Mass Effect: Foundation #1
Written by Mac Walters
Art by Omar Francia
Colored by Michael Atiyeh
Lettered by Michael Heisler
Covers by Benjamin Carré
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July 24, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99
Mass Effect: Foundation #1 is the first of a 13-part series based on the popular science fiction video game franchise, Mass Effect. Written by Mac Walters and illustrated by Omar Francia, the story takes place 22 years before the first game, looking into the past to establish the origin story for what we can assume will be the main character going forward.
The comic has potential but has a few flaws. The story seems a bit forced and the dialogue more suited for a video game than a comic. The art is inconsistent in a way that seems almost detrimental to the flow. It also didn’t help with following the plot and catching all the exposition. There is nothing particularly great about it, and the problems I mentioned aren’t very obvious, but they are when you read it more than once.
It is very blasé and just seems to be in the same vein of the movie-based video games. Most of the issues might be due to trying to cram in so much exposition in so few pages, so it might improve throughout the series. The set up for the main character seems interesting, so it is worth watching the comic progress.
I guess now they realize that it was a
bad idea to utterly DESTROY Cerberus and TIM, as they were some of
the most unique and interesting pieces of the ME universe. What a
complete waste. Unfortunately, too little too late is the only
appropriate analogy here, Cerberus is long dead along with my
interest for anything related to it or mass effect for that matter.
Bioware, you should have returned to roots BEFORE mass effect 3.
Comment by anon anon — July 30, 2013 @ 11:27 pm
So true.
Comment by linkenski — August 10, 2013 @ 12:26 pm
Alright I just downloaded this digitally on the Darkhorse Android app and read it. It’s not atrocious but it’s your typical Mac Walters storytelling and that’s not something positive. Everywhere I’ve looked this is getting 8s out of 10s and similar and maybe that’s okay since it’s a comic, but the fact that the talent I saw in this comic is what is carried over to the writing of the actual games is something that really bothers me.
Forced dialogue, questionable character behaviour or weird motives is what put me off with this. For instance this female protagonist seemingly pops out of nowhere and tells this random kid-slaver she can free him. It could’ve worked but the way it was presented was unconvincing at best. Later in it the protagonist kills a man in front of the kid and the kid yells “You can’t kill him!” and she responds “Sometimes boy, the kindest thing you can do, is end it” and believe me she’s not doing it to be kind since it was her who assaulted him. I just thought that seemed wrong morally speaking. The whole thing has also got that terrible flavor of edginess which began in Mass Effect 2 as well, where everything has to seem so dark and sinister while it’s not really very believable and comes off as a forced “Metal Gear” nonsensical type of vibe.
And before I stop ranting… for the love of god Walters. Stop making stories about humans all the time and stop making stories centered around Cerberus! And the tagline is cringe-inducing too. “Stand for something. JOIN CERBERUS”. It’s like Mac Walters doesn’t even know what the organisation he made stands for, since he can never seem to specify it. “Humanity’s interests” doesn’t cut it alone, and “Something” doesn’t mean jack-sh**.
Comment by linkenski — August 10, 2013 @ 12:55 pm