Published On: 2010-08-01 by Independent
Artist: Joe Querio
Colorist: Joe Querio
Letterer: Cliff VanMeter
Catch-up on Last Issue
The Orion the Hunter series takes place hundreds of years in mankind’s future, in a time just after a great interplanetary war. The Federation is in its infancy, a product of the fragile peace that came out of the bloodshed and barbarism of the decade previous. Orion is among an elite force tasked with hunting criminals between worlds and bringing to justice the smugglers, black-marketeers, and other war criminals still running wild on the fringe worlds. Scarred and deeply flawed, Orion is a product of the war, growing to manhood in the filth and degradation of an internment camp. His alien family casualties of the war. His human family unknown.
In This Issue of Orion the Hunter #1
We could summarize, but the official teaser trailer does a great job at telling the story.
What Else Happens in this Comic?
There’s a lot happening in Ore City. The sheriff has something on the side with the Hammond boy. The Hammonds have something going with the locals under the table. Ah’rion’s bringing his own baggage back home. Cliff mixes it together to give us a vibrant world with many layers.
The Comic's Themes
We don’t have a lot to work from, but healing past wounds seems to be a likely theme for Orion the Hunter. The big Marshall left Ore City and his homeworld years ago. Returning now wasn’t a coincidence.
Collect the Science Fiction
How's Orion the Hunter #1's Writing?
The Dialogue
Take a stereotypical small town USA and transplant it to outer space and you have Ore City. It sounds like an impossible pairing, but Cliff Vanmeter pulls it off astronomically well. The dialogue is a little hackneyed in that 1980s’ movie way, but solid. We get a sense of who the characters are and it moves the plot along.
Showing Versus Telling
There’s a fight on page 8 that happens completely off panel. It works as a storytelling device to keep the fight hidden. Our imaginations filling in how easily Marshall Orion defeated the local ruffians. It’s still a case of telling us how it went when a page of blurred fighting would have worked too.
The Vibe
You’ll see it mentioned several time in this review, but Orion the Hunter reads exactly like a 1980s science fiction movie with a big budget. You have all the hallmarks: space ships, dirty workers in future-gear, an overworked sheriff, and aliens.
Comic Art Review
Joe Querio of Dark Horse Comics fame gives Orion the Hunter #1 a Mike Mignola vibe. The art has a touch of the cartoon style brushed with a water color style palette. There’s a strong concept art vibe which really sells the science fiction aspect of the comic. If the art is too detailed and the reader gets lost in the finer points and starts to nitpick. Leave the art sketchy and the reader’s imagination has plenty of room to fill in what they’d like to see. A good example is the starship on page one. It looks like a traditional boat with the usual science fiction dishes and antennae sticking out of it. The ship is far enough away that Joe Querio was able to leave many of the details out. As a fan of Alien and Star Wars, my mind filled in all the Nostromo details I can’t see. Add to all of that strong facial expressions and strong character acting. If you can find the pages online, a lot happens for a ten page comic.
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- Orion The Hunter 1 Cover Alt Querio
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- Orion The Hunter 1 Cover Back
On the Cover
The two covers are by series artist Joe Querio and feature Orion. On the back cover, we have Felicia Lauden, Chief Constable of Ore City and two workers.
The Comic Panel by Panel
In an interesting choice for a web comic, Orion the Hunter #1’s pages are all horizontal (landscape). Year’s later Marvel Comics started a similar house style using two-page spreads as one long horizontal page. Horizontal pages have the unique problem of direction. Unless there’s a strong division in the page, the reader is left wandering top-to-bottom or top-to-right. The page orders are all black and often there’s a thicker border when the page should be read top-to-right.
World Building
– Ore City
– Spaceship interior
– Police station
– Hammond House
– Local restaurant
Wear the Science Fiction
Wear the Science Fiction
Who's In This Issue of Orion the Hunter #1
- Chief Constable Felica Lauden
- Ronnie
- Tim-Bob Hammond
- Hankins
- Matt
- Deputies
The Big Question for Next Issue
Why did they stop creating such a wonderful comic book?
Read the Science Fiction
Simply put, whoever said honesty is the best policy, obviously never worked in Ore City.
Who Will Like Orion the Hunter #1?
Fans of movies and television shows like Aliens, Prometheus, Serenity/Firefly, Predator, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Ender’s Game, and Pitch Black will enjoy Orion the Hunter. It’s that special concoction of post-dystopian, action, Western, real-life, and science fiction. When mixed right, stories like Orion the Hunter can really resonate with the reader.
I Need More Content like Orion the Hunter #1
I was pleasantly surprised to find out the Orion Spiral Arm Stories didn’t end with the ten comic pages. Years later, I found the short stories based on Orion the Hunter and the Federation can be purchased from Amazon!!
You can find Joe Querio’s artwork on several Dark Horse series like the Witcher. Dark Horse has conveniently collected many of Joe Querio’s comics for purchase all on one page.