In Review: Assassin’s Creed Uprising #1

Synopsis: The Assassins wage a centuries war against the Templars. The Templars attempt to bring a rigid order to the world through ancient technology, and the Assassins work to safeguard humanity’s free will. Both sides have drawn lines in the sand, but something has changed. During a routine mission to obtain vital information against their enemies, the Assassins are ambushed by Templars that fight like assassins. Utterly bewildered by this new development, both sides begin to unravel these new players.

Review: For those familiar with the Assassins Creed comics or the video games, Uprising #1 is for you. Much of the heavy lifting has already been accomplished in previous installments, so issue #1 mainly focuses establishing a botched mission and the key characters for the series. Page 1 is instant action, and while this is great for fans, new readers may struggle. Personally, I am someone who only has a rudimentary understanding of this franchise, so I found it at times difficult to follow. With the introduction of every character, a nifty bio is added. These bios helped with the confusion of who is who, but the context for all of the action was lost on me.

The art for Uprising appears solid enough. Each character looks somewhat unique for the most part, and, in a book like this, it is critical for people to be easily distinguishable. The opening panels that depict Hong Kong were a nice touch. It gave just enough definition to give the sense of a major metropolis, but it did not overpower the focal point of the scene. I think it showed a level of restraint that many artist may not have demonstrated.

Assassins Creed has a devout following, and this is for good reason. Shadowy organizations battling for the fate of the world is makes for one compelling story. Fans of the series will probably enjoy the exploring the universe further. However, readers with only a cursory understanding of the story may want to steer clear until they have either played the game or read previous series.