Death Orb defines a par the course post-apocalyptic world’s first entry.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ryan Ferrier
Art: Alejandro Aragon
Colors: Chris O’Halloran
What They Say:
Rider, an ax-wielding wasteland survivor, carves a bloody path across a war-torn North America ruled over by the Lords, the mysterious Father, and their cult followers as he searches for his abducted wife and child. Information from one of Father’s hired mercenaries could lead Rider to his family–if the Lords don’t take him out first. *From the creator of D4VE and Marvel’s Secret Wars: Battleworld. *Fast-paced manga-style action in a Road Warrior setting.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
In an ever-increasing comic market, competition is fierce for readers. Publishers are trying to get people to read stories with interesting plots. Creators and doing their best to produce work that captivates potential buyers. Series are trying to swim again the current of other comic properties and giants for comics and entertainment in general trying to make a lane. The problem with Death Orb is that it seems to try and stay afloat rather than swim in its first entry.
In a wasteland North America, the Lords rule over the terrain. This group, led by their Leader Father, wants to recreate humanity, by using technology to ravage the Earth and remake humanity anew. Rider searches for his wife and child in this landscape when one of Father’s followers tells him that they can show the way to his family. With little leads and little time Rider strikes a partnership of convenience. Now, Rider must try to navigate the events in this world to rescue his family facing perils that may prove deadly.
This premise would sound interesting if done for the first time. However, it isn’t and the concept with the writing isn’t captivating at all. We are treated to a protagonist looking for their wife, doing whatever he can to locate her. We have a shadow organization built to perpetuate evil and power within the world that the protagonist must face. Alliances out of convenience struck, hacking and slashing necessitated, urgency required. We understand the premise, the goal and what it will take to achieve it in Death Orb’s world. While these events feel retreads with a lot of stories, it becomes obvious reading it that there’s a lack of distinguishing character for Death Orb.
There’s a lack of originality coming from Death Orb. Readers understand the motivations of the characters because it’s retreads of other series. Even the ending, brings up predictable feelings as people knowing the genre would expect what would come next. Death Orb fails to make these concepts their own with reliable dialog and expected motivations and progression for the main character. It fails to show what is different, why it’s different, and what readers can expect from the series to push in a direction that would make them want to pursue the next volume. The art may feel the same way, but at least comes up with some glimmer of hope.
The art fits the bill to a tee for Death Orb. The characters design all match up perfectly to their talents and purpose in the comic. The scenery gives off the horrors of a word dead, mauled by humans fighting to survive or pillage. The coloring does give off the tones of chaos, but also mange’s to make the colors pop and vivid. The violence and brutality really come through with the blood splats, impales, and fight scenes in Death Orb.
In Summary:
Death Orb feels generic. The setting, the style, and the writing all cater towards those who are into post-apocalyptic work. The problem is that it doesn’t do much to branch out for other readers. With it’s by the book good and evil characters with sidekicks, most people will not feel the motivation to jump on the series with a been there done that feeling. It may wear off for the next volume, but as it stands now, it has a lot of work to do.
Grade: C-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 3rd, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
