Is Assassin’s Creed #7 worthy of your time or does it need a swift blade?

Comic books based upon video games have always been a difficult proposition. The number of successful ones are fairly limited, such as the Mass Effect books published by Dark Horse. So Titan Comics are to be commended for event attempting to convert a game like Assassin’s Creed to the printed page. After reading issue #7, which for the purposes of full disclosure is 1.) the first issue of the series I’ve read and 2.) the second issue of a story arc, which is not in fairness the best place to jump on to a new series. Despite my unfamiliarity with the book I have to admit there is potential here.  Assassin’s Creed #7 isn’t a fantastic must read book but the paranoia and conspiracy of the game translate well.  Ultimately what you left with as a reader is a book that’s an interesting but not compelling read.

As typical for the series a cell of Assassins is on the run from Templars with the additional problem of being in Mexico City on the run from criminals. I enjoyed that the series features original characters not seen in any of the games. The Assassin cell is comprised of Charlotte, Galina and Kody at their technical support/slash animus operator.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series the animus is what makes it possible for an Assassin to mentally travel back in time to experience the memories of their ancestor. In the games the driving idea is to obtain the “Pieces of Eden” highly sophisticated technology created by a civilization that predated our present day one. Here Charlotte is a recent recruit to the Assassin, not particularly sold on the cause of the Assassin’s and our interested in exploring the memories of her ancestor Quila.

The actually story involving Quila wasn’t particularly interesting. She needs to deliver a message to in order to save the Emperor. She is of course attacked by those who would like this delivery canceled. However in the midst of the fight she is aided by a drunken Spaniard, who strongly reminds me of Armstrong from the Valiant series Archer and Armstrong.   While the story wasn’t the most original the setting and location made it interesting. With a few exceptions the Assassin’s Creed story has been primarily within European based societies. It was an unexpected surprise that the “past” portion of the story involved the Inca Empire. I hope the series continues to explore locals and time periods untouched by the video game series. If so the book really carve out a useful niche, especially considering that the video game series itself will be taking a year off.

Ultimately this is a solid book. I would go to my local comic book store just to pick up a copy, but I might have to check out issue #8.

Three silent assassinations out of five.