I’ve known about this fan-made comic book for sometime. However, I hadn’t taken the time to check it out.

For those who don’t know, “A Fistful of Arrows” is a comic book created by Levi Hoffmeir. It’s the story of what happens directly after the events of Halo Reach. Specifically the story revolves around Spartan Jun A266.

Without further ado, let’s get into the review of this fun comic book! (click images to make bigger)

The first thing I’m going to say is that it’s clear this comic book was created by a fan who is passionate about Halo and his art. The cover alone gives you that sense. The story opens up with a scene from well before the fall of Reach. As to exactly when, it’s not given, however, it deals with Innies (Insurrectionists), so I can only assume it’s some time before Reach. The only thing is, curiously, the former Noble 6 isn’t represented in this comic book. So perhaps the events take place between the time of his death and the start of Reach (the video game). I’ll have to ask Levi about this.

From the first page’s panels, you can already tell that Levi has put a great deal of effort into creating a fantastic comic book. You get the sense that there is a conflict in Jun that needs to be resolved. All of his fellow Noble teammates sense it.

With efficient pacing Levi moves his tale back and forth between this early Innie event and the battle of Reach.

Above is but a sampling of his amazing artwork throughout the comic book.

Below we see Emile in all his glory, without the now-classic skull carvings on his helmet that we came to know in Reach.

Levi does a masterful job of portraying each of Noble’s team members as we known their personalities from Reach. In this respect his writing is fully in keeping with the Halo universe.

His take on an AI superintendent is SPOT ON, as seen by the follow page from his book:

That page gave me the feels I had from Halo 3: ODST. So here again, Levi has done a great job on blending together the Halo universe we know from the games, into his comic book.

This breathtaking two-page spread in his comic further illustrates his artistic talent. I’d LOVE to have this as a poster without the text bubbles! Levi???

At that point we’re roughly mid-way through the story and Noble squad is pursuing the Innie from the beginning of the tale. Liberal uses of  dark greens and blues help to convey an environment which is currently being hampered by a rainstorm. Couple this with the red colors he uses, it helps to illustrate the important mission Noble is undergoing.

The page above shows what I was talking about with regards to the greens and blues. IN the story, Jun is keeping an eye on the mission’s target, utilizing several Spartan skills.

Shortly after this page, we jump back to the future events that take place right after Reach, with Jun escorting Halsey away from the action. I don’t want to spoil that part for you if you haven’t read it, so I’m leaving out the bulk of the description of what happens here. I’ll give you these two pages though:

Again, Levi’s artwork is fantastic. The immediate above image is a testament to that. Classic Armor Lock. The page has strong contrasts of dark and light with bold use of color in the right areas. (Did I just sound like one of those uppity art critic here? Sorry, LOL)

As the story comes to an end, we’re treated to a small event that is reminiscent of one that happened in the Forward Unto Dawn mini-series. (Again, I’ll save that spoiler for you to view yourself.)

The comic book isn’t over though. Levi then continues on details of some of the characters in play in the comic book, as well as showcasing the city of Quezon, where some of his story takes place. There is yet more, but I’ll leave that to you to discover.

A Fistful of Arrows is just about one of the BEST pieces of fan-fic I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Now that it has been revealed that Jun escaped and is ALIVE, via a Halo avatar item, curiously:

can we hope that Levi’s tale will be intertwined with and become official canon?

This Halo fan hopes so!

If you’d like to read the comic, download it here.

To see more of Levi’s work, go to his official site here.

-Sal