By Jarred A. Luján —  No One Left to Fight #5 is out THIS WEEK! For those of you who have been following this book and were hoping for a big, bombastic ending to a comic that has had some of the biggest, bombastic issues year round, I have news! It is bigger and bombastic-ier­ than I imagined. I don’t think I’m allowed to curse in these (Ed. note: he is), so suffice to say: Holy cow. What an insane issue.

The really wonderful part of NOLTF has been how each issue is a level up from the next. The sequences have always been ridiculous fun, especially with artist Fico Ossio just going completely wild on every page, but the way that writer Aubrey Sitterson has handled not just increasing the intensity, but the stakes, from issue to issue has been amazing. It feels like this entire series has been at the max level since #2, but every issue since has been essentially Sitterson/Ossio carving new levels of their own. Yet, none of that prepares you for the absolutely wild ride that #5 is. It is absolutely bananas.

One of the best parts, for me, has been the relationship between Vale and Timor. It’s so complex and there’s so much history there, that it’s been tense at its absolute best in the series. Vale and Timor stand out as characters and even when they ARE on the same side, their complicated relationship doesn’t simply fade away. It’s easy to put characters into a foxhole and have them get over their hardships, it’s far more difficult, and authentic, to instead have them work around those hardships.

Letterer Taylor Esposito in this series has really made the case as to why letterers are so often considered unsung heroes of this industry, most often by people who create comics and see what they contribute. Esposito’s lettering has done such a great job of matching the intensity and scale of Ossio’s artwork, really holding his own among pages that have a TON going on. Time and time again, Esposito has absolutely nailed the mood and action of the pages he works on and has really shown the power he has as a letterer.

NOLTF started off with a great concept: Vale, a hero who has achieved all the glory one could ask for in life, is…alone, cursed with some mystery affliction, and desperately seeking out his friends to relive his own old glory. That’s an emotional hook that grabs readers early, and as the book has developed, and Vale, Timor, and Krysta have all found something left to fight, the creative team has continued to build around that base. No One Left to Fight is very much a tower built upon a strong foundation, one that is only getting stronger and stronger.

Yet, that’s kind of the sad part of all of this. Issue #5 is supposed to be the end all, but there’s clearly still a bit more to tell. Truthfully, No One Left to Fight deserves a second arc. I would buy a hundred more of these with this sort of consistency. So, if you want more as badly as I do, you need to make sure the right people hear about it (-cough- Dark Horse, your local comic shop, Comixology -cough-).

Overall: If this is the last issue of No One Left to Fight there’s no shame in it because this is one hell of a comic. 10/10

No One Left to Fight #5
Writer: Aubrey Sitterson
Artist: Fico Ossio
Colorist: Fico Ossio with Raciel Avila
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics 
Price: $3.99

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Jarred A. Luján makes comics, studies existential philosophy, and listens to hip-hop too loudly. For bad jokes and dog pictures, you can follow him on Twitter.