Review: Unnatural Order #1
Out now from Vault Comics
Out now in print and digitally from Vault Comics is a new series - this is Unnatural Order #1.
Chris Yost, co-creator of X-23, writer of hundreds of X-men issues and films and shows like Thor: Ragnarok and The Mandalorian, returns to comic books with Val Rodrigues to weave together Dark Fantasy and action-packed SciFi in UNNATURAL ORDER!
After the fall of the Britons and the Roman invasion of Hibernia, the captive known only as the Druid is released, sending a darkness across the world...an age of horrors, of fire and entrails. As the innocent burn in the Wicker fields, those who would resist learn of the existence of a man who even the Druid fears. For it is this prisoner, a soldier from a different time, who alone knows the Druid's secret: this is not how the world is supposed to be.
Writer: Christopher Yost, Artist: Val Rodrigues, Colorist: Dearbhla Kelly, Letterer: Andworld, Designer: Tim Daniel & Cover A: Val Rodrigues
It's a new series from Vault Comics, and this one contains a different world and some very dark magic.
The world itself is interesting. With a prologue just as the Romans have invaded Britain, and there is a mysterious druid. He seems to have some power, and there is a high degree of madness there.
Flashing forward, and there is a semblance of a rebellion against this dark mage. Things are not quite right, and a band of very different characters are working out how to destroy this druid, end his reign and put the world right.
This is a clever issue, which works as a good introduction to each of the characters. We also get an idea of what they have lost - although not in specific details - and what drives them. Of course, with characters like this, there are some internal clashes, but this makes it all the more fun to read.
What doesn’t look like fun is the country's state as we know it. Death, magic and fire seem to be the order of the day, and the Druid seems to have an iron-clad hand on the land. His use of magic is pretty brutal, and this leads the group to split into two to find a way to defeat him. One group look for his rumoured seat of power, while the other looks for a mysterious prisoner that the Druid is afraid of.
The art within this issue is brilliant, with some excellent colouring and a good combination of close-up scenes and big panels, making the most of the horror within. The wicker men are especially something to behold.
This was an enjoyable beginning, with something that may have initially feel a little rote but twists on us at the very end. This opens some very interesting possibilities for the rest of the story…
