Halo Graphic Novel

By Lee Hammock, Jay Faerber, Simon Bisley

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Average Rating: (See all reviews) Format: Hardcover, 128 pages Other Information: Illustrated Published In: United States, July 2006 Other Editions: Hardback, USA $55.99 $48.97 View Ships within 6-11 days Marvel and Bungie team up to create this graphic novel based on the bestselling video game. The Halo universe comes to life for the first time in four original stories and art by such elite artists including Rick Berry, Geof Darrow, Scott Fischer, Sterling Hundley, and Craig Mullins. From The Publisher: Marvel and Bungie team up to create The Halo Graphic Novel HC based on the best-selling video game. The graphic novel brings the Halo universe to life for the first time in the sequential art medium in a 128-page, full color, high quality, jacketed, hardcover graphic novel. Stories include: "Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor" by Simon Bisley and Lee Hammock. When communications from a Covenant agricultural support ship are mysteriously terminated, an Elite Commander and his squad of Special Forces are sent to investigate. In "Armor Testing" by Ed Lee and Jay Faerber, the only way to test Spartan armor, is to send a Spartan. The question is what's really being tested? In Tsutomo Nihei's "Breaking Quarantine," the untold tale of Sergeant Johnson's escape from the clutches of the Flood menace is revealed! Finally, Moebius and Brett Lewis' "Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa" tells of the subtler, more dangerous fights taking place on the streets of New Mombasa and in the hearts and minds of men. Cover by Phil Hale. Gallery art created a number of elite artists including Rick Berry, Geof Darrow, Scott Fischer, Sterling Hundley, Craig Mullins, George Pratt, Juan Ramirez, George Staples, Justin Sweet, John Van Fleet and Kent Williams. Publisher: Marvel Comics ISBN: 0785123725 EAN: 9780785123729 Dimensions: 26.52 x 17.93 x 1.52 centimeters (0.54 kg)

The Halo Graphic novel is arguably one of the better graphic novels to be based on a video game. It includes four stories with amazing artwork from famous comic artists such as Moebius. The story plots are alittle lackluster save for Sergeant Johnson's escape from halo, which is easily the best story in the novel both plot and artwork-wise. Marvel is also planning to release a Halo comic series at the end of August 2007.

Halo Graphic Novel is a collection of four short stories set in the Halo universe, although if you were expecting to see the Halo series' mainstay character, the Master Chief, you're out of luck. None of the four short stories feature the Master Chief, which came as a disappointment to me (granted, one of the short stories featured a person in the Spartan's MJOLNIR armor, but I digress).

Moving on, the first story, The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor features the Spec-Ops Elite that fought alongside the Arbiter in Halo 2 as the main character, telling the story of the Covenant's first encounter with the Flood when he led his squad to investigate a crippled covenant ship. This story is excellent, with lots of action and dialogue, and gives an insight into the the Covenant's command and tactics in battle. Plus, it shows how the Spec-Ops Elite got his mandibles sheared off, earning him the nickname Half-Jaw in Halo 2.

The second story, Armor Testing is very short (and by short I mean about 12 pages) and features a Spartan testing the latest version of the MJOLNIR armor made famous by the Master Chief. Not bad, but nothing special either.

The third story, Breaking Quarantine shows how Sergeant Johnson escaped from the Flood during the events of the first Halo game. Notably, this story eschews dialogue lines in favour of all out action in every panel and coupled with fantastic artwork, is my favourite out of the four.

The final story, Second Sunrise over New Mombasa is a more sombre tale, from the viewpoint of a reporter in New Mombasa, showing what life was like in New Mombasa before and during the Covenant invasion (What happened after the invasion, when New Mombasa is deserted and in ruins is depicted in Halo 2). This story shows us the human toll of the war against The Covenant with respect to civilians/normal people, which is something we don't see in the Halo games or books.

After the short stories are a gallery of images drawn by various artists, most of the depicting the Master Chief in battle. Very cool!

Each of the shorts were drawn by different artists, so their art styles are distinct from each other, which makes for a nice contrast as each story is told from the point of view of different people.

All in all, a fantastic graphic novel and well worth the price if you're a Halo fan.