The Stop Button

Orang is a Frankenstein story from the monster’s perspective. The Spirit is still around, but he doesn’t have anything to do with the actual action of the strip. Instead, it’s the sad tale of Orang, an orangutan, turned into a being with human-level intelligence thanks to a mad scientist.

Eisner and studio do a fabulous job setting up the story. There’s a scientist arriving from war-torn Europe, escaped and ready to reunite with his daughter, Elsa, in his friend’s care. Little does Elsa’s father know his friend is a fiend and has used parts of Elsa’s brain to make Orang smarter. He has left Elsa a savage.

So we get a cave girl and an orangutan in a suit for the action here. There ought to be more tripping on tropes, but somehow there isn’t. Eisner avoids sentimentality, even as horrifying tragedies unfold, even as Orang comes to the realization he does not want the burden of reason, and begs his creator for mercy.

There’s some excellent art. Lots of establishing panels this strip, setting the stage, but also giving Eisner a chance to summarize in long shot. The strip’s rapidly paced; once Orang decides he wants to devolve, it’s pretty much all action. Fight, chase, fight, tragic finish, with the Spirit only arriving to provide commentary on the sad situation.

Without ever having met Orang himself.

The Spirit’s subplot is very moody. He gets drawn into Elsa’s father’s troubles, having gone to meet the scientist to ask about some experiments. Long shadows as he enters and exits through balconies and so on. The father’s anguish gets some attention, too. Not verbalized like Orang’s will be, but very carefully visualized. Orang’s got its Frankenstein ambitions and whatnot, but the strip excels because of the craft on display, where Eisner and studio flex, where they do not. It’s tragic. And lovely. Just excellent work all around.