No One Left To Fight #2 from Dark Horse Comics hits your local comic book shop August 7, and the second issue is a sensational entry that gives this Dragon Ball tribute an almost tacky 80’s tone and it works beautifully. Writer Aubrey Sitterson, artist Fico Ossio, and letterer Taylor Esposito do more than simply pay admiration to one of the most popular and prevalent Manga and Anime of all time, they improve upon it by showing the downfalls of constantly training to be the best as well as hinting at some time-travel in the near future.
No One Left To Fight #2 begins with a character named Billy Von Katz of the band Billy & The Katz-tones giving a re-cap of the last chapter and he looks exactly like you’d expect he would. Billy Von Katz is an electric blue cat creature that shreds an electric guitar with a glowing red eye at the top. If that is not the best tone-setting introduction in a comic, I really don’t know what is.
After that, the comic picks up with Vâle and Timór mid-battle and Krysta breaking them up. After this brief altercation, the trio leaves to go meet their teacher before reaching the place where the Vâle’s final and most famous battle took place.
Sitterson’s script is unsuspectingly amazing. The dialogue is emotional yet precise with characters getting to the point without saying very much at all. When Timór is clearly feeling jealous of Vâle while he receives all the attention from the public, Krysta is seen placing a hand on his shoulder and thank him for taking part in this journey and acknowledging how difficult it must be for him. In this short three-panel exchange, Timór distances himself from the cold emotionless character archetype he is cut from, allowing him to be more of a developed character.
After getting Billy Von Katz’s re-cap, I did not expect to have an emotional scene in this chapter but Sitterson’s script proved me wrong by addressing one of my main problems with Dragon Ball Z’s hero Goku and other characters similarly designed. If all these characters do is train physically wouldn’t they be lacking in some other aspect; especially Goku, where the running joke is how socially and mentally underdeveloped he is. But Mistress Harga shows remorse over pushing Vâle so hard acknowledging how much she stifled his development in other aspects.
This lack of social comfortably and awareness is heightened by the presence of Winda, who trained with Vâle, Timór, and Krysta as a child but has since grown into a woman. Vâle continues to see her as a child despite her obvious infatuation for him as well as Harga insisting how good of a couple they would make. In the final scene when Winda makes her intentions with Vâle clear, the level of discomfort he is in is apparent. Whether it is because he still sees her as a child (which is fair and understandable) or other due to other circumstances remains to be seen. But Ossio depicts her as a young woman.
Ossio’s art is the perfect companion to Sitterson’s script. The colors are neon and vibrant and fit into the late 80’s tone of the story. The action is kinetic and explosive and the character designs are top-notch. However, the aspect that Ossio captures exceptionally well is the world.
The world of No One Left To Fight looks like a blend of Borderlands’ wasteland scavenger aesthetic and the whimsical playfulness of a Miyazaki film. When Vâle and crew arrive at Mistress Harga’s house, I immediately was reminded of Howl’s Moving Castle’s eponymous Castle, except more mushroom-y and stationary.
It does seem that Ossio may be trying to make some statement comparing Vâle as a reluctant world-saving hero to Christ, and the scene where Vâle is met by all the townspeople make that apparent. But Ossio doesn’t do anything similar after that. This could be a wasted opportunity as there could be some room for religious sub-text, especially when Ossio is so adept at portraying these images.
No One Left To Fight #2 is a perfect example of how to do homage well. Sitterson, Ossio, and Esposito wear their inspirations on their sleeves but blend them together to make a story exceedingly fun, touching, and unique.
