Issue #2 of the Titan Comics Assassin’s Creed series has arrived to offer more insight into the life of the brand new leading lady, Charlotte de la Cruz. After a decent, but at times forgettable debut, this series will need to step up sooner, rather than later, to ensure that people get hooked into the story before the five-part story arc comes any closer to its end. Is this the issue where things get cranked up to a new level?
Well, it’s safe to say, I was pretty impressed.
The majority of the comic is set in the 17th century during the Salem witch trials, where Charlotte gets to experience her ancestral assassin, Tom Stoddard, who’s on a special mission to locate a specific artefact. As usual though, the Templars are standing in the way of success and with this being Charlotte’s first time, the worry is whether she’ll even cope with the goings on in Salem which are out of her control.
It has been made nice and clear for the reader to determine whose thoughts belong to whom, with Charlotte’s in pink and Tom’s in blue to avoid confusion. The dialogue is certainly much more interesting this time around, even though there’s a lot of lingo that’s from that time period, the characters bounce of each other far better. Nigh on every piece of speech has a point to it, which either helps the reader to explore and understand the personalities of characters or to figure out more about the time and surroundings they are in.
What’s strange is that there is a severe lack of the protagonist, Charlotte de la Cruz, throughout and that doesn’t have any negative affect at all. In fact, I was captivated by the cold hearted Tom Stoddard to the point where the small parts that are based in the modern day instead, actually became an unwanted distraction. Tom came across as a seasoned veteran of the Brotherhood, who has seen so much along the way that nothing fazes him nor does he get held up by having to make difficult, unpopular choices.
Art-wise there’s a lovely mixture of scenery and buildings that you’d expect to see from the 17th century. The characters are suitably dressed with their own defined look to make them instantly recognisable, especially where one of the Templars is concerned; Reverend Parris has a face that not only conveys evil but makes the reader want to hate the guy before even finding out anything about him.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the second issue of the Assassin’s Creed series, thanks mainly due to the great characters created in the Salem part of the story. The writers aren’t doing the modern day supporting cast any favours by omitting them from the majority of it but I think it was for the best. Once more the reader is left on a cliffhanger of sorts, but even without that I’d still be eager to read the next issue as soon as possible.
The master assassin, Mr Stoddard, has brought a real bad ass side to the series and, in tandem with Charlotte, I’m excited for the adventures that are sure to follow.
