God of War #1 Review: Amazing

The “God of War” franchise has recently been through a sort of renaissance the “PlayStation 4” installment seeing a more, ahem, “responsible” Kratos being a father. Of course, there are a ton of people who want to know what happened in the many years between “God of War 3” and the new “God of War.” Chris Roberson and artist Tony Parker happily oblige with their comic “God of War” and it encapsulates the games perfectly.

Taking place sometime when Faye is still alive and Atreus is still learning, Kratos is trying to keep his rage under control. That fails miserably as he spots a giant bear attacking an old man and decides to kill it. However, this one event sparks a feud that will test the former “God of War.”

This comic is representative of the First Era game where the storytelling is hectic and filled with a ton of action. This makes a ton of sense since here Kratos is still trying to control his rage and run away from his old life.

While inner monologues do tend to slow done the pacing of the story, here it works because the point is Kratos dealing with his rage. Him going back and forth between get angry/don’t get angry brings in a new depth to the character that was never seen in any other “God of War” game. It’s high time Kratos got some kind character development.

However, this also makes the story go by way too fast and the comic is over before it even begins. This may also be because Kratos is more of a man of action and less likely to use words (just look at his body count.) This will cause readers to want to quickly read the next issues which make this story for suited for a trade.

Parker’s art brings the style of the current game to life with great looking characters and great looking battle scenes. The backgrounds do bring out the Norwegian landscape in winter nicely, but they do tend to look a bit underwhelming in certain panels. The best panels are when there’s a close of Kratos. The detail in his face, especially when it’s angry, look absolutely amazing.

The first issue of “God of War” may be true to the games in both storytelling and at, but it is over way too soon which may make some readers want to wait for the trade. It’s still a great “God of War” story, just not worth buying individual issues for a story that’s over before it even begins.