Review: ‘Dawnrunner’ #1 Is The Perfect Mix Of Heady Sci-Fi & Monster Bashing

The only thing I really knew about Dawnrunner going into it was that it was a mecha action story from a creative team I really liked. When I came out of it, I knew this was going to be one of my favorites.

Ram V, Evan Cagle, Dave Stewart, Aditya Bidikar, and Hannah Noble introduce us to a new scifi epic.

Nearly a century ago, the portal opened over Central America. On that day the war with the Tetza began. If it wasn’t for the Iron Kings, giant combat mecha built to fight the Tetza, humanity would have been driven to extinction. Now, pilot Anita Marr is about to face the Tetza in the latest and greatest Iron King- Dawnrunner. However, Dawnrunner may hold a secret that will endanger all of humanity.

At first when I began reading this book, I thought this would be a well-done version of the kaiju versus mecha trope that we’ve seen tons of. Ram set it all up- the popular pilot, the tense competition between pilots, the monsters endangering humanity- and it all worked extremely well. It had all the elements of an enjoyable new version of a relatively familiar tale.

Then the last few pages hit, and we see there’s a twist.

Now, I don’t know exactly what the twist is. There’s only enough here to establish that there’s more to the story. But Ram knows that just by showing that it exists, he’s elevated a story that was a good version of stories we’ve seen before into a unique new mystery on top of the common elements the series has with Pacific Rim and Evangelion. That thrills me, and ensures I’m in for the entire run.

Cagle and Stewart’s work on the issue is stunning. Cagle uses extremely unusual points of view to make the talking-head just as engaging as the fight scenes. His layouts keep the story moving along through the issue, and his designs strike the right balance of familiar and new. Stewart’s colors are deep in earthy tones, giving the story a hopeful air, which makes the twist all the more brutal

Bidikar and Noble do some great design work with the letters and design in the issue. It’s more additive than most letters are and it enhances so much of the reading experience.

Dawnrunner #1 is available now from Dark Horse Comics.