“After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began.”
Welcome reader: following the Legendary Edition rerelease of the Mass Effect Trilogy, now seemed like a great time to do a Summer Binge of Dark Horse’s Mass Effect comics, beginning with 2010’s four-part miniseries, “Mass Effect: Redemption.” Set during the prologue of Mass Effect 2, the comic sets up the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC, by revealing how Liara T’Soni recovered Commander Shepard’s body for Cerberus.
Written by John Jackson Miller, Mac WaltersCover by Daryl Mandryk
Art by Omar Francia
Colored by Michael Atiyeh
Lettered by Michael HeislerThe eagerly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster science-fiction epic IGN.com named the #1 Xbox 360 game of all time, Mass Effect 2 begins with the disappearance of Commander Shepard. The story of what happens next — exclusive to this graphic novel — will have the commander’s companion Dr. Liara T’Soni undertake a deadly mission of extraordinary importance in the Milky Way’s lawless Terminus Systems.
Full disclosure: I have never liked Liara — it’s not her fault she’s one of the least interesting characters in the series, since there are so many, but her undue prominence because she’s one of the few who can’t die, and her blatant romantic interest in Shepard, made her one of the most grating ones. Thankfully, this is still early on in the series, when she was an innocent archaeologist, instead of a chilly information broker, and this naivety is a core part of the comic, which sees her head to Omega, the de facto capital of the Terminus Systems, to search for Shepard’s body.
Omega’s a sleazy, grungy station, a shadowy reflection of the Galactic Citadel, where no one can be trusted, something Liara soon learns. Atiyeh’s coloring does a spot on job of recreating the virtual version of Omega, with characters bathed in red and orange lights, and a background fuzz resembling the film grain effect of the games. Miller and Walters do a great job of immediately establishing how dangerous the place is, with an ominous narration, and an action-packed demonstration of Liara’s powers, although it is odd that a group of mercs would be shocked at an asari having biotic abilities.
Key to Liara’s quest is her drell contact, Feron, a con man whose allegiance is as chameleonic as his appearance. He’s a fun contrast to Liara’s overly serious self, bluffing his way into dangerous situations at least twice. Most readers will probably only recall Feron as a shell of his former self in Lair of the Shadow Broker, and it is striking to see how much of a braggart he was, as well as learn that his sacrifice here means he’s the character undergoing the “redemption” of the title.
Francia’s art does a great job emulating the vehicles and architecture of the games, but his characters are less detailed and cartoonier, and it’s admittedly a strange sight, seeing Liara without her trademark freckles. This arc sees the first meeting between Liara and Cerberus’s operative Miranda Lawson, as well as her boss the Illusive Man, and neither human looks much like their game counterparts: the Illusive Man seems older and gaunter, while Miranda lacks voice actress Yvonne Strahovski’s distinctive eyes, nose, or lips.
That said, his work is vivid and expressive, with characters pulling realistically weird faces (as if they were caught on camera) mid-action, and some of his alien designs are able to break the limits of the games’ engine, including an overweight batarian, and the salarian enforcer Tazzik, whose huge, muscular frame is a stark contrast to literally every other salarian’s noodly physique. (You have to wonder if Taz’s voice is considerably deeper, or still as reedy.) The creative team as a whole seem to have had fun telling a story without the restrictions of the games’ run-and-gun mission design, weaving in an extended asteroid pursuit reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones.
The weak link in the art happens to be Liara herself: she’s drawn wearing a (surprisingly colorful) space suit modeled after the armor from the first game, but like many comic book heroes, her clothes are also rendered as if they’re body paint, and a lot of panels of her backside and breastplates look overly shapely as a result. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be easily fixed like the the immature shots emphasizing Miranda’s bottom in the games, which were altered in the rerelease: it’s a reminder that even what seemed strong, sexy and empowering a dozen years ago can age badly.
Continued belowOn that note, “Redemption” has a lot to recommend, and it is a largely solid comic, but it’s ultimately lacking anything that can be considered truly essential, even for Mass Effect fans. It’s likely a natural consequence of being a four-issue series that ends with the inciting incident of the DLC, yet Liara’s encounters with Cerberus, the Collectors, and more will only be of interest if you’re really into her.
Something that would’ve made it far stronger is if the creators had been able to show flasbacks to the events of the first game, allowing us to experience what made Liara so devoted to Shepard, without relying on our memories of playing it. However, that’s not possible, because of the need to not contradict anyone’s playthrough — I understand, I’ve played through the trilogy with four different versions of Shepard, none of who romanced Liara, but this is where the comic becomes restricted by its own source material.
One thing’s for sure: this wasn’t the strongest start to the comics run. We’ll talk about that next week.
