You may or may not be surprised at the fact that Assassin's Creed has a comic series, though I doubt many of you won't be shocked at how the series actually has four different comics going on all at once (two are confirmed to be in the same universe, the other is a miniseries, and the fourth is in a manga-style....pretty cool actually!). The main Assassin's Creed series has been running for the better part of a year, focusing almost entirely on characters outside the realm of the game but exploring two of the greatest mysteries from the games: Erudito and the Phoenix Project. They haven't really expounded on those ideas yet, leading this to be a comic almost exclusively to fans of the series.
And even then it seems like the comic is made for the hardcore fans, as ideas are brought up with such subtlety that I even missed them a few times. Plus this is really the only Assassin's Creed action we've gotten this year before the movie comes out today. So you'll excuse us fans as we try to wrap our head around everything going on here.
So what's going on in this comic? Well, like I said, there has so far been limited exposure to the world of the game. In fact, this issue we have here is the only one of the series so far to premiere a character from the games this entire run (albeit it is a HUGE cameo...though with confusing implications). But I'd be interested to see the games explore the characters in this book a little more. The ideas here aren't bad at all, it's just that their execution at times can be a bit head-scratching.
The basic premise is the same premise as the overall Assassin's Creed story: Charlotte de la Cruz has the blood of an Assassin flowing through her veins. In order to tap into the information of her ancestor's and locate a Piece of Eden, Charlotte has been recruited by a small, rogue collection of Assassins (keeping in mind how scattered the organization is after the events of Assassin's Creed III), though at every turn it seems like deception lies ahead.
In recent issues, Charlotte and her dwindling team have discovered Erudito, a shadow organization that has been evident since the Ezio days of the franchise (and one of the biggest questions fans have had). Turns out Erudito has also been hit hard by the advancements of the Abstergo. Charlotte's grandmother is one of the higher-ups at Erudito, and has somewhat forced her into the Animus to discover more about the mysterious Consus, who has appeared to Charlotte on more than one occasion. Consus is a First Civilization good guy (yeah, first one we've had in a while) that has been following Charlotte and leaking information to her just like how Minerva spoke through Ezio to Desmond in Assassin's Creed II.
How clear is all of that? Clear enough that I have to check the Wiki page for it.
Okay, that's not entirely fair. Most of this is information I can gleam off the pages of the comic, but the intricacies and import of it all are not so cut and dry. The comic doesn't do a great job of explaining why things are important, just how they are important. There's always a sense of urgency going on, but I'm not necessarily sure why that is other than "don't get caught by Templars."
But we may see a little bit of that as we dive into the final comic review of 2016: Assassin's Creed #12!
The cover is pretty weird. Not poorly drawn, but just oddly conceived. We'll work our way to the bottom, starting with the assailants. They look like the Three Musketeers, but this comic is based in Italy, so that's already one thing that doesn't make sense. You could make the argument that they're dressed like soldiers of the Renaissance, which is when the comic takes place, but then I'll argue that they should look like soldiers from the game so that fans can recognize the design easier. The crossbowman is one of the stranger parts of the cover. He's shooting 16 bolts down at Charlotte in rapid succession. I'd say that he launched them before he dove but given how close most of them are to each other it seems like he did fire them one after another on the way down. No way in hell is he gonna be able to do that unless he's the strongest man alive! Even Charlotte doesn't make any sense. Her hidden blade is exposed but her sleeve is rolled up. We don't even see the bracer on her arm for the blade, so it looks like it's just coming out of her skin! And to top (bottom?) it all off, we have the destruction of a building below them. How? Did a bomb go off? Was there a gust of wind just that strong? Is it the force of impact, what the heck is going on here?
All Assassin's Creed issues start with a recap page consisting of usually three sentences tops. While I appreciate the effort, a little more effort is a bit better. We've seen comics have innovative recap pages, like Ninjak or Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat! so why can't there be just a little more here? New readers aren't going to know what Consus is or who the heck these characters are. The recap page in this comic only mentions Charlotte, not Hiram or Giovanni, the Assassins we follow in the past. Not to mention the Galina subplot (I'll try to explain) going on as well.
Nah, we'll just vaguely hint at bad things to come for Charlotte. Thanks.
I'll break this down in terms of the different plots going on here, since that's easier than tackling the comic in sequential order. I know that's a bit strange, but otherwise I'd be bouncing back and forth just talking about the various issues and it'd be taxing.
The "appealing" plot, the one that informs the present, involves Hiram Stoddard and Giovanni Borgia--two young Assassins that are rivals and not really the best of friends. Unlike most Assassin's Creed stories we get to see the end before the beginning, as we see Hiram and Giovanni as enemies hunting the Apple of Eden, a mainstay prop of the game. Since there really isn't any information there, we soon get to see them in their training, where Hiram is much more likable and Giovanni is much less so.
The comic makes it a bit unclear who we are supposed to be rooting for. I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be cheering for Giovanni, but given the drastic character change, it seems like Hiram is meant to be our guy. Of course he'll end up as the villain, but he's just way more charming and likable in the latter parts of the issue. Sure he's a flirt, but he's a solid fighter and is pretty similar to how Ezio was. Giovanni is supposed to be similar, but he's just so whiny. The story is also pretty boring: Giovanni is jealous of Hiram because he's worked so much harder but Hiram is just naturally talented. We've seen this before. The only potentially interesting parts of this are how they wind up where they are.
Giovanni at the beginning of the comic, and apparent end of the story, is wise and skilled, much more like Ezio than we see. He treats the Assassin's Code with immense respect, and this is a guy I can get behind as a main character. If he wasn't made to be so whiny, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with him in the later parts of the book.
Oh, and speaking of Ezio, he makes an appearance in this comic too. It's not a huge spoiler, and it's not for very long, but I was pretty happy to see him around. His appearance is head-tilting for reasons I'll get into soon, but he does provide some solid advice. After all, he was the Assassin Grand Master for a good time, and it's clear that he's just kicking back nowadays. Kinda wished they showed Sofia around, since she was a fun character, but I guess they figured throwing in a girl for the boys to get jealous over was better?
Who's this woman, again?
But Ezio's appearance is a bit...weird. Most notably is the way he's drawn, though to be fair everyone looks a little weird under this artist. Ezio at the end of Assassin's Creed: Revelation (1511) looks much, much older than he does in Assassin's Creed the comic (1515). Not to mention that the dude dies looking like THIS
nine years later. So what the heck happens in the intervening time?
Sadly, that's about all that happens in the past for this issue. It's basically just setting up a fight to occur between the two boys, though the set up for said fight is fairly weak.
In the present, things are much more confusing. Again, one of the biggest issues I have with Assassin's Creed is how the story becomes a little less clear with each successive issue. The comic just expects you to remember truck loads of information from month to month. Bombshells are dropped, or are at least attempted at, with each issue to hook you for another month but it's hard to keep track of just how important everything is all the time. Plus it's just hard to get invested in the characters in general because there are so many of them.
In the games, you have Desmond/ the player character and two or three other Assassin's to deal with in the present time. Here you have at least six other characters to worry about, plus a subplot, plus a brand new setting and new ideas constantly being brought up. I can barely get a grasp for Charlotte's relationship with Galina (which the writers seem to have forgotten about) without remembering who this random guy at Erudtio is that's suddenly important. Characters that don't need names or big moments have names and big moments. I just can't care, and the big issue is that their big moments or surprises often overshadow the big moments for our main characters.
But what's going on in the present? Well, Erudito is taking a vote on whether or not to press forward with what Charlotte's up to, since she's been searching for Consus to get answers from him so that they may defeat Juno. Okay, fair enough. Except even that was mentioned two months ago and I would've forgotten about it if I didn't have to remind myself of those events.
The main subplot follows Galina, another Assassin that tends to butt heads with Charlotte, hunting down a lead for a former Assassin named Joseph.
Joseph has been a character the group has been searching for basically all series. It's a subplot stretching back to the first arc that has never been all that important, and I keep forgetting about it because it feels so negligible to the rest of the story. Why are we following this guy? It's supposedly to bring him back to the fold but I just have never been able to find a reason to care.
Anthony Del Col has struggled all series long to create any investment in the side-stories going on because there are often too many people hanging around at once. At this point I want the herd to be thinned so we can focus on our core group of Assassins. Otherwise there's never going to be an investment because it's going to be unclear why I should care about one character over another. Charlotte and Galina are the only ones to receive any form of development, but their appearance in this comic alone is so scarce that you almost wonder "Why bother?"
And finally, we can get to the artwork. The colors by Ivan Nunes are fine, even pretty good. There's a nice shine to the characters, and even in the dingier areas, the colors stand out and are a little brighter so things don't look so muddled. The background colors, even in the plain metallic rooms, are nice and bright as well, helping to give the room a futuristic feel that it deserves.
But Neil Edwards's artwork has been a bit of a problem all series long. He just hasn't been able to draw expressions all that well. They're either really, really funky to look at, or are downright possessed. Elena, more than once in this comic, looks outright haunted by something. Hiram looks old, then very young, then pretty old again. Anytime someone is screaming it just looks awful.
Edwards does fight sequences pretty well, though, and I wish there were more of those throughout. The movements of the characters are swift, succinct, and have a good sense of power to them. Moves are framed properly enough so that we can tell exactly what the characters are doing, which is important in a series where characters are pulling off complex moves. However, this does not excuse his otherwise sub-par artwork, since that is what dominates the comic.
Overall, for the comic that technically connects the most to players of the game with Ezio's appearance, it's pretty average, if not a little below average due to the sluggish story and artwork. The ideas presented here are pretty neat and are providing us clues to what'll be happening in the future of not just the series, but the franchise. Yet I'm left here wondering why this is important as well as why we're following half of the characters in the present day. For new readers, this is a difficult book to jump into. It seems like this is a series meant to be read in a trade format, where one just breezes through the series without having to wait a month and probably forget a ton of information.
And that's about it for 2016 comics. I'm glad I got to look over the Valiant comics that I did. I hope I got some of you to read books from that company as well. Not to mention I concluded my ongoing reviews of "The Death of Superman" as well as Shadowland: Moon Knight.
If you want, you can also check out my Top 10 Comic Book Issues of the year!
Next year, well, I'm not entirely sure what I can promise. Another ongoing review? Perhaps. Deadpool being the first thing I review? Of course. But what I'm excited for? A "Power Rangers" comic review! A month of looking at the great comics Image has been putting out! And milking some reviews out of a couple of series hitting Netflix next year *cough* Iron Fist *cough*.
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