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Other creators involved in the making of this graphic novel include: John Dombrow, Gabriel Guzman, & Michael Atiyeh
Content/Trigger Warnings: Minor xenophobia/racism (directed from humans to Turians), death, violence, talk of assault
Okay, I can explain, but first you need to hear me out. I swear, I didn’t know this was a Mass Effect: Andromeda Initiative graphic novel. In fact, the first time I saw the cover I instantly thought of Garrus Vakarian. And of course, my love for Garrus was such an obvious, logical answer that my brain said it didn’t need to read the synopsis of this graphic novel before purchasing it. So that’s what happened. But seriously, this wasn’t that bad of a graphic novel and I’ll just throw it out there… Fellow gamers need to give Mass Effect Andromeda a break for a hot second.
Our story follows a turian solider, Tiran Kandros, to investigate the Andromeda Initiative after they suspect them of using illicit Geth technology. However, getting to the bottom of things won’t be that simple. He’ll have to team up with the intimidating Luna Shanks to hunt down a missing Quarian scientist, who happens to hold the secrets of the Andromeda Initiative. But one Salarian mercenary is about to shake their mission up and make things twice as difficult.
Honestly, this wasn’t a terrible story line. As you read, you can’t help wanting to know the answers as much as Tiran. For those who are aware of Mass Effect, we get to see some familiar faces too. We see Nyreen and Aria both make an appearance in this book, and let me just tell you, the way they interact in Mass Effect 3 is the same in the graphic novel. Not to mention the action in every scene is so eye catching that it’s almost impossible to turn away for the context. However, I wish this would have been a little bit longer. I felt like we could have gotten a lot more from the story if it had only been a couple pages longer.
“I don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side of 600 years… But I can’t wait to find out.”
However, I really liked that this graphic novel took the opportunity to show and talk about having a well recognized family name. There’s this theme of how riding the coattails of your parents or your family name isn’t always easy, full of rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes you have conflicted feelings and you want to branch away from that and make your own name. And I really liked how at the end of this graphic novel, we see Tiran decide to branch away from his family, get a new start, and really begin the next chapters of his own story. So I really appreciated that part of this book and I think many readers will love that.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad graphic novel at all. I think many lovers of Mass Effect will enjoy this graphic novel even if it is the Andromeda Initiative. I know if this had been a little bit longer then I would have given this a full five stars, but it definitely felt like the ending was rushed a bit and it needed to be just a tad longer. Besides that, I really enjoyed my time reading this graphic novel.
Chapter Malliumpkin 