Gears of War #6 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Artist), and Jonny Rench (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The creative team behind Gears of War has a lot of work to do in issue six if they want me to keep the series on my pull list. To say that last month’s issue disappointed me would be a pretty serious understatement. In fact, I’m fairly certain it earned one of the lowest grades I have ever given out.

The Story: The final chapter of “Hollow” is about Marcus and the gang battling their way out of the Montevado sinkhole. Things do not go smoothly. Especially in Jace’s case…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Liam Sharp and Jonny Rench do a great job of clearly capturing the action, chaos, grit, and violence necessary to make the Montevado sinkhole battle feel like something that carries dramatic weight. And they needed to, because Gears of War #6 is quite forgettable as far as storytelling is concerned. It’s not that the story is poorly executed or written, it’s just that, bottom line, there really isn’t a whole lot of story to tell. What little there is exists merely to stage action scenes and bring some sort of conclusion to the first arc of the series.

I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to say regarding Joshua Ortega’s writing. His plot vehicle, Jace, has a decent amount of depth and a flair for dramatic narration, but it’s that very depth that makes the character feel out of place. Too much time is spent on Jace when everyone knows that it’s really the Marcus Fenix show. While it’s admirable that Ortega opted to expand the cast of the series, it’s questionable whether it was ultimately the right decision when the action-packed comic series feels so shallow. It’s not that I expected something deep, but I did hope that it would expand and add to the videogame mythos a bit more successfully.

Conclusion: While Gears #6 isn’t quite strong enough to stop the series from dropping off my pull list due to the weak storytelling, it’s not really the creative team’s fault. The visuals do the source material justice, the writing is decent enough despite the limits placed on it (considering that the series takes place in between games one and two), and, as a whole, the book proves to be an entertaining piece of sci-fi action. I recommend it to fans of the game, but urge those checking it out to keep expectations realistic.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Gears of War #5 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Artist), and Jonny Rench (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Being a fan of the Xbox 360 series, the Gears of War comics are something of a guilty pleasure for me. The artwork in them effectively captures the gritty violence of the game’s world and action, while the tough-guy dialogue works well enough to keep the books entertaining enough to read. I wish the Gears series had a bit more story and depth, but then again I had a fairly solid idea of what I was getting into when I picked up the first issue.

The Story: Marcus, Jace, Dom, and Barrick find themselves trapped underneath the rubble of the ruined city of Montevado. With the area unstable and crawling with creatures, the separated COGs must find a way out of the dangerous mess. The situation offers up the opportunity for the reader to learn a little more about Jace as well.

What’s Good: To be honest, there isn’t much about Gears #5 that is particularly memorable. The action comes across well and the situation the COGs find themselves in by the end of the issue is appropriately hopeless (and potentially exciting), but beyond that there just isn’t a whole lot worth mentioning. And that’s something of a shame because the creative team puts in some pretty decent work…

What’s Not So Good: The pretty decent work ultimately fails to amount to much. I understand that for the most part, Gears of War is all about mindless action. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to actually advance the storyline once in a while. I mean, I love bloody action as much as the next guy, but it gets tiresome when it seems as though that’s all that is holding the series together. There has to be some driving force moving things along. Unfortunately, I have pretty much stopped caring what that force is at this point. As a result, I just found the penultimate chapter of the first Gears arc to be quite boring.

Conclusion: While I will be sticking around to see how the “Hollow” story concludes thanks to the fairly strong finish of chapter five, I can’t help but be disappointed with things as a whole. The creative team definitely gets the appeal of Gears and successfully translates it to the page, but the whole thing just feels empty without a compelling story. Maybe things will turn around next month, but I will be sure to keep my expectations in check.

Grade:  C-

-Kyle Posluszny

Gears of War #3 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Art), and Johnny Rench & Carrie Strachan (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Gears of War has been a surprisingly entertaining series so far, even though it’s really a “for fans only” type of thing. While it isn’t breaking any new ground and hasn’t yet done anything essential for the overall Gears storyline, the comic definitely succeeds in translating the gritty violence and machismo of the game to the page. The biggest flaw is the fact that nothing of consequence has happened so far. Furthermore, there doesn’t really seem to be much in the way of plot development. Sure the mindless action has been pretty fun, but it runs the risk of becoming tiresome. Maybe Gears of War #3 will prove to be something of a game-changer and give the series the direction that it has been sorely lacking.

The Story: Jace barely manages to land the plummeting helicopter, and the group of soldiers find themselves a long way from home. During the long walk from the wreckage, Marcus, Dom, and company come across an outpost full of “stranded” people that were unable to reach Jacinto, left struggling to survive in the aftermath of Emergence Day. With the stranded needing protection and the soldiers needing a form of transportation, the two groups come to a mutual agreement. Also, lots of Locusts meet a violent end throughout the issue…as expected.

What’s Good: That Joshua Ortega finally manages to work in some plot development in between all the action and violence. It does wonders for a series that has been incredibly shallow for two issues. With the group now in charge of protecting someone other than themselves, maybe Ortega can actually begin to work in the character depth necessary to put together a story that provides more than just a mindless action fix.

What’s Not So Good: That it is still totally up in the air whether or not the Gears of War comic series will actually connect to the game in any meaningful way. The initial previews said that the series would lead into the plot for Gears 2, but I don’t see any signs of that happening yet. That might wind up being the biggest factor surrounding whether or not I stick with the title to the end.

Conclusion: A step up for the series, Gears of War #3 provides what the comic adaptation has so desperately needed. On the other hand, I am still not sure whether or not early promises are being kept. At least the action delivers and it all looks pretty nice.

Grade:  C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Gears of War #2 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Artist), and Johnny Rench (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Common sense leads one to the understanding that you shouldn’t go into a Gears comic expecting something exceptional. With that in mind, I found myself pleasantly surprised by how successfully Gears of War #1 brought the game’s world and conflict to the comic page. Now the question is whether or not a plot can be developed well enough to make the series worth picking up each month.

The Story: The squad fights back against the Locust ambush that began last issue, and then heads back to base for some down time. The break in the action allows the book to focus on character work for a bit before throwing the soldiers back into the fray. I wish I could say a bit more concerning the story, but that’s about all that happens in this one.

What’s Good: When the book focuses on the action and tough-guy personalities, it works extremely well. The artwork effectively brings the violence and war-torn environments to the page, something that I still find a bit surprising. As for the writing, I have to applaud the fact that I could easily imagine John DiMaggio reciting nearly every line of Marcus Fenix dialogue. Sure it’s standard tough-guy, action movie stereotype type stuff, but it is what I expected and (in some ways) hoped for. Simply put, the book delivers the Gears of War experience pretty well. If that sounds appealing to you in any way, then I am sure you will find something to like here.

What’s Not So Good: The attempts to give the characters depth feel forced and, as such fall pretty flat. It doesn’t work all that well in the game and the same goes for the comic. Also worth mentioning is how little actually happens in this issue. I still can’t figure out if a plot is being developed or how any of the events are crucial to the story in Gears of War 2.

Conclusion: Gears of War #2 delivers some good action and style, but it’s severely lacking in the substance department. While it is undoubtedly a fun read for fans of the game, I question whether it really deserves the $3.99 price tag. Something big needs to happen in the next issue to prove that this comic is really something a fan should bother investing in.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Gears of War #1 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Artist), and Johnny Rench (Colorist)

The Story: Taking place roughly two months after the end of the first Gears of War game, hero Marcus Fenix and a new recruit, Jace, are out on patrol searching for any survivors of a brutal Locust attack. They find a few, one a familiar face, and kill quite a few Locusts along the way.

What’s Good: How well the creative team nails the feel of the Xbox 360 game. The art, dialogue, and story all do a wonderful job of using the atmosphere and characters to great effect. If you’re looking for a story about tough guys killing monsters using excessive violence, you can’t do much better than this. As a fan of the game, I couldn’t be more satisfied.

What’s Not So Good: As you probably guessed, this isn’t exactly the deepest comic on the stands. The characters are your generic military tough guys, the violence may be too much for some to handle, and the comic never really rises above its videogame roots. Also, the storyline is written assuming that you have played the game at some point, so those unfamiliar with Gears may find themselves wondering about certain references.

On the technical side, the dark coloring muddies up and confuses a scene or two, but this is only a slight annoyance in an otherwise good looking book.

Conclusion: Action junkies and Gears fans should really take the time to check out this comic. It faithfully translates everything that made the game such a success into an enjoyable, visually impressive book. A mindless, yet pleasant surprise in every way.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Dead Space #1 (Special Convention Edition) – Review

By Anthony Johnston (writer) & Ben Templesmith (art)

Dead Space is an Electronic Arts game that’s going to be released in Fall 2008 for video game consoles and the PC platform. This comic is the prequel to that game, and since I’m going to buy the game, I don’t mind reading the comic book to get more of the background story.

The story seems to borrow elements of 2001, Doom 3 and Aliens. It has a creepy atmosphere, a greedy government, a strange alien monolith, and religion thrown in for good measure. You’d think this would be a recipe for disaster, but this issue is a great introduction to the series and it’s ripe with lot of tension.

The story begins with a distress transmission from a planet that humans intented to colonize. We’re then transported to a series of flashbacks that slowly unravel the story. People start to act strangely, the crap hits the fan, and well, you get my drift.

Please check this video trailer of Dead Space’s trailer. It features Ben Templesmith’s art made into quasi-animated sequence. It kicks ass! The footage you’ll see is not from this issue, however. It seems it’s from a preview or #0 never published (his partner doesn’t get attacked from a monster in #1, that’s the reason of my assumption). Anyway, if you see this issue floating around, give it a go. You’ll enjoy yourself. Oh, and a closing note: I believe that the only difference between the convention edition and the regular edition is the variant cover. (Grade: B)

-Daniel Yanez

P. S. – We are giving away stuff from WonderCon, including a signed copy of Dead Space #1 by Templesmith, himself! Check it out what do you need to do to get that for FREE.