Review – Borderlands: The Fall of Fyrestone #1 & 2 (IDW Publishing)

August 26, 2014

2–3 minutes

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer(s): Mikey Neumann
Artist(s): Agustin Padilla
Release Date: 27th August 2014

Much as I’m a bit of a sceptic of anything Gearbox Software have a hand in these days – three words: ‘Aliens: Colonial Marines’, and I shall say no more, for fear of ranting off topic – the Borderlands franchise is something of a behemoth in the gaming industry these days. Was it only a matter of time before it made the jump to comics? Perhaps, and given its already comic-book stylings, you’d think it was a natural fit. Surprisingly, given recent ill-fitting game-to-comic adaptations (Angry Birds, anyone? Doodle fucking Jump?!), this one just about pays off on its potential.

Most pertinently, the script is bang on, as it should be, given they’ve got one of the writers who made the first game such a joy to play through at the helm here. There’s humour aplenty, with our four heroes, whilst adopting fairly generic personalities, bouncing off each-other amusingly, with zippy dialogue that strikes a deft balance between jokes and getting the story told. There’s not a lot of depth to them – they are silent protagonists given voices, after all – but they manage to elicit enough chuckles that you can vaguely forgive them for it.

The art from Padilla and Sanz is excellent too, imbuing the game’s cell-shaded stylings with a slightly more realistic edge, whilst retaining its wonderful colour palette that juxtaposes colourful characters and weaponry against the dour, old-west inspired backdrop that is the planet of Pandora.

The weak point would the story – going over the first few hours of the first game, it doesn’t really fill us in on any of the characters motivations beyond untold riches to be claimed and along they come. As said above, it lacks true depth, and whilst it doesn’t become a poor comic because of it, it would’ve been welcome, particularly given that most folk who buy this will already be familiar with the fundamental plot.

But still, fans of the Borderlands games will find a lot to like herein – these first two issues have absolutely nailed the aesthetics of the piece, from the cell-shady art style to the off-beat humour and the pace of the action, with the authentic story sweetening the deal. If you’re not a fan, you might still get a kick out of it – it’s easily accessible, given that it’s pretty much a straight-forward retelling of the first game – but it’d be difficult to truly recommend you spend your hard-earned cash on it. Still, what’s here is a pretty enjoyable time-passer, and certainly worth a look if you’ve got some spare.

Rating: 3/5

PREVIEW ARTWORK.

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