D’Orc has never been shy about tearing down the conventions of fantasy stories, and that’s not about the change now that it’s starting a new story arc. Throughout D’Orc #6, the question of fate constantly rears its head. Is fate something you can avoid, or shape to your will? What happens when you don’t believe in the meaning of fate, but others do and are willing to commit terrible acts in its name? For D’Orc, the answers come when he literally meets Fate face-to-face and learns about the nature of his birth.
In true D’Orc fashion, Brett Bean manages to sprinkle his writing with plenty of raunchy humor and a touch of heart. The raunchiness comes from D’Orc having to witness his parents having sex, which rightfully grosses him out (and which Fate gets a disturbing kick out of.) The heart comes from his refusing to play by the rules that everyone else has laid down for him. Rather than succumb to being the monster a prophecy has made him out to be, he now uses his immense strength for good. And when someone tries to sacrifice their life for him, he ends up going back for them.
Bean also keeps plenty of the bloody violence that has come to define the series, and D’Orc #6 is no exception. The very first pages open on an ancient battle, with heads being lopped off and blades coated in blood. If that wasn’t enough, a two-page spread depicts a valley full of corpses, heads stuck on pikes, and ravens tearing flesh from skulls. What keeps this from fully tilting into the macabre is Brett’s cartoonish style, which lends a fair bit of absurdity to the carnage.
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The best moments involve the Bone Witch that D’Orc sought out to discover his fate, and it turns out she earned her name for a very good reason, as she has the power to reanimate the dead. This leads to some metal moments in D’Orc #6, as we see skeletal animals and an army of skeletons rising from the dead to do her bidding. As for the Bone Witch herself, she looks rather ghostly, with snow white hair and a skeletal frame befitting her moniker.
Another thing that stands out about D’Orc #6 is a change in colorists, with Frank William taking over the series. William still keeps the more vibrant hues that Jean-Francois Beaulieu applied to the first story arc of D’Orc, once again providing a great contrast between the hyper-violence and the cartoony art. He also works with Nate Piekos to give each character its own distinct lettering style. Fate is depicted as a pink, ghost-like being, so its word balloons are pink. And we can’t forget about the ghost of the headless chicken and the Death Shield, whose pale blue and yellow word balloons make their dialogue stand out above the rest.
Perhaps the most shocking moment of D’Orc #6 involves D’Orc’s parentage and why certain people are hell-bent on killing him. It’s a revelation that’s bound to affect the rest of the series, but I’m also looking forward to how Bean takes the piss out of it. D’Orc #6 is off to a good start, beginning a new story arc with higher stakes than before while keeping the same irreverent tone that’s drawn in so many readers.
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