Order and Outrage #4: The Start?!… Of Something?

Order and Outrage has been a return to form via a vast cosmic odyssey for longtime comics professional Jim Starlin. Thus far, the miniseries has delved into concepts surrounding subjugation, the corruption of power, and the morality behind rebellions. This provoking thought exercise of a book takes all of these elements and inserts them into a larger than life cosmic narrative in which the powers at be, The Order, care only for peace an perfection, even when that means committing genocide in order to attain that goal. Yet, throughout all of these high strung concepts in an expansive world, Order and Outrage #4 chooses to double down on its more standard elements, providing little to no conclusion to this four issue mini series.

Order and Outrage is advertised as a mini-series, with all signs pointing to this fourth issue as the conclusion to the tight knit tale that Starlin and company have cooked up. Unfortunately, Order and Outrage #4 ends up just being set up for a future universe rather than a solid conclusion. This may come as a shock to fans, especially because none of the solicitations or advertisements declared this, but nonetheless, this is how this creative team chose to end this introductory mini-series. The issue spends more time establishing and setting up new characters and settings than it does fleshing out the main character we’ve been following since the first issue.

Although this issue’s unexpected narrative direction is disappointing, Starlin still does a great job in writing some excellent story beats. One section in particular features the protagonist using her new god-like powers to freeze a bunch of wealthy socialites in place while they are celebrating their takeover of the world she grew up on. This “fate worse than death” is made all the more real later on when the assassin arrives to find the state these people have been left in. By the end of the issue, even the assassin decides that these people can live out their last days frozen in place instead of putting them out of their misery, emphasizing the themes of rebellion and the corruption of power that have been prevalent thus far.

Rags Morales and Michael Heisler continue to deliver a tour de force with the art here, with this issue focusing more on specific elements of The Order rather than the expanse of space as a whole. This puts a lot of emphasis on the visual world building that is very present throughout every page, with Morales and Heisler putting a lot of detail into aspects like the different species of aliens that inhabit this universe. The detail put into the leader of The Order’s throne room is also astounding, with the background existing purely of a static green pattern that highlights the leader himself.

Finally, Hailey R. Brown does an excellent job with the lettering. The book’s main draw continues to be its art so Brown’s attention to detail, allowing the art to tell the story, works very well on each page. This means that the dialogue is never in the way of any of the more intense panels, and the layout of everything reads in a fine and cohesive manner.