By Chris Tresson
I don’t think I’ve ever read a decent comic based on a video game. Ever. I usually steer clear of them and since I stopped playing so many videos games, I haven’t even been tempted to pick one up. Until now. Please understand before reading this review, I am not reading this because I’m a big fan of Assassin’s Creed. I’m reading this because I’m a fan of what this creative team are capable of. I'm interested in what they could do together. So, let’s cut the bullshit: this is my review of Assassin’s Creed: Locus #1 from Titan Comics. So this is the basic gist of Assassin’s Creed (to my understanding): There are some dudes with a machine that they use to search for things through time. Valuable things. They use the ancestors of the guys who were originally in the timeline at the point where this shit can be found. I think that’s right, right? Am I right? Does it matter…?
Anyway, this story follows Tommy Greyling, who’s a 19th century Pinkerton agent on the prowl for one of those valuable things (they’re called ‘Pieces of Eden’) and there’s a journo he’s tapping up for information. Unfortunately, he’s been poisoned by an assassin. Even more unfortunate, that assassin was clearly shite at their job because the fat old white dude doesn’t snuff it right away, so a lady assassin has to come in and finish the job… bloody typical. She gets chased off by Greyling and then we’re back to the present day and there’s some talking. A lot more happens after this point but I’m not here to give you a play by play, I’m here to give you my opinion of the book.
Ian Edginton writes a very talky issue and I’m glad it was very talky, otherwise I wouldn’t’ve had a clue what was going on. His pacing’s pretty good in this one, there’s some great action scenes where Edginton uses very little dialogue and let’s the art do the talking, so you get a good balance and a solid issue.
Caspar Wijngaard is on art duties for this series and I was excited to see what this series was going to be like with his art. I do like it and when Caspar asked me earlier what I thought about the issue, I told him I liked it and that it was, I quote, “… Pretty weird seeing your art when the colouring doesn't make it look like I'm viewing it under a blacklight.” I told him that because I’m a pretty big fan of his and Dan Watter’s Limbo (Image Comics, get the trade) and that’s what the art in that is like. Under regular colouring conditions? The art is just as good. His art is strange to see like this, but it’s a good kinda strange. I look forward to seeing more.
Now, to close it out… There’s a good team on this book. I like what both of these guys do comics-wise, and even though they’re doing a story set in a world I don’t really care about for a franchise I haven’t paid attention to for years, I actually like the way this story is going. Which is pretty weird, right? The main draw to this comic will be the fact it has Assassin’s Creed branded on the front, all the gamers and cool kids will want it for that. But, if you’re like me and aren’t really into Assassin’s Creed, you wouldn’t usually get past the title of the book before dismissing it, would you? Well I didn't dismiss this one, and it wasn’t half bad… Shock. Horror.
Have a flip through it on Wednesday when you’re in the comic book shop, see what you think.
Score: 4/5
Assassin's Creed: Locus #1
Writer: Ian Edginton
Artist: Caspar Wijngaard
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $3.99
Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital