Assassin's Creed: The Fall Review
I remember the original Assassin's Creed game only as a simulator for jumping into haystacks between moments of immersive storytelling. While the gameplay was underwhelmingly formulaic, I was constantly digging through all the auxiliary plot points; Things like the needless emails and the branched dialogue composed this theme of genetic memory and a centuries-long power struggle between two ancient organizations, and it had me hooked. I wasn't quite interested enough to plop down the cash for the game's sequels, but I knew I'd be buying the comic spin-off the second I heard of it. What I found was that Assassin's Creed: The Fall was more than just a cheap spin-off money grab. Not only is the story a powerful entry in the AC series, but the careful design of the comic was capable of playing with the bilateral symmetry of comics rather uniquely, without resorting to knockoff Watchmen tactics.
Duality plays heavily into this comic; One could guess this derives in part from the collaborative effort of the creators, Karl Kerschl and Cameron Stewart. Stewart's work is curve-centric, build with clear lines in controlled widths, while Kerschl's art skews more towards brushstrokes, but the two styles come together so seamlessly, they're indistinguishable. It's kind of Lennon/McCartney thing, as I'm led to believe there are whole pages drawn exclusively by one artist, but plenty of panels where both put in some elbow-grease. It's very much to their credit that perhaps no one but the two men involved could tell who is specifically responsible for what.
This blurring of lines makes its way into the story as well, as the lead Daniel Cross slips in and out of hallucinations which are actually visualizations of his genetic memory, the exploits of his Assassin great-great-grandfather Nikolai in early 20th century Russia. Setting up the story to mirror the 2000 US Presidential election with the Communist Revolution is a nice political touch, as it allows the comic to have that thematic resonance with the game canon, where a global power can shift dramatically through the acts of one man. It gives the contemporary reader something to care about, but for the history nerds, there's a few suggestive moments that add to the sense of the brotherhood's influence, retconning done right, if you will, where historical events aren't engorged by some hamfisted explanation, but fleshed out by motivations that may have been reasonably lost to history. Events such as the death of Lenin's brother, Tsar Alexander's train-wreck, and the Tuskunga event are all well-researched and tied into the story without a stitch. Page layouts express these moments with a creative energy throughout the comic, whether it's in Stewart's kinetic fight scenes or the trippy visuals induced as Nikolai's story reaches its climax in the second issue.
Whatever foibles this comic has are minor and forgivable, mostly in the form of throwaway lines of dialogue, though some may be thrown off by Nikolai's lack of dimensionality, as he's a man of base family motivations with a singular pursuit, but I found the overall package to be surprisingly powerful. It speaks of the inescapability of fate, using Russian nesting dolls as a motif of inheritance, being nestled yet restrained inside one's family. It honor's the Assassin's Creed code, in that one story's momentum runs concurrently with and thus complements the other's, the two building off of each other until it reaches a grand conclusion that honestly, I saw coming, yet stirred no feeling of disappointment. It's not that the story was predictable, it went exactly where I wanted it to because of its strategic hinting. A grand effort all around, and my lament that it likely won't get collected, because it's one of the more gorgeous mainstream titles to have come out recently.
Rubber Justice
Posted to Comic of the Week on 11 February 2011
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: Cameron Stewart, dc, games, Karl Kerschl, wildstorm
Wow - the nesting dolls as metaphor for heredity is nice. I haven't picked these up because I've not played either of the games but this is really selling me on it. I assumed, with full cynicism, that it was just a meaningless tie-in. Your correction of that assumption is most welcome.
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I’d be inclined to clinch the deal with you on this. Which is not something I usually do! I love reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to speak my mind!