Assassin’s Creed: Origins #1 Review

Assassin’s Creed: Origins #1

Writer: Anthony Del Col
Artist: PJ Kaiowa
Colorist: Dijjo Lima
Letterer: Comicraft
Publisher: Titan Comics

Review by Michael Farris, Jr.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins #1, the first issue of the new mini-series, follows Aya after she makes the hard decision to leave Egypt in order to see that power doesn’t fall into the hands of the corrupt few known as the Order of the Ancients. As she deals with powerful men in Rome who have the same goal as her—to see that Caesar never gains unlimited power—she unwittingly becomes part of a plot that might set the plans of the Hidden Ones backwards.

Having just spent more time than I’d like to admit playing the game over the weekend, I was more than ready to give this comic adaptation a try. And since we don’t really get to spend a lot of time with the Assassin Formerly Known as Aya’s character in the game, I was intrigued to get a little more depth into her character’s story. This first issue really didn’t do too much to advance or add to what we’ve gotten so far in the game.

We’re taken back to one of the very last missions of the original game where Aya leads the assassination of Julius Caesar in the senate. We spend a lot of time with Aya scheming and plotting and very little time with action or character development. The one major historical figure that does show up here that hasn’t appeared in the game (unless I totally missed something) is Mark Antony, so it was good to see that he’s finally made it into the storyline. But so far, this felt like an extended scene of the end of the original game that might not have been necessary to the overall AC universe. I understand that this is setting up the story in upcoming issues, but it felt a little too long even then.

As for the art, it seemed pretty true to the original character and costume designs of the game while translating well from pixels to ink. It wasn’t anything too groundbreaking, but it definitely did not distract from the rest of the story.

Verdict: Wait and see.

I’m struggling to see why this whole thing is necessary for fans of Assassin’s Creed, but there’s definitely more story to tell about Aya and her rise as Amunet, so I’m curious enough to see where this goes. I just wish Assassin’s Creed: Origins #1 had brought a little more newness to the table to give me a concrete reason to keep going. At least you get a free downloadable weapon for the game. Tempting.