“I’m the boss, CEO, queen if you’re feeling dramatic. It doesn’t matter. Omega has no titled ruler and only one rule: don’t fuck with Aria!”
Voiced by Carrie-Anne Moss in Mass Effect 2 and 3, Aria T’Loak is one of the series’ most magnetic figures: the fearsome ruler of the crime-ridden space station Omega, her indifference to Commander Shepard made her one of his/her most unique allies. Following appearances in “Redemption” and the prose novel Retribution, Aria took center stage in the second of Dark Horse’s 2011 miniseries, “Mass Effect: Invasion,” which chronicled the loss of her fortress, setting up her role in the third game and its (simply named) DLC Omega.
Written by John Jackson Miller, Mac WaltersCover by Massimo Carnevale
Art by Omar Francia
Colored by Michael Atiyeh
Lettered by Michael HeislerThe Omega space station is the center of lawlessness in the galaxy, a den of vice ruled by the deadly asari Aria. It is also a strategic foothold in a galaxy-wide power struggle, and when the station comes under attack from a new threat unleashed by the humanity-first organization Cerberus, Aria is forced to become more ruthless than ever to protect her home — and her dominion!
“Invasion” bridged the gap between ME2 and 3, with Cerberus salvaging Reaper technology from the Collector Base, flying back-and-forth from its location in the galactic core via the Omega 4 relay. Their experiments wind up unleashing the squid-like Adjutants on the station, forcing Aria to team up with Cerberus to contain the threat… and is captured and imprisoned after helping clean up their mess.
So far, so simple, but here’s the problem: it takes two of four issues to reach that predictable point. Cerberus betraying Aria? Who saw that coming? Yes, it’s a brazen decision, but someone as calculating and experienced as Aria should’ve expected they would exploit the situation. The next two chapters see more backstabbing and duplicity play out, until Cerberus’s general, Oleg Petrovsky, essentially orders a ceasefire by threatening to blow up Omega.
Like “Redemption,” “Invasion” feels like it’s filling up time until the mandated endpoint leading into where we pick up with the main character in the next game, and unfortunately all the action becomes exhausting. Part of the reason is that Francia’s art has become so realistic that it’s now heavily reliant on reference models, and the action feels stilted as a result — it genuinely feels more like a compilation of floating poses than a fluid story. That’s not to say it’s a bad looking comic (although the inking can be quite jagged at times), but much of the personality “Redemption” and “Evolution” had has gone missing.
Some might feel the comic was compensating for Aria not being a complex enough lead, but that’s easy to say when the book keeps her at arm’s length, continuing the series’ trend of eschewing first-person narration. It’s likely Nyreen Kandros, Aria’s old flame in the Omega DLC, had not been finalized when the comic was published, but nothing else from Aria’s backstory is even hinted at, and the murder of her daughter Liselle in Retribution isn’t acknowledged beyond a cursory reference to the “Grayson affair” (even though Cerberus was involved).
Something the writers seemed to forget is that the second game showed many civilians lived on Omega, eg. miners, retailers, medical workers, dancers etc. When we’re not with Aria or Petrovsky and their respective inner circles, we spend “Invasion” with grim, generic, gun-toting mercenaries fighting Cerberus to seize her throne for themselves, when a civilian protagonist could’ve greatly humanized the stakes, and made the struggle far more emotional and compelling. (And yes, it should be pointed out most of the inhabitants aren’t human.)
Petrovsky emerges as the most intriguing character: he may be a member of Cerberus, but he’s a stoic, reasonable man, instead of a xenophobic hothead (like his subordinate Col. Ashe, who constantly seethes about the “alien garbage” he’s fighting). He’s a classy, educated veteran who constantly references Greek mythology and military history, including calling Omega an “open city,” which leads to a priceless moment where Aria admits she looked up what he meant, and explains “he thinks he’s MacArthur in Manila.”
Continued belowThe general is a man of honor who, like many humans in Mass Effect 2, was hoodwinked into joining Cerberus because he was disillusioned by Earth’s elected representatives, and believed the Illusive Man only wanted to protect humanity. Aria intuits the Illusive Man had the Adjutants intentionally released to seize Omega, an accusation that Petrovsky dismisses, but nevertheless gnaws at him, so he brings it up during a debriefing. The Illusive Man glares at him in response, not so much irritated by Petrovsky bringing up such a “preposterous” idea, but by the fact the general would consider that decision a betrayal.
Aria’s seed of doubt pays off at the end, when Petrovsky lies about the circumstances of her escape. It’s a shame this thread didn’t extend into the games, where Petrovsky is so hellbent on ensuring Aria doesn’t regain control of Omega, that he can’t be persuaded into betraying the Illusive Man. In the Omega DLC, Petrovsky came across as a dull schoolmaster who speaks in cliches like “so it begins,” and plays chess with himself: at least we have this comic to prove there was more depth to him than a posh suit who scolds Shepard for fighting “for the glory of Aria.”
Similarly, the Adjutants are far creepier than how they’re portrayed in the DLC, as they’re depicted with the power to infect and transform their victims into more of them: imagine how terrifying these lumbering monsters would’ve been in-game if we’d seen their tentacles erupt from the bodies of characters like they do in “Invasion.” So while “Invasion” is (sorry Aria) the weakest of Dark Horse’s initial three Mass Effect series, it succeeds in areas its virtual follow-up does not, and is perhaps all the more remarkable a tie-in book because of that.
Next week, we’ll look at how the comics transitioned to character spotlights, in: “Homeworlds.”
