The Gist:
In Assassin’s Creed: Assassins #9 Charlotte and Galina put their skills learned in the Animus to the test as they set out to rescue Cody from his kidnappers.
The Review:
When DC ran the, now iconic, Death of Superman storyline a lot of people only bought the issue where he actually died and then complained. Most of these complaints were things that wouldn’t have been an issue had they followed the whole story arc. I bring this up because I’m jumping into this story arc on the penultimate issue. This limits my ability to judge this issue in the context of the larger storyline, but it does allow me to judge it solely on its own merits; so let’s get to work.
People often overlook how a good narration can make or break a comic. Reading a character’s thoughts, fears and motivations alongside an action scene gives the scene depth and emotional power it otherwise wouldn’t have. In this case, it makes Charlotte instantly relatable and interesting, even though I know nothing about her. Charlotte’s struggle with her guilt over Cody’s kidnapping gives good insight into her character. The relatable aspect is due to her not instantly accepting all the blame; she tries to pin part of the blame on Galina before finally accepting responsibility.
And while we don’t get a glimpse into Galina’s thoughts, her interaction with Charlotte says a lot about her character. While I lack the context to know whether she’s usually abrasive with Charlotte or if she’s just angry about Cody’s kidnapping, she clearly cares about her under it all.
The fight is well played out; the heroes are skilled, but not so much better than their opponents that there’s no threat. The flashback to who I’m assuming is Charlotte’s ancestor is interesting, even taken in isolation, but the ‘cliff-hanger’ is poorly placed; the fact that it occurs right before the deadly blow means that she’s obviously going to survive.
The Verdict:
While I have very little idea of the context of this issue, I enjoyed the good characterisation, good fight scene and excellent art. If I had to point to a weak spot, it would be the flashback, especially the poorly timed end to the issue.
Publisher: Titan Comics
Published: June 15th
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