The Hunger and the Dusk is a new fantasy series that proposes a world where orcs and humans must join forces as a third mysterious race known as the Vangol has emerged, willing to kill them all. All the while, the environment appears to be failing, and danger seems imminent. After a brief hiatus from its monthly schedule, The Hunger and the Dusk returns with issue #4 this week with a compelling issue.
For fans of high fantasy, The Hunger and the Dusk #4 has a lot to offer, including romance and some titillating information regarding the Vangol. Fans of the bard will also love how this issue opens with a fine song in the works that’ll likely be an all-time banger. In fact, music ends this issue via thoughtful captions that convey the importance of song. This gives the issue a nice beginning that meets the end. Other character types, like the healer, get special attention, which should please fans of fantasy.
Through strong character writing, G. Willow Wilson continues to weave a story that feels fantastical but all too familiar. We see this in a meeting of the orc lords, with some who want to strike at the humans even with a treaty in place. These are desperate times, as they say, but some hold true and speak out against a war against humans in a small heroic moment one sees in great fantasy. Wilson reminds us there’s a cost to heroism, especially in a world like this one where death and danger lurk.
Carrying through the political talk is a chase as one of the humans in The Last Men Standing crew continues to track a Vangol. Chris Wildgoose continues to show impressive skill in drawing environments with creepy bogs and cold-looking mountains hither and yonder. A key to environments are little details like a structure being pulled into a swamp or a great door set in a mountainside. You get the sense there’s a lot of history in this land long forgotten.
Credit: IDW
Colors by Msassyk create a sense of gloom and doom in the chase of the Vangol, while the orc meet-up is brightly lit and hopeful in its presentation.
Like any good drama, romance spikes in this issue, juxtaposed with great dismay and doom for a critical character. It’s a great reminder it may be hopeful and bright for some, but that hopefulness is likely to be squashed just around the corner.
That squashing is likely from the Vangol, who boost if you’ve been dying to learn more about them. Not only is a major Vangol revealed, but a few lines of dialogue suggest we can guess where they’re from.
Fantasy fans rejoice: The Hunger and the Dusk continues to offer everything you need in a fantasy and then some. Familiar character types abound as a new threat dawns on man and orc, building in a story filled with intriguing characters.
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