REVIEW: Mirrors Edge: Exordium #1

Script Christofer EmgÃ¥rd, art by Mattias HÃ¤ggstrÃ¶m & Robert Sammelin, published by Dark Horse

The game this is based on was supposed to be a free running jamboree of exhilarating parkour across a beautifully rendered futuristic city but it makes the horrific mistake of being in first person and thus was a continuous litany of horrible deaths and misery because you can’t see what you’re doing. The comic isn’t as good as the game.

It starts out ok with a bit of introspection on the first page, cuts to a full page city shot with our heroin already to make like a gazelle across its rooftops, turn the page and…there’s a bloke at a desk looking bored. I could empathize by the fifth page.

For a comic about exciting parkour pursuits the art and pacing are better suited to a stroll around a small yard in Birmingham. One of the problems is the art shows you the body, but not in motion so on the rare pages where people are doing more than talk, the comic looks like a yoga instruction manual, the poses are there but there’s no sense the characters are moving.

Can’t remember a lot of the story other than the lead character is approached by a corporation, does a few yoga poses and goes back for a job. I’m not sure if it’s been translated from another language either as it reads like someone who’s never had a real life conversation before. The dialogue wouldn’t feel out of place in a Matrix fanfic.

It’s startling that at its core Mirrors Edge has a strong concept and a fantastic design ethic but can’t seem to make it in any medium. Maybe they should try a pop up book next.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]