Hawken: Melee #1
Written by Dan Abnett
Illustrated by Federico Dallocchio
Colored by Chris Northrop
Lettered by Julia Fung
Cover by Tim Bradstreet
Boom! Studios
Release Date: December 4, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Back in April, I reviewed Hawken: Genesis, Archaia’s prequel tie-in to the hit, free online multi-player game, Hawken. Having never played an online multi-player game, I enjoyed the graphic novel so much that I even considered pursuing the world it’s set in some more within its main form of media. Well, Boom has just released issue one of the their sequel series, Hawken: Melee, and I obviously jumped at the chance to check out the newest venture into the gritty, war-torn world of Hawken. Does it live up to its predecessor? Find out below.

In Hawken: Melee #1, I was submerged into battle with a Mech (giant robot controlled by a human) pilot who was caught in the middle of a fast-paced attack from multiple opponents. “20 Seconds,” the first title in the five stand-alone issues series, literally takes place within the span of twenty seconds, though it feels much longer.