Assassin’s Creed #3

By Anthony Del Col, Conor McCreery, Neil Edwards & Ivan Nunes

Trial by Fire continues the march towards the end of its arc with the direct aftermath of where the second issue of Titan’s new Assassin’s Creed series kicked off. The writing team of Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery work well with artist Neil Edwards and colorist Ivan Nunes to bring readers a solid issue, even if everything doesn’t quite click perhaps as well as it should.

The issue opens with a bang and now the race to escape Salem begins with the discovery of Dorothy, a girl who’s wanted by the Templars. The increased stakes allow the story to progress faster and move along with plenty of plot twists that allow for a more engaging read, with more elements of the plot becoming clear as you read on.

The artwork from Neil Edwards is excellent with some splash pages working really well that help capture the feel of the period, and Ivan Nunes’ colors help give the atmosphere an appropriate feel. Everything seems to fit nicely and something that’s very clear about the artwork is that it’s getting better and better each issue as the artists find themselves at home.

However, there are a few problems with the story. For all its plot and increased pace, the main bulk of #3 seems to spend time with the majority of the characters just walking from A to B and talking in the middle. It never really works and even the small break to the present where we reunite with Charlotte doesn’t necessarily allow for an improvement. It does, however, give us a view as to what different Assassin group around the world are like though, and the present day storyline continues to make a fresh change from the Desmond/Rebecca/Shaun/Lucy grouping of the earlier Assassin’s Creed games. The issue seems to really hint at some awesome action next month, so we’ll have to wait and see where the story takes us when we return.

It’s interesting that we’re starting to get more revelations about Tom who seems to be even more hard line and extreme in his ways of following the Assassins Brotherhood. He does so even more than Altair, who was the one who stuck to the rule book arguably the most of the likes of Edward, Arno, Ezio and well, we all know what happened to Shay (Assuming of course you’re familiar with Assassin’s Creed: Rogue that is). He’s brutal and almost unforgiving, opting to leave people behind if they’re slowing him down. There’s potential there for Tom to eventually wind up against fellow members of his brotherhood in the future, but for now it’s interesting to be able to explore the character.

So on the whole, whilst there are some things that are hit and miss about Assassin’s Creed #3, it remains an otherwise solid entry into the series from McCreery, Del Col, Nunes and Edwards. Next issue promises big things and there’s plenty of potential for this arc to explore and get even better in the remaining two issues of Trial by Fire.