The team of Mike Kennedy and Michael O’Hare, is the latest one to tackle an issue of this five-part series of all standalone stories. I think that I liked the structure that they were going for a lot more than the story that was being told. The idea behind this issue was really cool, and I was kinda excited to be the one reviewing it, but it just didn’t deliver on the scale that I would have liked. Maybe it would have worked better in a more traditional way. You know, if it had been part of a much larger arc, and not part of a series that is based on standalones. I wouldn’t mind seeing something like this again, but it would have to be used in a more entertaining way. This issue is basically two guys talking about the exploits of two different mech pilots, Proto God and Havok, while having lunch in a sushi bar. The conversation that they’re having seems realistic enough, but I didn’t care about the topic. I’m sure that we all have witnessed conversations like that. I actually felt sorry for the other patrons.

Like I stated earlier, Mike Kennedy writes a realistic-enough script, but I just wasn’t interested in the story that was being told. Most of the time that I hear conversations that are kinda like this in real life (minus the mechs, of course) I always want to interject and tell those people to get lives and focus on something that actually affects them. These two guys just seemed bored. And they were boring me.

O’Hare’s art is pretty good. I like the feel of the sushi bar. It definitely looks like my kind of place. He does that really well. His work really shines though, during the mech combat parts of the book. I think that this guy needs to attach himself to a story that will give him the opportunity to draw some really cool stuff, and not just a conversations. His art was definitely the high point of the book.

I’m starting to get the impression that the first issue of this series is the only one that will really brings anything fresh and exciting to the world of Hawken. I wasn’t too impressed with last month’s issue either. I’m really hoping that the stories that are forthcoming are going to bring back the, for lack of a better word, coolness, of the series. I actually had high hopes after I finished Dave Abnett’s issue. I just think that the idea behind this standalone experiment has run out of gas. Something exciting is definitely past due in the Hawken universe.

Score: 2/5

Writer: Mike Kennedy Artist: Michael O’Hare Publisher: Archaia Entertainment Price: $2.99 Release Date: 12/31/13