Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Marvel Comics
It’s only recently that I have really started to get into Halo. I’ve always been an avid Playstation 2 supporter and played Xbox’s Halo a handful of times and Halo 2 much more frequently through college on the multiplayer level. However, I’ve never been on the “extreme” level where I would buy an Xbox solely to play as Master Chief in what is arguably one of the greatest video games ever. However, I have recently acquired an Xbox 360 and am one of the millions of people who has already pre-ordered and reserved a copy of the forthcoming Halo 3. I’ve also become more involved in the Halo series, so a comic book bridging the gap between Halo 2 and Halo 3 is a no-brainer. This comic book is also produced by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, two of the greatest creators of this decade. Their run on Daredevil has become arguably the greatest Daredevil run ever. However, the most pressing question is, how can a first person shooter video game possibly translate into a comic book? Should Master Chief be featured in all of his glory, blasting aliens and making Duke Nukem look like a sissy? Or should there be a deeper story that will play directly into Halo 3? The answer comes in this first issue of Halo: Uprising.
Master Chief has become just as iconic as Super Mario. This series opens with the iconic gold faceplate and green helmet, as Spartan 117, a.k.a. Master Chief, makes his way onto a Covenant spacecraft to wage his war. There’s no better way to start this series than with a sequence of Master Chief in all of his violent, badass glory. While the violence is toned down, Master Chief goes in gun blazing and frags launching, showing no fear in the face of death. Bendis and Maleev capture this element of the character to perfection. He stares down an entire brigade of the Covenant, an iconic moment that really kicked this series off with a bang.
While the action comes to a halt with Master Chief standing toe to toe with the Covenant, the story immediately picks up with a strung up and bloodied human being interrogated by the Covenant. The scene is gruesome, frightening and everything Halo is about. The human reveals a great secret about the Halo system and the protection of Earth and the story continues from there. Bendis and Maleev do an excellent job in the first two sequences of this issue capturing the spirit of Halo. Translating a massively action oriented video game into a story-driven epic is tough, and with the first pages they masterfully capture the spirit of the game Bendis has called “as influential as Star Wars.”
It is also at this point that I begin to have my uncertainties with this issue. Bendis introduces Ruwan, an out-of-luck human living in Cleveland. Ruwan is also the name of the editor of this book, a VP of Marvel and I’ve been told the likeness between the man and the comic book character is strikingly similar. I have no problem with Ruwan being based on a real person; it simply adds to the allure of this series. After all, Halo is played by millions of real people. However, what really did not work with me was the narration and dialogue of Ruwan and Myras Tyla, a performer. The action was great and was elevated to an even higher level with Maleev’s artwork, but the dialogue wasn’t really that great. It was constant back and forth questions and quick one sentence answers over and over that gave me a headache by the time I reached the end of the issue. The issue really could have thrived on the artwork and the action alone. The dialogue and narration didn’t really seem like typical-Bendis. I expected much deeper conversation. Although the dialogue was a major hiccup for me, Bendis does a great job with decent plot developments and story-arcs established for this mini-series.
Another problem I had with this issue was the page time, or lack thereof, featuring Master Chief. The character is the backbone of the series, the icon of modern video gaming, and he makes an amazing first appearance in this issue. But from that point, his time is limited. Then again, he is the Master Chief, the franchise player, and I’m sure that Bendis and Maleev will unleash him on the Covenant in coming issues.
While the plot is decent and the dialogue leaves much to be desired, Maleev’s artwork is absolutely fantastic. I was a bit skeptical of his style translating the best looking video game on the Xbox. But my fears were diminished with that opening scene. His gritty and edgy artwork fits the Halo Universe perfectly and is well worth the cover price. The artwork also fits the storyline featuring Ruwan and Myras extremely well and has definitely roped me into this series and further into the Halo 3 hype.
Overall, this issue is a decent start to the mini-series. I am really hoping for more action and more Master Chief as this series rolls on, but Bendis and Maleev has done an excellent job capturing the spirit of the franchise. Maleev’s art is outstanding; this is definitely some of his finest work to date. While I was thrown off by the shoddy dialogue during the Ruwan/Myras sequences, Bendis has developed a good plot and scripted some outstanding action which should keep Halo fans and Halo “noobs” coming back.
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!