If you're like me and you grew up with the 90s D&D-Style-High Fantasy Anime Triumverate, then the name Sorcerous Stabber Orphen is a familiar one to you. Likely, you watched the anime and possibly you've read this manga. Let me preface anything further by saying it's exciting to know that SSO is getting an animated reboot this year, and a manga reboot is already in production, with the first volume available already in English.
This is not that manga. What we have here is the original manga that accompanied the first anime, made in Japan in the late 90s and given an English translation in 2005 by the ADV Manga imprint here in the states. I actually got the urge to pick this back up off my shelves for an R&R before I got the happy news about the reboot, which made this read a tiny bit more tolerable.
Let me be frank about something: SSO was a flawed anime series, no matter how much I love it, and the manga is...not great. This first volume has a full 5 chapters [though they read more like just 3] and they leave a lot to be desired in the realm of storytelling. It gives the impression the producers expected the reader to already be familiar with the original anime, and as such, they slacked off on the manga. The first chapter has no real structure or consistency, and a lot of the five chapters is largely comedic and light-hearted to the point almost nothing can be taken seriously. Again, there are flaws and I suspect the assumption was that anyone who reads the manga should already be familiar with the anime.
Arguably, it would be better to just watch the anime and forego the manga, or forego both and focus on the reboot. Even if I enjoy this, I know it's flawed and I'll be the first to say it. The manga seems to want to focus on just the funny right now, and storytelling, character development and depth, and interpersonal relationships between the characters are nonexistent in this manga. If you're here for the humor, great, because this is amusing, especially if you can appreciate a lot of tropes being played with. If you want a more serious story with depth though, again, just watch the anime or focus on the reboot.