A review by deanna
Tomb Raider: The Beginning by Nicolas Daniel Selma, Andrea Mutti, Rhianna Pratchett
3.0
I'm huge Tomb Raider fan and have played the majority of the games, but this comic leaves something to be desired. I get it though. This was just a money grab for developers Crystal Dynamics and publishers Square Enix; they needed to hype the game and boost sales and this comic was their vehicle of choice.
The comic serves to provide background information to the events of beginning of the first game in the second reboot which is the second game to be simply be called Tomb Raider. (I know, confusing!) There is a short section on a crazy adventure Captain Roth and helmsman Grim went on, a short section on mechanic Reyes' background, which includes how she ended up working for Roth, a glimpse of some trouble that hacker Alex has gotten into immediately before the crew sets sail for Yamati (I always wondered why he was even part of the crew while playing the game), and an explanation for how Lara's friend Sam getting involved in the documentary. There's hardly any background given on chief Jonah, which I feel is unfair, given that all other characters are given some page time. I really enjoy the sibling like relationship developed between him and Lara over the course of the games and would have loved to see more of it in the comic.
TV archaeologist Whitman is given the most attention in the comic to "explain" his stroke of professional and personal bad luck which is unnecessary because it is all repeated in the game. If I recall correctly, this is information that the player absolutely cannot miss so it would have been nice if the comic gave that much attention to character that was less developed in the game.
Overall I would have preferred more in depth vignettes with each member of the crew, possibly spread out over multiple issues. On the bright side, I ship Lara and Sam with all my heart and as the comic has nothing to contradict a romance between the two, I'm happy!
The comic serves to provide background information to the events of beginning of the first game in the second reboot which is the second game to be simply be called Tomb Raider. (I know, confusing!) There is a short section on a crazy adventure Captain Roth and helmsman Grim went on, a short section on mechanic Reyes' background, which includes how she ended up working for Roth, a glimpse of some trouble that hacker Alex has gotten into immediately before the crew sets sail for Yamati (I always wondered why he was even part of the crew while playing the game), and an explanation for how Lara's friend Sam getting involved in the documentary. There's hardly any background given on chief Jonah, which I feel is unfair, given that all other characters are given some page time. I really enjoy the sibling like relationship developed between him and Lara over the course of the games and would have loved to see more of it in the comic.
TV archaeologist Whitman is given the most attention in the comic to "explain" his stroke of professional and personal bad luck which is unnecessary because it is all repeated in the game. If I recall correctly, this is information that the player absolutely cannot miss so it would have been nice if the comic gave that much attention to character that was less developed in the game.
Overall I would have preferred more in depth vignettes with each member of the crew, possibly spread out over multiple issues. On the bright side, I ship Lara and Sam with all my heart and as the comic has nothing to contradict a romance between the two, I'm happy!