Dundradal
Frog Blast the Vent Core!
I picked up my copy today and I have to say Bungie and Marvel did create something cool. The four stories in it cover things that are found outside of the games and one clears up something that has been long debated at HBO. So here's my short review of each...
The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor
This story explains how "Half-Jaw" knows the smell of the flood and how he became "Half-Jaw." An interesting read with wonderful artwork. The only story that has the Chief in it (for 2 pages and it shows him at the beginning of the level 343 Guilty Spark) and he plays no role other than to give us a time frame.
The story is about a transport that is taken over by the flood that they are trying to use to escape the Threshold system. We see strange flood forms and even the creation of a "gravemind" explained by a low prophet.
Not my favorite story in the book, but interesting none the less...although natural Bungie style to not show what happens to the ship...we see Half-Jaw in the slipspace room reconfiguring the jump so it goes directly into the sun and him boarding a Phantom off, but thent he last frame is simply the Succor sitting in space. Always ones to leave us wondering.
Armor Testing
My favorite story in the novel. It is about the testing of the new Mk VI armor that John-117 recieves at the beginning of Halo 2. Maria-062 tests it out against 20 ODSTs after performing of all things a HALO drop. It's great to see another Spartan in action and to learn that apparently they can leave the service as Maria has retired to the reserves to start a family. She really kicks their asses until they trick her into a room with at least a dozen of them.
The art in this story is fantastic and feels the most Halo-like to me.
Breaking Quarantine
The story of how Sgt. Johnson escaped the flood. 14 pages with no dialogue that simply show Johnson blasting his way out of the room we see him in in Jenkins helmet cam.
Personally, I think this is the weakest of the lot. It's really just him walking out of that room, it doesn't explain his eventually arrival on the shuttle John-117 finds him on in the beginning of First Strike.
Second Sunrise over New Mombasa
This story shows us how slimey ONI can be. It's about a journalist who works for ONI to screen the news to make it appear that humanity is winning the war. The editing of footage and creation of stories of heroism. We also see humans unaware of the real situation attempt to fight the covenant as they land in the city just after the start of halo 2. The lies that people just need to stay inside and that the explosion of the MAC platforms are really accidental ship explosions until landing pods start to drop all around the city...and just what were they looking for? The entrence to the Ark of course and this is intercepted by our ONI friend and he makes a desperate attempt to get this info out of the city by handing his laptop over to a little girl fleeing on a boat...
My second favorite story in the novel. It's a great monologue and an interesting insight into ONI...
After the stories there is an excellent gallery of images from different artists that are just amazing! Some of them are really quite amazing and filled with easter eggs! (what we learn about Johnson's past just from one of these images is incredible)
So if I had to rate the HGN how would it score? Well since you asked...
Overall I thought it was good, although I feel like it was incredibly short. 128 pages seems like a lot, but when it's in graphic form that's really quite short. I was very disappointed by the Sgt. Johnson story. The other stories were made up for some of that, but overall I felt slightly disappointed. I guess I expected a bit more, but I'm grateful for it nonetheless (and the fact that in 2007 a Halo comic series is going to be coming out!).
On a scale of 1 to 10...I give the HGN a 7.5. It's an essential purchase for any halo fan, I'm just not sure if any more casual fans will like it as much. So if you follow into the former I highly recommend picking it up. Don't pay the $25 cover value, Walmart is selling copies for $14 and some other retailers also have cheap prices.
The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor
This story explains how "Half-Jaw" knows the smell of the flood and how he became "Half-Jaw." An interesting read with wonderful artwork. The only story that has the Chief in it (for 2 pages and it shows him at the beginning of the level 343 Guilty Spark) and he plays no role other than to give us a time frame.
The story is about a transport that is taken over by the flood that they are trying to use to escape the Threshold system. We see strange flood forms and even the creation of a "gravemind" explained by a low prophet.
Not my favorite story in the book, but interesting none the less...although natural Bungie style to not show what happens to the ship...we see Half-Jaw in the slipspace room reconfiguring the jump so it goes directly into the sun and him boarding a Phantom off, but thent he last frame is simply the Succor sitting in space. Always ones to leave us wondering.
Armor Testing
My favorite story in the novel. It is about the testing of the new Mk VI armor that John-117 recieves at the beginning of Halo 2. Maria-062 tests it out against 20 ODSTs after performing of all things a HALO drop. It's great to see another Spartan in action and to learn that apparently they can leave the service as Maria has retired to the reserves to start a family. She really kicks their asses until they trick her into a room with at least a dozen of them.
The art in this story is fantastic and feels the most Halo-like to me.
Breaking Quarantine
The story of how Sgt. Johnson escaped the flood. 14 pages with no dialogue that simply show Johnson blasting his way out of the room we see him in in Jenkins helmet cam.
Personally, I think this is the weakest of the lot. It's really just him walking out of that room, it doesn't explain his eventually arrival on the shuttle John-117 finds him on in the beginning of First Strike.
Second Sunrise over New Mombasa
This story shows us how slimey ONI can be. It's about a journalist who works for ONI to screen the news to make it appear that humanity is winning the war. The editing of footage and creation of stories of heroism. We also see humans unaware of the real situation attempt to fight the covenant as they land in the city just after the start of halo 2. The lies that people just need to stay inside and that the explosion of the MAC platforms are really accidental ship explosions until landing pods start to drop all around the city...and just what were they looking for? The entrence to the Ark of course and this is intercepted by our ONI friend and he makes a desperate attempt to get this info out of the city by handing his laptop over to a little girl fleeing on a boat...
My second favorite story in the novel. It's a great monologue and an interesting insight into ONI...
After the stories there is an excellent gallery of images from different artists that are just amazing! Some of them are really quite amazing and filled with easter eggs! (what we learn about Johnson's past just from one of these images is incredible)
So if I had to rate the HGN how would it score? Well since you asked...
Overall I thought it was good, although I feel like it was incredibly short. 128 pages seems like a lot, but when it's in graphic form that's really quite short. I was very disappointed by the Sgt. Johnson story. The other stories were made up for some of that, but overall I felt slightly disappointed. I guess I expected a bit more, but I'm grateful for it nonetheless (and the fact that in 2007 a Halo comic series is going to be coming out!).
On a scale of 1 to 10...I give the HGN a 7.5. It's an essential purchase for any halo fan, I'm just not sure if any more casual fans will like it as much. So if you follow into the former I highly recommend picking it up. Don't pay the $25 cover value, Walmart is selling copies for $14 and some other retailers also have cheap prices.