Vault Comics released Unnatural Order #1 today. The highly anticipated title also marks the return of writer Christopher Yost to comics. After keeping busy in TV and film on series such as The Mandalorian, the co-creator of X-23 is teaming up with artist Val Rodrigues, colorist Dearbhla Kelly, and letterer Andworld for the dark fantasy, genre-mashing comic.
Yost weighed in on the debut…
Deanna Destito: How excited are you to see this book finally out?
Christopher Yost: I honestly can’t believe it’s real. I’ve had this in my head for a couple of years now and to see it on the page is nuts. All credit to the guys at Vault, who truly put their money where their mouths are. I couldn’t be more grateful for them taking a chance on this. I’ve written movies and TV shows and all manner of things, but there’s nothing like seeing a comic book you helped create on the stands.
Destito: The story is not what it seems. It’s not even the genre that you think it is. How would you describe it?
Yost: It’s a mashup of magic and military. It’s Zero Dark Thirty meets Lord of the Rings. You definitely go into the series thinking it’s one thing, and by the end of the issue, you sort of have to question everything you’ve read.
A group of adventurers is working to overthrow a powerful Druid that’s taken over the lands. They fight to free a prisoner that seems to be the key to defeating the Druid, but nothing is what it seems. There’s a mystery afoot, and we cross genres for sure. By the end of the third issue, things get even crazier.
Destito: What is your favorite page from the first issue?
Yost: There’s a panel where the sorceress Adrina lights a werewolf on fire which I think is just beautiful. Val Rodrigues has been putting out some amazing work; we’re really so lucky to have him. That guy can draw a giant tree monster like nobody else. His three-headed dragons are divine.
Destito: What can you tease about upcoming issues?
Yost: The second issue lays out exactly what’s going on there and then sets our heroes on their journey to put the world right. But now they’re a real danger to the Druid, who sends all manner of vampires, werewolves, and dragons after them. I think some faeries get beheaded, a giant gets chopped in half, and by the end of the third issue, all the characters are seen in a new light. No one is who they think they are, and they don’t even know it.
Unnatural Order on the surface is about the world transformed by a power thought long gone and the quest to put it back. But there’s a lot going on under the surface…
Before snagging your copy of Unnatural Order #1, check out an exclusive, extended preview below!
