I’ve just received 5 codes each for the online version of the Halo Initiation comic books, issues 1 and 2. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be having a separate set of trivia questions for these codes. The winner will receive a set of codes. One each of issues 1 and 2!
You might want to consider the content of the series for the trivia questions…
You will need to sign up on Darkhorse.com for a free account in order to redeem your codes.
-Sal
With this series only lasting 3 books, issue 2 moves at a frenetic pace.
Issue 1 ended with Jun asking Palmer if she wanted to be a Spartan.
Issue 2 picks up with Insurrectionists planning to steal the UNSC Infinity. The next couple of pages show Palmer’s transformation from normal human to super soldier. What’s great about these pages is that they tell some of the story of what those changes actually are. VERY cool!
Palmer and 4 other spartan recruits go through an exercise against marines where 4 of them are taken down. Palmer is the lone survivor, but at a cost. Yes, she completes the mission, but learns a lesson in team support. Thankfully this is just an exercise and all of the spartans are alive and well.
Next we see the newly minted spartans aboard the Infinity. There is a two-page spread showing the Infinity in all it’s glory and it looks outstanding!
The Innies pose as a construction crew and board the ship shortly thereafter kidnapping Captain Del Rio. He’s such a putz… Alarms sound, we get to see the Infinity’s AI, which at this point is NOT Roland, but one who takes a female form. The Innies take control of the ship. Palmer moves to action selected the now known Scout armor she is seen wearing in Halo 4’s Campaign and Spartan Ops. The last page shows her being harnessed up in the suit.
Okay, so the story is good, but man, there are SO many questions I’d like to ask. One thing mentioned in this issue is that Spartans do not have rank. ‘Spartan’ IS their rank. Um SORRY…No that is WRONG! Master Chief is a RANK, not his name. All of Noble team had ranks. Palmer herself is a Lieutenant in the campaign, then goes on to be a Commander. So um, PLEASE do NOT screw with continuity here! GRR, I really hate when this kind of stuff happens.
The art itself is good. I think better in this issue than in the first. Though I’m not found of the cover of this one as Palmer looks to “girlie.”
All this said, if you’re into the fiction as I am, this is a MUST buy!
On sale now at a Comic Book store near you! (And I HIGHLY recommend buying from those local shops as they need your support, rather than an online retailer.)
-Sal
Halo: Escalation #1
On sale Dec 11, 32 pages, $3.99
Series is ongoing
Halo, the most celebrated video game series of all time, joins forces with Dark Horse for a thrilling new ongoing series!
The UNSC flagship Infinity is assigned escort duty for a diplomatic mission between the Arbiter and a powerful chieftain of the Brute tribes—but when a rogue Covenant group attacks, it’s going to take all the firepower the Spartans have to keep the delegates alive!
• First issue of an all-new ongoing Halo series from Dark Horse!
• An essential addition to the Halo canon!
• The Halo franchise has sales eclipsing $3 billion over its lifetime!
• From Christopher Schlerf, lead writer of Halo 4!
Man, I can’t wait for this comic!!! More Halo stories PLEASE!!!!
-Sal
Here are the cover and first six pages of the new Halo Initiation comic book, out in stores now! Click each to make bigger.
The story has progress very quickly! Hmm, I don’t like the line delivered by Musa. Spartans DO have rank. Master Chief being the most famous of them is and of itself a rank. Palmer becomes a Commander, several Spartan IIs had ranks, In Reach we saw that Noble team members each had a rank. Grr, I dislike it when continuity and/or facts are screwed up in books/comics/etc.
Anyway, still like the series, even with the mistake.
-Sal
Here are some of the pages from Halo Initiation #2 showing the progress from concept to line drawing to inking. Click each to make bigger.
You long time readers know I LOVE concept work. Progressions are my next favorite. I just love to see how something goes from an idea to a finished piece.
-Sal
So I picked this up today at my local comic book store. After what seemed like a long wait (it wasn’t), I finally had this in my hands to read and review it.
As much of this review is going to talk about what happens in the comic book, if you plan on getting this, then do NOT read any further. it will contain SPOILERS aplenty.
Our story starts out with a wheelchair ridden UNSC Commander who has come to speak to other high ranking UNSC officiers. Turns out this particular commander was a Spartan long ago. His name is Musa. He was a Spartan II.
He addresses the officers to let them know that with Master Chief missing and the rest of the Spartan 2’s and 3’s all but gone, he’s created a NEW batch of Spartans.
While this is an initial good set-up for the story, not enough is given to the backstory of Musa, who I hope we’ll learn about sometime in the near future.
A page or two after this reveal, we get to see “Lance Corporal” Sarah Palmer getting ready for battle by way of scrambling for her ODST gear, then dropping in on a planet in an ODST Drop Pod.
The artwork showing the pods dropping is excellent. It’s even available for free as part of the preview for this book here.
The story moves to planet-side where we see a Marine and a high ranking UNSC officer scrambling to get away from the covenant, while in a warthog.
The warthog coms under attack by a Brute Chieftan and the marine dies. The officer is carrying an important AI core and must not be caught. When all of the sudden, Palmer lands nearly on top of the chieftan.
She quickly break out of the pod and into action right away fighting of the same brute, a grunt and an elite, with several other covenant see in on the very close horizon. There isn’t a ton of dialog in this portion of the book and there really doesn’t need to be as it’s the action that pulls you in.
Needless to say Palmer wins the day, but not before being shot a couple of times by a needler. She escapes with the officer and AI core in tow, safe and secure.
Next we see Palmer in a hospital bed. She has a visitor. Something seems strangely familiar about him. ONI perhaps??? No in fact it’s Jun. Yes, THAT Jun. Noble 4 from Reach. He has indeed survived. Though now he’s wearing a suit and looks more like a beefy Professor X from X-Men, than the tanner non-caucasian Jun we know from the game. (Hopefully, he’ll be draw more accurately in the last two issues if he appear in them again.)
Jun talks with Palmer about the mission and then drops the bomb on her, asking her if she want to be recruited as a Spartan.
The comic book is fairly short at 28 pages. I’d like to know more about this Musa and of course how Jun survived. With this being only a 3 part series, I was hoping for some more action, more backstory and more overall comic book. At a price of $3.99 before tax, I expected more pages. Maybe I’m so far removed from comic books now though that 28 pages are the norm for the price. It just seems a bit short to me is all.
The artwork is good. The page with Master Chief on it is my favorite of this book (as seen above). The panel layout is nice and flows easily so you won’t get lost. The text bubbles and text effects are well done.
My two main gripes for the artwork is that Jun doesn’t look like Jun from Reach. Since this comic takes place within a couple of years at most after the events of Reach, Jun shouldn’t look as aged as he is in the book. As well, they totally missed the mark on what Palmer looks like, with exception to the cover art.
All in all, it’s a good book. Not great, but good. Is it worth picking up? Yes, if you’re into more story. In fact you will get a code will allow you to view it online so you won’t have to worry about losing/tearing your physical comic book.
This was a good start to the series. Again though, since it’s only a 3-book story arc, I really hope book 2 is much better. More action please! More story! MORE PAGES!
-Sal
As I posted in the wee hours this morning, Halo Initiation is out. I was able to get my hands on a copy as seen above. Just got home and will read this a couple of times then write a review after.
I’m just excited that Halo is back in comic book form!!!
-Sal
HALO: INITIATION #1 (JOHN LIBERTO COVER)Halo®—one of the largest video game franchises—comes to Dark Horse!
Before she was a super soldier defending humanity as part of the Spartan IV program, Sarah Palmer was an ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Trooper—carrying out the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines!
* The origin of Sarah Palmer—and the Spartan IV program!
* The Halo® franchise has sales eclipsing $3 billion over its lifetime.
* From one of the writers on Halo 4—comics veteran Brian Reed!
CREATORS
Writer:
Brian Reed
Artist:
Marco Castiello
Colorist:
Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist:
John Liberto
Publication Date:
August 14, 2013
Price: $3.99
For MORE on the backstory of how this comic book came about, go HERE!
-Sal
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
“Before she was a super solider defending humanity as part of the Spartan IV program, Sarah Palmer was an ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Trooper—carrying out the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines!”
Here is the preview of Halo Initiation (Click to make bigger):
I am SO looking forward to this!
-Sal