Dark Honor # 1
Writers: K.S. Bruce & Brian Decubellis / Adapted by Ethan Sacks
Artist: Fico Ossio
Colorist: Raciel Avila
Letterer: JAME
Cover Date: May 2025
Rating: 
This week, I will review issue one of ‘Dark Honor” from Image Comics. For nearly a century, the Hundred has served as the enforcer of the New York underworld. However, as COVID-19 devastates the city in early 2020, a new kind of plague emerges: a criminal mastermind attempting a takeover… unless Rain, the daughter of the Hundred’s leader, Josef, can unite the dwindling crime gangs for one last desperate effort to resist.
As a crime narrative, it hits all the expected notes and embraces the gritty violence. Yet, using COVID-19 as the backdrop feels uninspired and lazy, especially given the pandemic’s significant impact in 2020. The writing team of K.S. Bruce and Brian Decubellis treats the COVID-19 context as an afterthought, failing to provide the pertinent social commentary that could serve as a stark reminder to readers (as if we didn’t endure the horrors of that pandemic during endless quarantines). Meanwhile, talented writer Ethan Sacks struggles to equate Bruce and Decubellis’ action-packed narrative with meaningful substance, since much of the premise recalls a cheesy straight-to-DVD movie from the 2000s (if that were the case, even Steven Seagal would likely pass on this, and that’s saying something). Fico Ossio’s art stands out in this issue, reinforcing the intense and violent tones essential for such a story, yet it fails to find balance as the COVID backdrop falls apart. Dark Honor had the potential to be a remarkable gangster tale worthy of Martin Scorsese’s legacy, but with its silly dialogue and noticeable flaws, it ends up feeling more like an exercise in humiliation. Let’s hope the upcoming issues will improve the situation.
Well, that’s it for me. Thanks for sticking around, and I look forward to seeing you next time.
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