Warhammer 40,000: Damnation Crusade by Dan Abnett, Ian Edginton
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Book Reviews of Warhammer 40,000: Damnation Crusade
Book Review: A good call
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been reading about the warhammer 40K universe on the net for a long time, and being a book fan I decided to give this book a shot.
The art in the book is great and the storyline is very good, I enjoyed it very much. I recommend it to anyone who is a sci-fi/warhammer 40K fan like me.
Book Review: Decent, but Needed to be Longer
Summary: 3 Stars
Damnation Crusade takes place in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, a dark and gothic future where mankind is constantly at war. Mankind's champions are the Space Marines: genetically enhanced humans who wear powerful combat armor and wield heavy weapons. These men have been trained and conditioned to be loyal only to the Imperium of Mankind that worships the Emperor, and to get the job done at any cost.
The story follows the exploits of the Black Templars: a Space Marine chapter loyal to the Imperium. From here it is split into three separate story lines, each focusing on a character: that of an initiate, that of a veteran Black Templar marine and finally a Dreadnought; which is the remains of a marine that has been encased in a giant robot sarcophagus so that they may continue on fighting long after they should have died from grievous injuries.
Damnation Crusade is at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to story telling. Most Warhammer 40k books are 400+ pages long to get the full story across, and even with pictures helping tell the story its a bit much to try and condense a story of that breadth into a small amount of comics issues. The stories themselves seemed hurried, especially during the combat scenes where you see the heroes killing multiple enemies at once, most likely due to try and condense the battles as much as possible. Unfortunately this makes you feel a bit cheated and at times and it seems a bit ridiculous when you see the hero killing half a dozen enemies at once. Again though, I feel this is because instead of having an entire novel or non limited comic series to get the entire story in Abnett was forced to go skimpy on some aspects. The plot isn't the deepest, nor are the characters (are space marines in the 40k universe ever though?), so if you like action more than plot than it will be more geared to you.
The art for me was fine.The pencils weren't top notch, but I don't think it distracted from the book at all. The coloring was dark and foreboding, and whether you like that or not (I'm not a big fan of it), that's exactly what the Warhammer 40k universe is, so the colors were fitting to universe and I actually think they help get a feel for the universe.
Damnation Crusade was a decent book, but I wouldn't say its much more than that either way. It definitely needed to be longer than it was as you could tell there was much more Abnett wanted to say but couldn't, and that more than anything hurt it. For the price I think it was worth it, but don't expect anything grand from the title.
Book Review: Good artwork, short on Story
Summary: 3 Stars
I picked this up because I am a Dan Abnett fan from the Gaunt's Ghosts, Eisehorn, Ravenor, and now his Titanicus story lines. (All highly recommended) Dan has always been the shining star of what can often be a tedious or cookie cutter action genre. I agree with most of our reviewers that the visual story is great. The feel of the book is spot on with the atmosphere of the bleak militaristic future found in 40K prose stories. Abnett usually creates compelling characters with depth, but this series doesn't rise to the occasion. Perhaps the joint authoring was to blame. I too was disappointed in the simplistic story line and one dimensional characters. Even so, if you don't know what you're missing from Dan's other work, the story is focused and sufficiently action packed. This series should broaden the appeal of the 40K universe for new readers. It should also please some (but not all) 40K fans with its departure from the Warhammer visual style. (Which was too indebted to the distorted, cartoony British monster mags of the 70's.) Look to Abnett's Warhammer 40,000: Blood & Thunder for the potential this comic series can have to flesh out (broken and torn flesh, that is) and enliven the grim Warhammer 40K universe. I look forward to future offerings.Book Review: Average at best
Summary: 3 Stars
This isn't some of Dan Abnett's best work. I have enjoyed Dan's other comics for Black Library (Titan, Inquisitor) but the BOOM! comics seem to be targeted for a younger demographic. I found the story to be weak, just too simple. Only the slight twist at the end is what made me give this three instead of two stars. As a long time 40k fan and player I enjoyed the art but it wasn't enough to avoid me being disappointed in this title.Book Review: great graphics, hard story
Summary: 3 Stars
Really lives up to its potential by displaying the awesome imagery of the 40K universe. Although good, the story line is a little hard to follow.