Once every seven years, Earth overlaps with Ektae, a world where alchemy is not pseudo-science but the driving force of industry. For seven days, Ektae breaches our world, bringing dirty magic and ideas.

Jordan Molossus was born of Earth and Ektae and abandoned by both, but when he receives two cast iron urns containing his estranged fathers’ ashes, he’ll leave everything behind to put his parents to rest before Ektae disappears for another seven years.

Writer Steve Orlando brings his talents to this creator-owned series which mixes magic with reality for a fun start that feels very influenced by Heavy Metal and British creators, and that might be partially due to artist Jakub Rebelka‘s style.

Namesake #1 throws us into the thick of things slowly teasing the world and details out until we’re about halfway through the first issue. If you’re looking for a series that explains every detail, this isn’t it. Instead, Orlando has the reader put a lot of the details together and we learn as the main character learns as well. It’s a fun and interesting way to introduce us to what’s an interesting world and instead of getting speeches about how things work, we naturally learn from the situations presented.

And things are presented in an interesting way. Jordan Molossus is a firefighter and things have kicked up quite a bit as the breach has occurred. Through that, we learn more and more about this world and are introduced to the mystery that is Molossus.

But, the heart of what Orlando presents is really the most important thing of them all. Through the magical world we’ll find out about, the story is about Molossus finding out about his roots and his family. That’s a story so many of us can relate to whether one is adopted or not. The story is about family history and I’m interested in seeing where Orlando goes with it all.

Rebelka’s art is fantastic in a Heavy Metal sort of way. I’m not quite sure how to describe in, but there’s a cool design about it all and while there’s this weird world of Ektae, things aren’t too out there so that we’re distracted (so far). In a magical world, things visually are still pretty grounded.

Namesake #1 is a solid debut that will take us on a magical journey of discovery and it’s one I can’t wait to read the next issue.

Story: Steve Orlando Art: Jakub Rebelka
Story: 7.95 Art: 8.05 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

BOOM! Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review