God of War Comic ReviewJuly 21, 2012 by

Wildstorm Comics released a six issue mini-series (now collected in a tpb) of God of War.  The comic is initially set after the events of God of War 1 but before God of War 2, but spends most of its time in flashbacks to before Ghost of Sparta and God of War 1.

The writing does a decent job, and actually seems within character.  I could always picture Kratos bellowing the lines in his usual voice (as done by Terrence C. Carson).  The flashback story is actually quite interesting and a worthwhile addition to the cannon of the games.  Kratos Daughter is ill and the only way to save her is to find the ambrosia of Aesculapius.  The gods being the general dicks that they are decide to play a little game.  The plague that has infected Kratos daughter has effected many other clans, tribes, and villages as well.  Each of these clans, tribes, and villages send a champion to find the ambrosia.  The gods then bet on who will win and try to stack the odds in there favor by interfering with the champions quest.  Then there are the present (in-between God of War 1 and 2) sections that i felt had no reason to be there.  They try to wrap up loose story ends left from the flashback parts, but it would have been a better read if it was wholly wet as a prequel to the entire series.

Then comes the art.  The cover pages look completely bad ass, but the inside art takes on an entirely different style.  It's not to say the art is bad, its just very muddy looking and can be hard to decipher what is going on.  Here is an example of the art inside the comic.

This is the weakest aspect of the comic.  Comics are a medium with both storytelling and images have to mesh together to create a better end result.  Movies can be told just through images, such as in silent films, where as just straight storytelling is a book.  Comics are mending of both representations.  When one aspect falters, it detracts from the experience.  Sadly the art here is doing just that.

I enjoyed this series, even with its flaws.  It is one of the better video game to comic adaptions i have read.  Its not great for the reasons i have mentioned above, but worth checking out if you are a fan of the games and are okay with a more abstract art style. Overall, i give this comic a C+

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