A review by silvae
Mass Effect: The Complete Comics by Mac Walters, Jeremy Barlow, John Jackson Miller
3.0
The big question is: is buying this book worth the $40 pricetag? There are a number of answers, in my opinion. If you're a diehard Mass Effect fan and want to own every piece of media associated with the property, this probably isn't a bad choice. It looks gorgeous, the printing quality isn't too shabby and you know what you're getting - for a compilation of so many stories, it really isn't a bad deal.
If you're in it for actual content and depth, you might be better picking up single issues and separate books, because of the 13 stories (by "stories" I mean separately numbered issues/books in the Mass Effect Graphic Novel series that aren't the omnibus volumes), I only really enjoyed Homeworlds, Foundation: Volume 3, Discovery, and the two one shots Blasto: Eternity is Forever and He Who Laughs Best. I truly disliked most of the other stories; Redemption and Incursion were my only 3-star ratings.
A lot of the issues in the Mass Effect comics lie in the writing and the art style: my favorite stories often had a looser, more experimental art style, which might not be what you are looking for when reading an action-packed sci-fi comic book. It's also very obvious that most of the female characters are presented with the male gaze in mind (do regular action comic readers just accept this as status quo or is this a Mass-Effect-specific issue? I do not know!), and that often impacts the story of familiar strong characters, such as Aria, negatively.
These stories aren't meant for those with no knowledge of the Mass Effect universe and while it helps flesh out the universe for those that love the series, I wouldn't consider it required reading. Nonetheless, I was glad to spend a bit more time with the characters I love dearly.
If you're in it for actual content and depth, you might be better picking up single issues and separate books, because of the 13 stories (by "stories" I mean separately numbered issues/books in the Mass Effect Graphic Novel series that aren't the omnibus volumes), I only really enjoyed Homeworlds, Foundation: Volume 3, Discovery, and the two one shots Blasto: Eternity is Forever and He Who Laughs Best. I truly disliked most of the other stories; Redemption and Incursion were my only 3-star ratings.
A lot of the issues in the Mass Effect comics lie in the writing and the art style: my favorite stories often had a looser, more experimental art style, which might not be what you are looking for when reading an action-packed sci-fi comic book. It's also very obvious that most of the female characters are presented with the male gaze in mind (do regular action comic readers just accept this as status quo or is this a Mass-Effect-specific issue? I do not know!), and that often impacts the story of familiar strong characters, such as Aria, negatively.
These stories aren't meant for those with no knowledge of the Mass Effect universe and while it helps flesh out the universe for those that love the series, I wouldn't consider it required reading. Nonetheless, I was glad to spend a bit more time with the characters I love dearly.