In a daring feat, Gerry Duggan and Garry Brown's FALLING IN LOVE ON THE PATH TO HELL #1 successfully blends American western, feudal Japan, and science fiction elements into a cohesive and captivating narrative. It’s not easy to include a mix of such vastly different worlds into one comic book, let alone a single, debut issue, but this book does just that without things feeling like a complete mess.

Duggan introduces Asami and MacRaith, our two protagonists, through background stories that do ann excellent job providing context and depth for each character, while making it easy for reads to immediately feel invested in their journey. Asami's adherence to the Samurai code of ethics makes her an undeniable instant standout. How these two end up ‘falling in love’ as the titles suggests is a complete mystery, but, based on what we’ve seen so far, the journey should be well worth reading.

Brown's artwork and Chris O'Halloran's colors are a match made in heaven. The unique environments and character designs are breathtaking visual feasts. Joe Sabino's lettering work brings the action to life, evoking the gory energy of a Tarantino film. This really has the look of a movie told through the comic book medium.

FALLING IN LOVE ON THE PATH TO HELL #1 is a triumph of storytelling and a can’t-miss first issue. Who knows where these things will end up, but this path to hell has been set up so well.

Rating: 9/10