In the world of assassins, the adventure never ends and the same can be said for the world found in the Assassin’s Creed comics. Charlotte de la Cruz returns for a brand new story arc by Titan Comics, where they’ll be hoping to elevate her status as part of the Brotherhood, in the hope that she’ll someday become one of the well known Assassins in the same vein as her franchise counterparts Desmond Miles and Ezio Auditore. How can they improve on the foundations already laid by the previous comics?
By doing something they should’ve done from the beginning and that’s hooking Charlotte up to a female ancestor via the Animus.
In the back of my mind throughout the initial few comics, I had a lingering disappointment that there was such onus on Charlotte being a leading lady, yet the writers decided to divert our attention to the magnificently badass, and obviously male character, Tom Stoddard. Without going into too much detail, she’s now recalling the memories of a female assassin – which is exactly what I think most people wanted to see. Whilst in the present day, the remains of the Brotherhood cell she’s become associated with are on the run from Templars who just won’t give up the chase. 
The Brotherhood gang figuring out where the traitor Joseph is could be a main plot line for a while. I just hope the search moves a bit quicker and leads a confrontation with Joseph again soon; hopefully in an exciting location. Speaking of locations, I feel like a broken record here, however there’s too much blandness and beige looking colours in the panels involving the modern day characters which does absolutely nothing to engage my eyes. Fortunately, the action and accompanying dialogue has improved a little from the early offerings of the series, especially since Kody and Charlotte have a bit of chemistry as a team now. For me though, the best parts still involve the Animus device.
As I mentioned, there’s a new female assassin to discover and as much as Mr Stoddard was great, it seems like this woman, who shall remain unnamed for the moment, will be able to inspire Charlotte via the memories and give her a timely confidence boost during a period of self doubt in whether the Brotherhood life is the best path. Interestingly we’re taken back to 1536 during the Inca Empire where this great assassin constantly has to prove her worth in a role dominated by the male population. Overcoming the adversities ahead could really open Charlotte’s eyes.
With a new time period comes a whole new environment and it’s visually pleasing to see a whole load of greenery and mountainous landscapes. The design of the latest ancestral introduction is rather interesting too; the lady assassin’s attire could be described as a mixture of outfits synonymous with modern iterations of Pocahontas and Robin Hood. I believe these are the perfect colourings to help her blend in to the shadows of the surrounding nature; ideal for its purpose.
Although the debut story arc was largely a success, I definitely feel that this latest one beginning in Issue #6 can continue the adventure just as well, if not better. The introduction of a new Master Assassin from an unexplored time period is a great start and should see a real connection with Charlotte de la Cruz which will only be encouraging for this cutthroat career thrust upon her.
I’m genuinely excited for the next issue to hit the shelves, it’s all coming together really well in certain areas and makes for a good read.
