Gears of War, Vol. 1 [Hardcover]

Joshua Ortega (Author), Liam Sharp (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2009

The best-selling video game franchise arrives in comic books stores with a blast - one month before the debut of the new Xbox 360 game!

This story bridges the end of the first Gears of War game and the start of the second one, following the brutal adventures of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad in the battle against the Locust! What happened after the Lightmass Bombing and how did the Locust react to this devastating weapon? Find out in this new series by Gears of War 2 game-writer Joshua Ortega (Death Dealer) and artist Liam Sharp (LORD HAVOK AND THE EXTREMISTS).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: WildStorm (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401225209
• ISBN-13: 978-1401225209
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific addition to any Gear Head's collection, July 14, 2010

By 

R. B. Rothwell (Newport Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gears of War, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

Being a comic book fan and a video game fan I most admit a bias towards Video Game comics. That aside this was a most enjoyable purchase. The art is terrific, the story is engaging and the new characters that are introduced are unique and a good fit in the Gears universe. Being a hardcover it looks great on the shelf and stands a much better chance of survival in a house with a one year old. I can't count how many comics I have that have lost covers or pages or have faded, just from being transported around to different homes and being read. Funny I know, reading a comic book and not stuffing it in mylar and never taking it out. I enjoyed Book 1 of Gears of War and eagerly await Book 2

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, good fantasy/war book., December 29, 2009

By 

K. McMillan "What do you see when you stand a... (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gears of War, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

I loved the GOW games and saw the books while perusing Amazon one day. I am an avid reader and am always looking for new and odd things to read.

The books were actually pretty good. A bit slow and boring in some parts... and I found it really helped to have played the games to really understand the story, but that could be just because I had played first.

I enjoyed reading this book.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for gamers only, December 1, 2009

By 

Jon Repesh (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gears of War, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

As a non-gamer, the title Gears of War held no connotation when I initially discovered this graphic novel, so any connection or preconceived notions stemming from the game are irrelevant to this particular review, with this trade being judged strictly on its' own merits within the graphic novel medium. What first piqued my curiosity was its' superlative artwork, illustrating the obvious importance of that aspect of the genre on any first impression of an unfamiliar comic. Of course a book cannot be judged strictly by its' art alone, as it still needs an engaging, well crafted story to complement it. While the sparsely written narrative is rather simplistic with overly excessive battle scenes, an apparent direct correlation to its' video game pedigree, it fortunately surmounts and clearly exceeds those shortcomings with its' proficient melding of crisp dialogue, sharp characterization and sensitive tone, not the first attributes one may think of when discussing a futuristic war book whose principal raison d'etre is to display horrific clashes with a monstrous enemy. It is these exact facets however that elevate it above its' one dimensional and limited premise, thus giving it more depth and gravitas than one might expect considering its' combat game lineage, with kudos going to Joshua Ortega and Liam Sharp for accomplishing that gifted and laudable feat.