Advance Review – No One Left To Fight #1 (Dark Horse)

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Aubrey Sitterson
Artist: Fico Ossio
Colorist: Fico Ossio
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Release Date: 3rd July 2019

Vâle, Timór and the rest of the world’s greatest heroes have done what was previously thought to be impossible. The big bad – Gor Despo- has been vanquished. So… what do they do now? Well, in this case, they move into the next phase of their lives, which means families, children and trying to find something new to occupy their minds. However, when Vâle tries to reconnect with his former teammates to embark on a pilgrimage to the site of his greatest victory, he finds tension, resentment and the pang of missed opportunity waiting for him.

Aubrey Sitterson’s story wears its obvious Dragon Ball inspirations proudly (perhaps a little too proudly at times), but does a good job of introducing all of its main characters during the course of this first issue. The friction between Vâle and Timór provides the real meat of the issue, with the latter clearly jealous that the former was the one who dealt the killing blow – not to mention the fact that his children, household pet (and possible even wife) clearly hold ‘uncle Vâle’ in incredibly high regard.

It’s a solid basis to build a story around, and while everything unfolds pretty much as expected (at least until the final couple of pages where Vâle and Timór’s rivalry gets physical), it’s still an enjoyable opening that should spark enough interest in anvaley readers to make them want to pick up issue two right away.

One thing’s for sure, it certainly looks the part, as artist Fico Ossio deliverd some mouth-wateringly over-the-top visuals. Tapping into his clear love of shounen manga, Ossio comes up with some brilliantly striking character designs, and it feels like a ton of research and preparation has gone into making sure our heroes feel faithful enough to the genre while still standing out on their own. He also does a typically bombastic job with the colours, blasting his pages with vivid neon hues, an approach which only enhances the larger-than-life anime feel of the story.

It’s an incredibly strong package visually, and while the story is clearly going to take a little while to get going, there’s already a lot to like about this new series. Sitterson and Ossio have introduced us to our key players, and now all we have to do is sit back, relax, and watch this striking blend of Dragon Ball excess and midlife crisis drama unfold. Definitely well worth a look.

Rating: 3.5/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]