In general, I’m opposed to transmedia. I think an artist’s vision usual dictates how a story should be told, and rarely is a story made better when it is translated to another form. I usually don’t get that excited when my favorite comics get made into movies or my favorite games get made into comics. So Wildstorm had a lot to prove when it started working on an Assassin’s Creed comic, but The Fall does a good job of arguing that the Assassin’s Creed universe is a good fit for comics.
Assassin’s Creed tells the story of two secret societies, the Assassins and the Templars, both of which have been in opposition with one anther since nearly the beginning of time. Their war over ancient artifacts that could reveal the true history of humanity has punctuated almost every major historical event imaginable. To say that Assassin’s Creed has a rich back-story is an understatement.
Enter Wildstorm/DC Comics, and artist/writer tag-team Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl who produced Assassin’s Creed: The Fall (issue one hits newsstands today). Stewart and Kerschl tell a story about a recovering drug addict named Daniel Cross, who is struggling to put his life back together after a court orders him to see a psychiatrist. Cross has been having powerful visions of 20th century Russia and a hooded man dressed in white. Assassin’s Creed fans will know that this is one of Cross’s ancestors, but Cross only knows that the man seems to be some kind of rogue, sent to kill Tsar Alexander III and retrieve a mysterious artifact.
There are a few exciting action sequences, but The Fall doesn’t do much to engender you towards its characters. We are given one scene where we see Cross fail to pick up chicks at a bar, and another where we see Cross’s ancestor – Alek – embrace his pregnant wife. Aside from these short moments, we really don’t get much of a sense for how these characters work, so we’re not very motivated to see what’s going to happen to next.
I appreciate that The Fall takes place in an era that the games haven’t explored, which gives Stewart and Kerschl some storytelling freedom. However, the duo might not be able to fully take advantage of that freedom. Since The Fall is only a three issue miniseries, we’re already a third of the way through this plot. Things have moved fast, but ultimately The Fall doesn’t feel like it will be that significant in the grand scheme of things.
The quick and dirty: The Fall is better than most video game comics. The story is intriguing, its script is good, and its artwork is solid. However, the story seems like it’s in a bit of a rush, and not much time is taken to set up many of the scenes. Assassin’s Creed fans will dig some of ties to the Assassin’s Creed universe, but this isn’t required reading.