: Volume 2 – Lies” [Robert Recchioni/Lion Forge/352pgs], the ideal is based in the idea that in a post apocalyptic world, like that of “The Darkest Minds”, the decisions of the characters become based out of survival and not necessarily good judgement. The way “Orphans” approaches this ideal is by a couple different artists approaching the similar story line and progression at the get go. In the post discussion, the artists speak about how the necessity of body language especially when dealing with YA stories tends to precipitate on a certain mental structure and thereby intention of character. Looking at the different lead characters in Ringo, Sam, Rey and Saul (by extension), their different strengths and weaknesses are built in the early frames. But when the war shifts a decade or more the comparison of how the characters grow in certain ways shows how the different artists truly see them. The later chapters show the actual plot progression a bit more including the mutation testing and ultimate brainwashing of these children to make them the killers they grow up to be. The training in the forest where their trainers set them against death row inmates also shows the psychological breakdown of the team. Ringo & Sam are the focal point of the team with her being the more powerful but undisciplined. This creates a unique situation when she beats Rey within an inch of his life in the first story. Ringo is the one who tries to save Sam by talking and fighting his way back into her heart and soul. This is a very telling scene which makes a later scene where Ringo has already died and Sam is reaching out to Saul that much more heartbreaking. These kids have much to lose but the question is why. Saul questions his motivation and yet Doctor Puric engages the point in that this is why they were created. In the final perception of this volume, Ringo sees the mission for what it is while Rey sees it for what it has become. “Orphans: Volume 2 – Lies” is a good exercise in the perception of psychological crafting if story through physical traits where the artist and their angle through the writing allows for different read each way it is seen.

B

By Tim Wassberg

The story continues in volume 2. We pick it up with the orphans grown and fighting the war against the strange aliens. Through flashbacks, to when they were younger, we learn more about their training and some of their first missions. They have become super soldiers who are fighting to win the war. Still loving the story and will be waiting to see how it all ends. #orphansvol2 #netgalley #indigoemployee

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and authors/illustrators for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I also got to read the first volume on NetGalley and I was very intrigued by the story and art style. This volume compiles chapters 4-6 of the series and really dives into some character dynamics as well as dynamics with the alien species that they call phantoms.

I love the back and forth between being orphaned children taken in to be trained as soldiers, and their adult lives actually using those skills against the phantoms. I also think the art is amazingly well done and the action scenes have a nice flow to them. Higher stakes are thrown out in this volume when a conspiracy begins to unfold involving the alien species.

I am extremely happy to have been able to read the second volume and look forward to continuing the series, a very well-done sci-fi for the shelves of any graphic novel reader and collector.

A gritty and violent graphic novel with a lot going on inside its pages. I'm looking forward to more volumes.

This volume was amazing. It was better than volume 1. Full of action. We can see brief moment of some of the characters past. Character development was amazing too. I can't wait to read volume 3.

Orphans works for readers who enjoy the bombastic and vibrant world that can be found in graphic novels.