Quick Synopsis – In a dying world, only humans and orcs remain—mortal enemies battling for territory and political advantage. But when a group of fearsome ancient humanoids known as the Vangol arrive from across the sea, the two struggling civilizations are forced into a fragile alliance to protect what they have built.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Year of the Vulture by The Wonder Years

Publication Date – June 11, 2024

Content Warnings – This is a collection of issues 1 -6 and The Hunger and The Dusk is a more adult series. There are depictions of battle with blood and gore as well as skeletal remains. Also the Vangol are just scary in general. There are a couple of “love” scenes, but they aren’t like super porny.

Rating – 4 out of 5 🌟

Review – I liked this so much that I’ve added the comic to my watchlist so I can read the next issues as they come out. The fun thing about this comic is that there are a lot of familiar elements. If you’re a fantasy fan, you know about Orcs and can easily be transported to a world where Orcs exist. Even with the familiar, almost D&D type storytelling, the story still manages to surprise you. The Vangol are a worthy and somewhat spooky adversary, plaguing both Orcs and Humans.

Of course, Humans and Orcs don’t get along, so they must forge a tenuous alliance by allowing an Overlord’s beloved cousin, Tara, to go with a human commander, Callum. Again, the story seems familiar; we see two outcasts of their kind, Tara and Callum, work together against the Vangol. While elsewhere we follow the Orcs and how they feel about this peace treaty. I do feel like there could have been more worldbuilding, and we could have seen more about humans. I didn’t really get a sense of how magic or lack of works in this world. I know this is only the first section of what is set up to be a long saga, but it just felt like some backstory was missing.

Overall, this was a fun read, and I’m looking forward to the next issue in the series!

Thanks to Netgalley and IDW Publishing.