Reviews 

“Dawnrunner” #1

By | March 22nd, 2024
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Monsters vs. people in mech suits.

It’s one of those combinations that just works. Personally I think a big reason why it’s like this is because we as humans like the idea of using science and technology to fix our issues and make our lives better. The problem is that in the real world, science and technology have an annoying habit of fixing our problems in ways that aren’t very exciting.

But stick a person in an anthropomorphic death machine and have them punch their problems away? Heck yes!

Now let’s see how today’s comic makes problem solving exciting.

Cover by: Evan Cagle
Written by Ram V
Illustrated by Evan Cagle
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar

A century ago a portal opened over Central America and the Tetza that came through changed our world. Now the world bends all its effort to making the Iron Kings-great mechs that must battle the Tetza for humanity’s continued survival in gladiatorial combat. Anita Marr is the greatest of the pilots and is chosen to pilot a new prototype that could change the tide in humanity’s favor. An all-ages sci-fi epic from rising stars Ram V and Evan Cagle.

“Dawnrunner” #1 is set in the not too distant future where a wormhole opened up over Guatemala and unleashed monsters known as Tetza. The Tetza are big, nasty, and nearly invincible creatures who fight hard and can take a lot of punishment. Humanity was able to defeat the first wave of Tetza, but at a tremendous cost. It took a little while, but eventually humanity was able to organize itself into corporate states instead of nation states in order to develop the weapons necessary to fight this new kind of war, cordon off the Tetza with a giant wall and built the Iron Kings to hunt them down. The Iron Kings are giant mech suits piloted by human soldiers who fight the Tetza the old fashioned way.

Now, the Cordon Corporation has debuted a new Iron King known only as Dawn Runner and has sent their most skilled pilot to test it in the field. There’s a lot riding on this action, but it seems that not all of the kinks have been worked out yet.

“Dawnrunner” #1 is written by Ram V, who is continuing his string of indie releases after a successful run at DC. It’s clear that Ram V has put a lot of thought into the world of the comic and he does a great job of showing the reader a world that has re-built itself after a horrendous tragedy and is now solely focused on killing monsters with mech suits. What’s interesting is that while there is the usual ground level drama of mech pilots, Ram expands the scope of the book by giving the reader a glimpse into the bigger picture. There’s a healthy dose of corporate intrigue as Cordon unveils the Dawnrunner and plans to use it to get a leg up on the competition, but there’s also a cultural angle as well. The pilots of the mech suits are celebrities and role models to the public, and their fights are spectacles that are broadcast all over the world. It’s interesting to see a world where the monsters are less of a threat and more of a way to unite the world around a new global order, and Ram has made an interesting choice with the themes and ideas of the story.

While the world building for “Dawnrunner” #1 presents some interesting ideas and new angles to the giant monster/mech suit genre, there are some issues with the pacing and story. It feels like Ram is trying to cram a lot of themes and ideas into the story, which adds to the page count and makes the book feel like it drags on too long. While some readers will enjoy the corporate intrigue and social commentary, readers who pick up this book just to see a giant monster fight will have their moment, but it’s only a quick bit near the end of the book. Speaking of the end, the last couple of pages suddenly veer into a sudden twist that feels unearned and jarring. It won’t be spoiled here, and the twist actually does open the door for some interesting ideas, but it feels like the foreshadowing and planting of this new idea was poorly handled, which makes the entire book suffer. It’s probably safe to say that the story will be fleshed out in future issues, but for now it just comes off as weird.

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The artwork for “Dawnrunner” #1 is provided by Evan Cagle, and it is the highlight of the book. Cagle has a beautiful style that is perfectly suited towards this kind of science fiction. There are so many great influences to this book that we could be here all day, but off the bat there are elements of manga, street art, bande dessinee (Franco-Belgian comics), brutalism, and old school Heavy Metal magazine stories that look amazing and tell a great story through art. The architecture of the world tells the story of a society that is transformed into a functional world where efficiency and militant behavior have replaced beauty and joy, but the rich still get to live in beautiful spaces with clean, futuristic curves that feel like they stepped out of Star Trek. The tech feels functional, but just futuristic enough to be cool, and the mech design is instantly iconic and will send a thrill down the spine of long time fans of the genre. The manga/bande dessinee comparisons are most prevalent in the character design with Cagle offering the simple expressive lines, big eyes, and motion blur of manga with the realistic backgrounds and exaggerated proportions of certain French comics. It is a gorgeous book that knows how to tell a story through art, and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

While “Dawnrunner” #1 has some issues with pacing and setting up future stories, it is still a gorgeously drawn book with some great ideas to add to a popular genre. It’s clear that the creative team has put a lot of time, effort, and care into creating this world and it will be fun to see what happens next.

Final Verdict: 7.5- A gorgeous book with some fun ideas, but there are some moments that feel poorly executed and not properly set up.


Matthew Blair

Matthew Blair hails from Portland, Oregon by way of Attleboro, Massachusetts. He loves everything comic related, and will talk about it for hours if asked. He also writes a web comic about a family of super villains which can be found here: https://tapas.io/series/The-Secret-Lives-of-Villains

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