Death Orb #1 Review

Writers: Ryan Ferrier
Artist: Alejandro Aragon
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Ryan Ferrier
Publisher Dark Horse Comics

Everything about Death Ord prior to its release was done so well. The description of an “ax-wielding wasteland survivor” and the gorgeous cover made me very excited for this series to come out. I think that this first issue met a lot of those expectations for me, but I am concerned about how much this series is going to keep me hooked going forward.

The opening bar fight scene sets a great pace for the issue as it is bizarre and violent. Our main character, Rider, is a quiet and serious badass who can hold his own in a fight. Going forward, following Rider gets interesting just from seeing the world around him which is bleak but looks pretty much like every other dystopian comic book from the last several years. I really think that that is the issue’s main downfall because it just doesn’t seem original enough to really grab me.

When we meet our villain, Father, I got interested again because he seems like a great evil character. His blacked out face under his hood and his huge build may not be the most unique characteristics of a villain but for some reason this issue made it work for me.

This entire first issue does a good job at not revealing much to us about this new world or what the orb is. It alludes to these things just enough to make me wonder how Father rose to this powerful role, what is Rider really hoping to find, what exactly is a death orb, and most importantly, is Rider alive? The ending cliffhanger is done so well that it caught me way off guard and kind of confused me. It was so quick and abrupt and it is what made me confirm in my head that I have to pick up the next issue.

Death Orb has potential to continue to make this story it’s very own and keeping us all wanting answers with every issue and I hope that that is what happens. So far, I am invested and curious enough about the details of this story that I am willing to put up with a pretty unoriginal dystopian world.