Review - Halo: Initiation #1

Review by Jon Evans
Writer; Brian Reed
Art by; Marco Castiello
Colours by; Michael Atiyeh
Cover by; Jon Liberto
Published by; Dark Horse Comics Inc
Halo initiation will be releasing on the 14th of August 2013. This will be the first time the Halo Universe will be explored in conjuncture with Dark Horse Comics.
Halo is a multi-billion dollar industry including games, books, films, fan-fiction and a recent, excellent web-series, 'Forward unto Dawn'. It is a franchise as big and almost as popular as Star Wars. Entering the world of Halo can be daunting, especially with the complexity and depth of its timeline spanning hundreds of millennia.
Halo Initiation is first of a three part series acting as a prologue to Halo: Spartan Assault, set between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4 in the post Human/Covenant war years. It acts as a leadup to the events explored in the recent Windows game, Halo:Spartan Assault and ties in with one of the playable characters, the young Sarah Palmer; an iconic figure in the Halo Universe. 

Here, she is demonstrating the leadership and battle awareness abilities that will eventually earn her a place in the less controversial SPARTAN-IV program. This is a sensible character choice Dark Horse have made. Palmer is a more recent appearance in the Halo canon (as the leader of the SPARTAN-IV contingent on the UNSC Infinity in Halo 4) and therefore has less backstory developed in fiction. Having appeared in two very recent games, ensures she is fresh and relevant in gamers memories and there is more freedom to develop her character.

With this graphic novel, it is not essential to have a developed understanding of the Halo series, however from the get-go characters are introduced who have appeared in previous novels and games so newbies to the 'Halo Nation' may be confused with some elements of the plot. The narrative is well-paced, with an interesting slow reveal harking to darker more menacing events. Action sequences are in good keeping with the style of the Halo gameplay, pleasing the more gung-ho FPS fans.

Colors are vibrant and crisp, although the art style is not overly mature or experimental, unlike the beautiful artwork on the guest covers. This is classic comic art with neon bursts and glows to indicate weapon bursts and again matches the pallette of the games. Noir comic this is not, but it was never intended to cater for the more discerning reader. One wonders what sort of influence Microsoft/343 have over the creative process. Nevertheless the story is satisfying and leaves the reader wanting more for the next installment.     
It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the trio of comics and it is hoped that it is not a cheap cash in to the mobile game. Fan fiction in the Halo series is a precious commodity and deserves the love and attention devoted to it. 

All three comics in the series are available in both print and digital to pre-order from Dark Horse comics. Follow this link for more details.
Alternatively you can read a preview of the comic in the Dark Horse iPad app here and the Android version of the app here.

Wrap Up

The Good - Plenty of fan service, fast pace, good story build up.

The Bad - Simplistic style, can be difficult to understand for newcomers to the genre

3/5
Images courtesy of Dark Horse Comics
Comic - Provided by Dark Horse Comics