Dark Horse Comics 2015
Written by Larry Hama
Illustrated by Marcelo Ferreira
Coloured by Dan Jackson
Lettered by Michael Heisler
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t play video games but you can’t be a geek or friends with geeks without knowing about the game and how popular it is. So with a first issue, written by Joe scribe extraordinaire Larry Hama, comes out it’s a perfect opportunity to see a little about what the franchise is.
Marcelo and Dan bring this to life pretty darn well. I like that it’s comic book style art so it feels more like a comic than the video game which tend to blur the line between reality and fantasy in how realistic it is. The characters look great, the attention to detail throughout is amazingly well done and the page layouts and panel usage help the flow of the story immensely. Plus I like that they’ve managed to give each character their own distinct look that mirrors their personality makes it easier to follow without a scorecard.
So we open with a team of Black Ops in a place where law is pretty much unknown and the black market is well actually just a market, you want it you can find it and if you can afford it it’s yours no questions asked. That right off the bat we see this team is being targeted by others while they are trying to procure the weapons they need is great. It’s like jumping into the deep end and figuring out as you go along.
The pacing and action are pretty much from the start and don’t let up for a minute. This kind of crazy action packed stuff is great and it really makes you concentrate on what’s going on here. Both the story and visuals play major roles in how the story unfolds and that it’s not mindless is the greatest asset it has going for it. While we may not be privy to the operation details in full we get a sense of what’s happening and seeing them going about getting it done and what they encounter along the way makes this an exciting read.
Something that Larry manages to here quite nicely is let the reader’s imagination run wild a bit. Sure we see them in action and kind of get a sense for their target and all that but there’s plenty left out so that we can see things in our minds. That for me ensure the continuing reading cause you want to see if what you think is right or not. Like who the mysterious red head works for and why she’s a badass after them. Or a more indepth look at how this Timur got to be where he is to get the team to go after him. It’s the little things that when you add your imagination to a story that makes it more exciting.
Ah too bad characters like Dorrit get introduced only to have such a short life span. Even dealing in information means you have to watch your back and protect yourself from those who are seen as weaker or capable of being caught and revealing their sources. Still she’s a great character to see and have at your heel hopefully we’ll see more like her in the future. Speaking of which a shelf life in this series shouldn’t be long. After all this is a very violent scenario and the work is hard they know that going in so who lives and who dies well it may be an early favorite so prepare yourself for one heck of a ride.
I like this a lot it takes a pretty much first person shooter game and gives it more background, depth and personality for people like me who don’t play them. Plus it’s a smart story with extremely good interiors. More franchises need to be crossed over like this one!