There are a lot of comics out there, but some stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This,” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week we are looking at Aubrey Sitterson, Fico Ossio and Taylor Esposito’s “Dragon Ball” homage, “No One Left To Fight”.
Who is this by?
“No One Left To Fight” is written by Aubrey Sitterson, an upcoming comics powerhouse. He’s dabbled in the likes of “G.I. Joe” with former “Prophet” artist Giannis Milonogiannis, and even written the wildly comprehensive and fun “The Comic Book Story Of Professional Wrestling” with artist Chris Moreno. If you couldn’t tell from this list of credits, Sitterson has a pretty good hand at how to write good old fashioned fisticuffs and that easily translates into “No One Left To Fight”.
Fico Ossio is the artist for this series, who has a candy-chaotic style that infuses well with the manga influence of “No One Left To Fight”. He’s worked on books like the “Skylanders” series, “Revolution” and “Transformers Vs. The Visionaries”, so you know he’s got a good eye for smashing up properties with big sci-fi tinged fights and hyper-detailed character design.
Letters are handled by Taylor Esposito, who’s been a DC house letterer in the past on books like “Red Hood and the Outlaws” and “Constantine”. Lately, he’s turned his hand to more indie books like Donny Cates’ “Babyteeth” and “Interceptor”, and proves to be one of the more exciting and visually fun letterers to add their own flair to the comics page.
What’s it all about?
In the vein of classic Shonen Jump mangas like the aforementioned “Dragon Ball”, our protagonist Vale has been on an ongoing quest all his life to become the strongest there is to defeat the enemies that threaten his home’s peace. However, as the title implies, what happens when Vale becomes too strong? When there are no enemies left that can come close to him?
When the series opens, Vale is revisiting his old friends, who are now living a simple life and trying to re-establish normal human connections now that their world lives in an age of peace. However, he’s often triggered by PTSD-induced visions of his fighting days, which keep mixing strangely with the new life that he’s trying to lead and causing moments of distress and confusion for everyone involved. Fights break out, old tensions are re-ignited, but there’s still a sense of camaraderie that Vale and his friends struggle to cling to.
When you really boil it down, “No One Left To Fight” is a story of trying to revisit those bygone days of innocence and coming to grips with the fact that we’re older now, and everything has changed. Vale clearly has trouble engaging with people outside of fighting them and feels uncomfortable in a time where that kind of lifestyle has been forgone. The gang tries and tries to ignite the spark again, visiting more old friends and locals, yet the beautiful underlying tension and unease that runs through the whole book makes that impossible and additionally, a book for a modern, heavily nostalgic age.
What makes it so great?
“No One Left To Fight” is a complex personality study that builds on a lot of pre-assumed character knowledge, taking Vale’s character into darker places where he doubts his relationship to those around him and adding in subtle themes of existentialism that you never would have caught in “Dragon Ball”. Sitterson explores this dynamic not solely through Vale, but also how this unexpected peace has rippled through to his friends and close supporting cast. Timor, the Vegeta of the group if you will, is naturally brash and as envious of Vale’s popularity and power. Yet in this time of peace, that jealousy has now extended to not only power but the bond that his wife has had with Vale since before Timor’s marriage. However, the river runs both directions in this case, since Vale is envious of Timor’s marriage, yet feels like he can’t be with anyone due to his incredible self-doubt.
On top of that, Fico Ossio’s artwork makes this book absolutely pop from the stands. Ossio builds on manga tropes by extensively using the addition of color that the former lacks. Everyone in this comic has a wildly fun, hyper-detailed costume design that is packed with primary colors, like Timor’s blue hair in a pony-tail and costume that manages to make sporting a shoulder-pad, a robot arm, a tattered purple scarf and high-top sports shoes look fabulous. Ossio also gives us incredible fight scenes that flow like butter from page to page with high-stakes dramatic moments. The first issue gives us a classic dustup with Vale and Timor, replete with signature-move-yelling, speed lines, and nail-biting clashes. The third issue, we get a vengeful, darker yet equally powerful fight between Winda and Vale. It’s boisterous and fantastic, and glorious to take it.
Ossio does a great job of building the feel of this world, too. We get the mish-mash of eastern fantasy and sci-fi that is so present in a lot of SJ manga, yet Ossio turns the dial to eleven in this series. Cities are packed with varying cultural architecture, giving us a distinct cyberpunk tone, yet there’s still lots of ramen stands, domestic houses and other tidbits that should be jarring but somehow blend together in wonderful harmony. Then we get the natural environment segments, which are beautifully lush and alien at the same time, and Ossio’s futuristic tech manages to look right at home within it. It’s a totally distinctive book, and Ossio contributes massively to making it feel like nothing else on the stands.
How can you read it?
The first three issues are available in print or on Comixology, with the fourth arriving this week. This series has five issues in total, which will eventually be collected in a trade from Dark Horse in the coming months, but that also means you need to jump on this series to keep up with it before it ends!
