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Review by Darke Raven

OK, we need to talk before we get to the review, below.
The problem with most comics based on games is that they’re made by fans for fans, which totally freezes out a great deal of non fans from enjoying (much less wanting to read more of) the series, this is one of those series.
A pointless, vague story that really says nothing about what is going on and is mostly filled with manly men doing manly things (I see a fistful of Yaoi slash fics coming from THIS series in the coming year!) the book is about as deep as a paper cut, without either an impressive story or a gripping plot/characters or anything to grab you).
If your first issue is your first good impression to grab audiences this one failed, and only die hard Warhammer 40K players are going to buy this because they (at least) will know what’s going on in this book (as a non fan I don’t).

Now I brought this up because of the score. It’s at the end of the review but feel free to pick the score.
I personally say 2 out of 5, because the title lacks any depth to draw anyone but diehard fans into reading this, and it is totally wasted space with lots of story that signifies nothing much.
I however gave it a final score of a 3 out of 5, because no matter what we say Warhammer 40K fans are going to buy this because they are fans, and this seems to be a book mainly by possible fans speaking to the converted, so again another reason why total fans are going to be into this.
You pick out the score. 2? 2.5? 3?
No, it won’t get higher because there is far better game to comic translations out there, and this isn’t it.
It won’t get worst, either, because there are also worst game to comic translations either.

And that’s it. Take it and do with it as you will… oh, and we’re not supposed to artifically score this high right? Because this really doesn’t deserve it. Merry Christmas.

Warhammer 40K : Damnation Crusade #1 of BOOM! Studios

When it comes to comics based on video games… meh… I’ve been more skeptical than hopeful.

Sure, sometimes you do get a gem like Broccoli Books’ Disgaea come out now and again, which takes the source material and runs with it like nobody’s business… but more often than not… wellll… you kinda wonder WHY somebody thought X game deserved Y comic when Y comic is mostly forgettable cannon fodder. Most don’t deserve it, yes, most don’t deserve their own comic because the comic does not to enhance or strengthen the franchise it is based on.

Case in point, Warhammer 40K : Damnation Crusade from BOOM! Studios.

Mind you I’m not saying it’s bad, because lord knows you Warhammer fans are so going to pick this up regardless of what I say about it, it’s all about the fanbase of the game here with a comic that appeals to those who have already gotten their latest Warhammer 40K fix on the PC and are looking for something to flip through between loading screens. Now, that being said I am not saying it’s bad as I’m saying it… well… pointless. That’s nice and all but, well, it’s just this is not the best I’ve seen and if you are a newbie to the franchise looking for a reason to care about said franchise then this isn‘t the cause to rally your banner behind.

I am by no means either a Warhammer 40K fan, or even a person who has reviewed any of the incarnations of Warhammer 40K to date. The only exposure I’ve ever had to Warhammer 40K is through X-Play (bless you Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, bless you both… and yes, I also don’t think much of Naruto or One Piece games but that’s another rant). Sure, technically I could have, mind you, gotten partially into the whole franchise since there was once a Warhammer release on the PS2… But I didn’t (anyway it wouldn‘t have counted since the PS2 version is a dim reflection of the greater franchise on the PC).

As for that better known PC version I haven’t seen mission one of this because, well, I don’t have the money to endlessly upgrade this workhorse in order to review PC games. That being said I tackled the concept of reviewing a Warhammer 40K comic with the hope that this would get me all hyped on it as a newbie to the franchise… which it didn’t. I won’t pretend I understood what was going on, so I won’t insult you long term die hard players with what little I got out of this. All I know is this…

1-It’s a world of manly men (who are either so-called Space Marines who seemingly dress like they starred in Todd McFarlane’s Kingdom of Heaven, like they are Barbarians who belonged to the Conan Fan Club and are the “property” of said Space Marines who like to watch them fight half naked in order to pick out some good ones for battle… I should ask my Editor if he’s sure this isn’t a Yaoi title with all these manly men in the book), with much manly bloodletting things to do including hacking apart a giant killer kitty (bad kitty) and ending up being recruited by the evil Conservative Religious Ri-- I mean Space Marines, dragged into a war for the fate of the world itself.

2-It’s a world of giant sleepy dreadnoughts (one to be precise) who don’t like waking up… sleep, little dreadnought, sleep!

3-It’s a world… that doesn’t open it’s arms wide and say “hello newbies!”, because for it’s 20-ish pages I knew nothing of nothing that was going on except what I talked about above.

4-OK, while this is not a strict complaint or anything I do have to note that this is a world lacking in hot female characters. It makes me yearn for Suikoden or Final Fantasy already… what? Does it matter? I don’t know, if you’ve read my reviews this past year here, or at
www.animeboredom.co.uk, or that adult site I do reviews and fictions for you know it matters to me. But that’s just me. Maybe you’re into manly men, which brings up the whole Yaoi thing but that’s just me… on the bright side this series is so going to be the fodder that launches at least a fistful of yaoi slash fics in the coming year (and BOOM only has itself to blame)!

Yeah. As for depth this is about as deep and interesting as a paper cut, especially if you haven‘t gotten past the addiction to watching the same old same old hack and slash mentality where the comic is more vaporous action sequences and pointless scenes that make no sense whatsoever. Also lord knows as a potential new fan of the franchise you will not suddenly become all enamoured with the whole that is Warhammer 40K just from reading this comic, it won‘t suddenly make you a convert on the first 24 pages. You better just buy Warhammer 40K because, well, this comic will probably turn you off to the franchise more than hook you.

Basically this is 20-something pages of fighting, manly men (big manly men), lots of dialogue with people talking yet influecing you not a whit (nothing about this dialogue is the slightest bit stirring or moving) and then there’s the sleeping dreadnaught and someone who keeps referring to it‘s as “beloved brother“ and so forth (and the one saying that is a guy… you know how disturbing that is? I do. I do.)

Is all of this supposed to impress you? I don’t think so.

I don’t know exactly what BOOM was thinking, but apparently BOOM was more interested in grabbing you with flashy violence, manly men and pointlessly “impressive” dialogue over… wait, I just reread this and nothing about the dialogue is impressive. My bad. I don’t know, but somehow would it have killed BOOM to have given you an involving deep plot and intense characterizations that actually hold your attention past the page flipping you’ll do on this not so engaging comic? I don’t think so!

Yes, we weren’t expecting the works of Frank Miller, Shirow Masamune, Christian Gossett, CLAMP or Alan Moore (scary scary Alan Moore) here but I’d expect something more, at least something that isn’t another cookie cutter comic based on a video game! You’d think we’d be over that by now by the way, haven’t we gotten past that in this day and age after 101+ comics based on games that fell short of expectations over the years? No, apparently we are not over that kind of comic yet it seems. At least we’re not over making said comics in anycase.

The action seems to be the main drive, because you sure as heck can’t hang your shining star upon the poorly written dialogue in this book (it’s mediocre to say the least). And while there is something going on here (dialogue moments and the like) you’ll be hard pressed to actually figure out just WHAT is going on as even the one lone flashback in this story yields nothing to anyone who isn‘t a devoted follower of Warhammer 40K, let alone muster the ability for any of the non-converted to care much what is going on!

Let’s see, in short we have a comic, and things happen, but the comic is not entirely clear as to what is happening or why is it happening, let alone the all important why you should give a damn about what‘s happening (which is more important than the who and what I think). Add to that lots of manly men that should feed the imaginations of Yaoi slash fic writers burned out on the whole Harry Potter/Malfoy angle and want something new to write about and you got yourself… something. I‘m not sure what, but something. Yes. Something.

Mainly things die, manly men get “drafted” after fighting Conan style to be “chosen” for war by bulky “Space Marines”, who dress like new age Crusaders, to fight in a vague war that only players of the Warhammer 40K series has a grasp on… and did I mention the sleepy dreadnought that looks like a leftover mech from the MechWarrior franchise? Yeah, I did.

So what does that equal—other than that man on man stuff I keep talking about above, that is.

What? I should read more before I say? I could but what will change between now and future issues!?

Will there be a story to look forward to (let alone will you actually have a story that you‘ll know what‘s going on in this story)?

Will character development actually happen and you start to give a damn about characters in this comic?

Will you find more in this than lots of shooting and slashing and killing?

The thing about this comic is if I thought future issues would change my mind about Warhammer 40K the comic then I might actually be hopeful for a better future with this title, but somehow I don’t see the comics doing anything past more of the same. There is a section in the back that gives you filler information on the Warhammer 40K combatants, sure, but that is again something only die hard fans of the series will probably appreciate since the information is abit… sketchy (I.e. minimal).

Mind you if you are a Warhammer 40K player odds are you’re already ordering your copies right now, how can full out fans of the series skip a comic on the series after all! And yes, I guess you should get this if you are a dedicated fan since this since this is probably a comic by Warhammer 40K fans for Warhammer 40K fans… but for the rest of us non Warhammer 40K players.

That’s the problem with titles like this, isn’t it. It’s nice if you are a dedicated player but if you are not then you are left out in the cold having no idea what the hell is going on in the title.

Straight up this is an avoidable read if you want to jump into the Warhammer 40K franchise as a newbie to the franchise (die hard long term Warhammer 40K fans only need apply).

In the end, mostly to keep Warhammer 40K fans from sending the hate mail, I’m giving this no more or less than an even handed middle of the road score to satisfy everyone. Personally I think 2 out of 5 but that’s just me, somebody is going to buy this regardless of what I say so I might as well give it an evel keel score.

Warhammer 40K the Manly Men Adventures…uh… I mean Damnation Crusade #1, gets 3 “Yaoi slash fic makeovers” out of 5.

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