Blog

Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Mac Walters & John Jackson Miller
Artists: Omar Francia
Cover: Daryl Mandryk

The search for Colonel Sheperd’s body heats up! Liara T’soni and her drell, Feron, are off to the distant reaches of the galaxy chasing a possible lead on Sheperd. The two scuffle with some intergalactic drunks at a space bar before getting in with an informant who gets just a little too spooked when the Shadow Broker’s name is dropped.

T’soni and Feron are then pointed in what looks like the right direction with a Blue Sun infested hanger with the corps of Sheperd in the center. Things are looking deadly when Taz, the Shadow Broker’s private hitman, shows up to make sure Sheperd’s body is handled properly.

T’soni acts quickly as Feron makes a few explosions, and the fight for control of Sheperd’s body is on.

I expected a slow start in Mass Effect: Redemption#1, but it was a surprisingly engaging issue. However issue #2 would be the one to slow things down a bit. While the story was moved along sufficiently, there just wasn’t enough in this issue to make it feel very important. The dialogue all flowed as well as sci-fi alien dialogue can flow, but nothing was being said that I thought built enough tension to keep interest in the story.

There also wasn’t much action until the final few pages and I was left wanting more.

Omar Francia’s art was solid. He’s so good at capturing that Star Wars cantina scene feel. His big pulled back perspective of ships and space are a joy, as are all the different kinds of weird aliens.

Usually titles based on other properties such as a video game, like Redemption, can have some issue trapping the interest of non-fans. I’m still confident that Redemption can be a quality series even for those who aren’t playing the game, but issue #3 will really tell.

Andrew Hurst
andrewhurst@comicattack.net