Running on faith.
Creative Staff:
Story: Christofer Emgard
Art: Mattias Haggstrom, Robert Sammelin
What They Say:
Faith Connors is a young maverick eager to make a name for herself as a Runner—spies and couriers who exist outside the restrictive laws of her near-future world. Witness the pivotal moments in her life leading up to one of the most anticipated video games of 2016, Mirror’s Edge™Catalyst!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of this Mirror’s Edge series was fun enough for me even though I hadn’t played the game or read any previous material. While it required a bit of background reading to tie a few pieces together simply because I was curious, you could for the most part just get into it and run with it. Particularly because of how well the chase and action sequences were handled, which is obviously a huge draw for the game itself. It still feels like this was a property overall that was ripe for a creative theatrical film in some way even amid the familiar near-future tropes that populates it.
With the second installment of the series, things have changed for Faith yet she’s not changing to her situation. She’s running well for Dogen at this point and coming up with some creative moves to bring back what he’s requesting of her and that delights him since it’s full of flair. And being the young person she is, Faith is soaking up all of this praise and enjoying it, especially after her fallout with Noah. Those two are definitely at odds, though he’s trying to build a bridge with her. Understandably full of her youthful rage and pride, Faith is not one to give in easily and you see how her choices are just making things difficult. At the same time, I can easily remember doing similar things myself even though I knew I was just cutting off my own nose in the process.
Faith is also not smartening up when it comes to Dogen. She’s mistaking the praise for friendship and her own curiosity about things has her asking questions that she should plainly not be asking. In a lot of ways all this does is remind the reader that Noah was right in that she wasn’t ready to do this, to be properly professional. But she has the skills to do the jobs, which is what counts in the end. It’s her talking that’s going to get her killed. We do get to see her going on her next mission for Dogen and this is one that has a bit more creativity to it as well as a lot more danger and uncertainty. It starts off fun enough and I’m curious to see how it actually plays out in a kind of light and effortless way. There’s a smoothness to this book that works in its favor as it’s playing in a familiar and built out world from previous works and has a good sense about itself.
In Summary:
Though Mirror’s Edge may not be winning me out to bigger and better things I am finding it to be a light and fun enough romp that takes me through some really fun action sequences and visuals. Perspective is important and they do capture that here pretty well, though it feels underutilized compared to the first issue. The thrill of being a runner is definitely in Faith’s blood and when it comes out amid her jobs there is a whole lot to like there. But the main story itself is still the familiar, just with the jobs having her running across rooftops. The second installment is essentially on par with the first issue, so if you liked that you’ll enjoy this one as well.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 14th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
