News:Archive/7 August 2009/Helljumper Issue 1 Review: Difference between revisions

While the first issue of ''Halo: Helljumper'' was released only a few weeks ago, CommanderTony just received his copy, and will now give you his verdict on the new comic series from Marvel.  

It's been a while since i've done a review for anything, and the first time i've ever done a review of a ''Halo'' product. A couple weeks ago, when ''Helljumper'' launched, I thought i'd make Halopedia News' first review about the first issue of this brand new comic series. And a short time ago, I received it.  

''Helljumper'' #1 starts out on a UNSC starship above the Human colony of Ariel, an archaeological colony consisting of a few bases, with no military presence at all. You get the feeling that the comic will be somewhat like ''Halo: Uprising'', the prequel to ''Halo 3''. I base this on the fact that it sets up two distinct plotlines for two different character types, on one side, you have have a squad of battled hardened Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (which include Dutch and Romeo), and a story about a blond woman, likely an archaeologist, trying to evade capture and death by the Covenant Empire.  

Despite all of that, this story is strictly focused on our favorite command of the UNSC Marine Corps. In the opening scene, you can see LCpl Kojo "Romeo" Agu acting like he does in the game ''Halo 3: ODST'', an undisciplined and smartass Marine. Him and a Marine named "Brimley" engage in a heated argument about John-117 and his fight against the Marines about the ''Atlas'' in 2525, which leads to one of the best bar fights (and the first) in ''Halo'' history. Romeo, an obvious drunk, is quickly subdued by this Marine by throwing him to the ground before he knew what hit him. What this new Marine didn't know that Romeo's best friend, Cpl Taylor "Dutch" Miles, was attempting to break up the fight. This shows off the monstrosity that is Dutch, who looks more like a Jiralhanae than any Human ever seen, hell...he could be an ex-SPARTAN-II for all we know XD.  

This has to be the best thing of the whole comic. Eric Nguyen did a fantastic job in portraying the Orbital Drop Shock Troops in the way they were meant to be, instead of some scrawny high school JROTC Cadet like the Marines in the games are, these boys are gigantic hulks of death, and they know it. The action sequences, especially the bar fight, are what you expect of out a comic, unlike what we saw in the ''Halo Graphic Novel'', with only a few "BLAM", "BOOM", and "POP!" moments that show up when an important event happens.

Though I do believe Marvel when they said that ''Helljumper'' and ''Spartan Black'' would not be like ''Uprising'' with the constant delays in release, they do need to fix the problem with this series trying too much to be a a worthy prequel to the ''ODST'' game. With only a small fraction of the squad currently focused on in the comic so far, they need to branch out and form their own story, not one where we immediately learn how they meet up before the Battle of Mombasa.