CREDIT: Titan Comics
Rating: 2.5/5 – Superficial Treatment Where I Never Got to Care About the Characters.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
I have not read a lot of real standout comics based on video game in the past. There have been a lot, I’ve just not felt many of them were truly outstanding. DC has attempted it in under their Wildstorm banner with titles like Gears of War and Resistance. DC proper has recently found some success with their comic series based on the Injustice fighting game from 2013. Recently IDW picked up the rights to the Skylanders franchise and they have done Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid and others in the past. Dynamite is doing Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. Now Titan Comics is taking their shot at a video game tie-in series with The Evil Within.
As the game makes its way into player’s hands, this series serves as a prequel story. The Evil Within game is directed by Shinki Mikami who’s best known for his creation of Resident Evil. Mikami, wanting to put more of the “survival” aspect back into survival horror games has created a game that has you relying more on running, hiding and stealth rather than all-out action. That formula may work for a game where you’re in control, but in this first issue of The Evil Within comic, that formula makes for what felt like a boring and monotonous read to me.
The story opens with main character Dana searching for her missing friend and getting stuck in the middle of nowhere after running out of gas. In typical horror cliche fashion that middle of nowhere is surrounded by woods, but just happens to have a diner and an asylum in close proximity. As Dana is suddenly attacked by what looks to be tortured and deformed humans, she runs into Paul, who has no idea or recollection of how he got there. From there on and throughout the rest of this first issue, Dana and Paul are chased by all sorts of creatures and horrors. The art by Alex Sanchez felt messy to me as he attempted to add grit and roughness to the art. At times his backgrounds were too simplistic while his character looks, especially with Dana and Paul change from one page to the next. Writer Ian Edginton didn’t accomplish the goal of making me care for the two main characters, and because of the endless chase scenes throughout and lack of reasons why, I wasn’t left with a strong desire to return for the next issue.
Although the designs of the “evil” characters are creative and frightening, I think their lack of personality and depth make them work better in the advertised concept art than the actual story. For fans of The Evil Within game, this series may provide more depth to the story throughout its four issues, but the lack of an engaging story where I cared about the characters made it questionable on whether it would be worth my time investment in knowing more.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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