As a fan of the [image_lightbox title="Front Cover" full_img_url="http://comicbastards.com/wp-content/uploads/TEMPLARS-Cover_A-Marc-Laming.jpg"]Assassin's Creed [/image_lightbox] franchise I’m immediately interested in anything that expands the universe. Titan Comics presents the newest in the comic book line detailing the adventures of the Templar’s in the year 1927. This is the first in five-part mini-series.
For those not familiar with the background story, the Templars are a secret society dating back to the ancient times whose goal was to control the population. They were opposed by the assassins who sought to free the world from their control. In the video games The Templars are the villains so this arc switches to their point of view. The story is set in London, England where a Templar member is assassinated by a mysterious servant of his own group. His son, Darrius, is left penniless from his father’s poor money management until he’s approached by a member of the Templar Order. They promise him new wealth in return for making a delivery to the Chinese members of the Order. This brings him into the dangerous Shanghai underworld and eventually crossing paths with the same threat that his father did.
The main character Darrius is clearly out of place in the cut-throat world of the assassins. He’s quirky and a nerd which makes him more relatable. He’s not the type of heroic character you’d expect to lead an Assassin's Creed story. The real mystery of the book is the Templar assassin. His identity became clear to me after a second read-through, but it wasn’t blatantly revealed in this issue. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
Dennis Calero handled the artwork and the colors. I think he did a good job of giving the artwork a foreign vibe. The sunsets in the China setting are really beautiful. There’s a consistent amount of pencil outline that makes the characters pop out from the pages. The coloring achieves a shadowy mood. I especially enjoyed the scenes with the Templar assassin. There is a cloud effect when he throws down a smoke bomb and white smoke flows over his shadow. Definitely a memorable image.
Overall I’m interested to see where this story goes. I’m expecting more betrayals as the story goes on since the Templar’s are known to be devious in their activities. This first issue was executed well and an Assassin's Creed fan will appreciate the Easter eggs from the video game. There’s even a bio for the history of the Templars at the end of the book.
[button btn_url="" btn_color="teal" btn_size="large" btn_style="default" btn_outlined="no" link_target="self" link_rel="" icon_left="Score: 4/5" icon_right="Score: 4/5"]Score: 4/5[/button]
Assassin's Creed: Templar #1 Writer: Fred Van Lente Artist: Dennis Calero Publisher: Titan Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/23/16 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital