Following “Homeworlds,” and the release of Mass Effect 3: Citadel (the final piece of DLC for the original trilogy) in 2013, Dark Horse Comics and BioWare launched “Mass Effect: Foundation,” a 13-issue maxiseries that would spotlight most of the rest of Commander Shepard’s squadmates. It was told through the eyes of Rasa/Maya Brooks, the duplicitous ex-Cerberus agent from Citadel, who players learned compiled the Illusive Man’s dossiers on Shepard’s recruits in Mass Effect 2.
Written by Mac WaltersCover by Benjamin Carré
Art by Omar Francia, Tony Parker
Colored by Michael Atiyeh
Lettered by Michael HeislerIntroducing Rasa, a mysterious agent working behind the scenes for the Illusive Man and his human-survivalist paramilitary group, Cerberus! First, learn how she began her life as a covert operative — then, follow her investigations and witness formative events in the lives of signature characters Urdnot Wrex, Ashley Williams, and Kaidan Alenko! Collects issues #1–#4 of the Foundation series.
It should be noted that the first four issues take place before or during the start of the original game, since Wrex, Ashley or Kaidan can die over the course of its story. Furthermore, Francia did the first issue, while Parker penciled the squadmates’ spotlights, and because of that, we’ll discuss his artwork collectively after the stories.
Issue #1: Set in 2161, a few years after “Evolution” (and 22 years before the games), the first issue reveals Rasa was a child laborer on an asteroid mining facility, where everyone assumed she was a boy. There, she was recruited by the original “Brooks,” an assassin for the Shadow Broker, to help her get close to a Cerberus agent. After Brooks concluded her business, Rasa pleaded with her to take her out of that hellhole, but she refused, prompting the girl to shoot her with a concealed pistol, and steal her ship. Rasa’s talent for duplicity is retroactively foreshadowed with how we don’t realize this “boy” is her until the final pages, which confirm her identity with a flashforward to her first meeting with the Illusive Man.
If not for that scene, this would’ve been the only Mass Effect comic without any recognizable game characters, and it’s characteristic of the story’s whole feel: it’s easily the grimiest and least Mass Effect entry, with no alien characters, and the unsettling reveal that humans (let alone children) are still being exploited for labor, instead of robots. Brooks and her target even duke it out with weapons that seem like they came from a Hong Kong crime flick, instead of the glowing omni-blades of ME3. That said, you can see some parallels between Rasa’s backstory and all of the childhood backgrounds players can choose from for Shepard, being a destitute orphan, fending for herself in the vast indifference of space.
Francia’s art is still reliant on digital character models — resembling a low budget, cel-shaded web browser game — but unlike the last issue of “Homeworlds,” the crude and ugly characters are a good fit for Rasa’s infernal world. However, there is still a major issue: Rasa, who is meant to be of East African or South Asian descent, looks, well, white. I get she’s meant to be pale and malnourished, but she has the same skin tone as Brooks and other characters, who are not — it was a decision to further conceal her identity, which went too far.
Issue #2: Rasa, now a fully fledged member of Cerberus, is assigned to stop the lovable krogan mercenary Urdnot Wrex from reaching his target — the gangster “Fist” — on the Citadel. Wrex is a larger-than-life character (not to mention literally larger than most of the cast), and the tone is appropriately comedic, with “Uncle Urdnot” finding himself waylaid by bureaucracy; a case of mistaken identity; the distraction of unexpectedly bumping into an old friend; and getting arrested.
The standout scene is Wrex realizing one of the people trying to slow him down is a mercenary who once saved his life, which comes immediately after the krogan seemingly blows up half the Wards trying to flush Fist out. The contrast between that and their cordial reunion reinforces why Wrex is such a great character — he’s a cranky and pugnacious old alien, but also noble (or at least tactful) enough to become the progressive leader the krogan need to drag themselves into a brighter tomorrow.
Continued belowIssue #3: The third chapter sees Rasa posing as a psychologist to interview Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, about being the sole surviving soldier of the geth attack on Eden Prime. Ashley recounts how a routine patrol went to hell, as a synthetic race that had never been seen outside their homeworld inexplicably showed up, and began slaughtering everyone. There’s a strong action horror vibe (especially when the geth start impaling their victims to turn them into their zombie husk troops), but other than that, it’s a pretty lackluster profile of Ash.
Ash was written in the first game by Chris L’Etoile, who subsequently left BioWare, and no one else at the company has known what to do with her: everything that made her unique and complex was watered down, in favor of a tomboy characterization that emphasized alcohol consumption. This extends to the comic, which introduces her as proving she’s a match for her mostly male squadron at the bar, before heading out. We don’t see her talk to her mom or her sisters, nor are there are any references to her favorite poets, and her religious beliefs are only shown with a brief prayer when she shelters from heavy fire.
Her suspicion towards aliens is touched on when she gets demoted from squad leader by her jerk of a lieutenant, which her comrade Sergeant “Donkey” (no, really) recognizes is because she’s the granddaughter of the general who surrendered to the turians; however, she brushes it off, asking if “Donk” is flirting with her. Similarly, Ash tells Rasa she isn’t sure she deserved to be rescued by Shepard and Alenko, but that’s all she can say before she’s cleared for duty. And why would Rasa ask her anything more in-depth? This is a comic about how Ash is a badass geth killer who takes everything in her stride; and that’s sadly all it is.
Issue #4: The last Mass Effect 1 tie-in depicts an incident from mild-mannered Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko’s adolescence, when he was training at Jump Zero under the cruel turian mercenary Vyrnnus. One day, Vyrnnus pushed Kaidan’s friend Rahna too far, causing him to lash out and accidentally kill him. If you’re familiar with Kaidan’s extensive recounting of the story from the game, the comic feels rather redundant, but it remains a sad tale, given the horrified reactions of Kaidan’s classmates, including Rahna. There’s a poignant epilogue with Kaidan’s father, where they reflect on how “even the right choices have consequences,” and a simply nasty one where Rasa reads Alenko’s psych profile, and dismisses him as a “PTSD case.”
OK, so Parker’s art: it is very much an acquired taste, though there are many panels that have visibly rushed characters. His lines in general are very minimalistic, relying on color tones for depth and shadow eg. he often won’t outline the bridge of a human character’s nose, only their nostrils. He had clearly studied the source material in great detail, from the locations, armors and weapons, to the oddly narrow jaws all krogans have, which makes his uglier work all the more disappointing. Also, all his young, female human characters look identical, especially their lips and cheeks (for a moment, before I remembered the timeline, I thought Rahna was going to turn out to be Rasa!)
As a result, Parker’s art is best viewed as single pages, instead of through the guided view provided by digital copies: it’s here you can see his eye for dynamic panel compositions. (Full disclosure: I had a hunch this would be the case after seeing his excellent work on Dark Horse’s “God of War.”) For example, there’s a great part where Wrex, when confronted by the mercs who have him mistaken for someone else, launches himself like a bowling ball, and we see him moving across the page, before displaying the aftermath of the impact — all that’s missing is a Looney Tunes-style frame of an explosion. Quite simply, when Parker has a larger canvas for his work (whether it’s a single panel or a whole sequence), or enough time to shade an image, he creates evocative art worthy of the franchise: when he doesn’t, it’s… problematic.
We’ll carry on with issues #5-8 (the second trade paperback’s chapters) next week.
