Desmond

Assassin's Creed (Comic) #1

by Éric Corbeyran, Djillali Defali (Illustrator), Raphaël Hédon (Colorist)

This first volume of the French comic trilogy from Ubisoft, tells the story of Desmond Miles abduction by Abstergo and their plans to rip the blood-steeped memories of Desmond's ancestors from his genetic code. Add to the mix the mysterious and violently terrified Subject 16 and a desperate flight from Abstergo, and this makes for a fast-paced and thrilling addition to the games universe.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Comic Book

48 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2009

About the author

Né à Marseille en 1964, Corbeyran vit à Bordeaux depuis 1987. Après avoir travaillé comme animateur de centre de vacances puis comme graphiste free-lance dans la publicité, il fait ses premiers pas dans la bd en signant le scénario de l‘album Les Griffes du Marais (Vents d’Ouest), publié en janvier 1990. 180 albums plus tard, apprécié des aficionados comme du grand public, il est aujourd’hui l’un des scénaristes français les plus en vue. Voyageur immobile, curieux de tout, avide d’images, de rencontres et d’expériences nouvelles, Corbeyran s’intéresse à (presque) tous les sujets et s’attache à explorer (presque) tous les genres, du polar (Garrigue) à la science fiction (Le Régulateur) en passant par l’aventure (Nelson Lobster), le thriller (Pulsions), l’humour (Kid Korrigan) et l'heroïc fantasy (Weëna). Le succès arrive en 1997 avec Le Chant des Stryges (Delcourt), dessiné par Richard Guérineau, un récit dense, complexe et tentaculaire qui jette une lumière inquiétante sur les origines de l'humanité en même temps qu'il pose les bases du renouveau du thriller fantastique en bande dessinée. En 1999, l'association "BD Boum" lui offre la possibilité d'orchestrer une œuvre collective autour de deux univers très particuliers : la prison et la surdité. 4 recueils de récits courts en noir et blanc donnant la parole aux détenus et aux sourds verront ainsi le jour sous la plume de dessinateurs connus (Margerin, Juillard, Mézières, Cabanes, Larcenet, Davodeau, Baudoin...) et moins connus. En 2001, la presse s'intéresse à son travail et, à la demande de la rédaction du mensuel "D.Lire", il crée la série Zélie et Compagnie (Bayard), dessinée par David de Thuin. En 2003, suite à sa rencontre avec le peintre Jean-Pierre Ugarte, il écrit Le Territoire (Delcourt), une fresque fantastique sur le thème de la mort, de l'amour et de la folie, dessinée par Espé. En 2003 toujours, c'est en compagnie du chercheur en informatique Achille Braquelaire qu'il signe Imago Mundi (Dargaud), une série de thrillers scientifiques dessinée par Luc Brahy. En 2005, sa rencontre avec le politicien Nicolas Hamm l'amène à créer La Conjuration d'Opale (Dargaud), une fable épique et ésotérique sur le thème du devenir de l'humanité, sompueusement mis en images par Grun. Si le fantastique occupe une place de choix dans sa bibliographie, Corbeyran n'hésite cependant pas à s’aventurer sur des terrains plus réalistes avec des récits intimistes et émouvants comme Lie-de-Vin ou Rosangella (Dargaud), dessinés par son complice Olivier Berlion (avec il a réalisé plus d'une vingtaine d'albums). Alors qu'une grande partie de sa production est étiquetée "ados - adulte", Corbeyran aime également s’adresser aux plus jeunes, comme en témoignent ses séries Le Cadet des Soupetard (Dargaud) et Sales Mioches ! (Casterman), toutes deux dessinées par Berlion, et plus récemment Natty et Okhéania (Dargaud) dessinées respectivement par Melvil et Picard. En 2006, les amateurs de feuilletons populaires plébiscitent La Loi des 12 Tables (Delcourt), dessiné par Défali, véritable défi scénaristique et graphique (12 épisodes de 30 pages, regroupés en 6 volumes et réalisés en 12 mois : un record !) et, en 2008, ils saluent l'originalité de l'ambitieux projet Uchronie[s] (Glénat) qui revisite la ville de New-York à travers le prisme de 3 réalités élaborées par Chabbert, Tibery et Défali. Corbeyran a obtenu le prix Jacques Lob pour l'ensemble de son oeuvre en 2005. De nombreuses autres récompenses jalonnent sa carrière : prix du meilleur album jeunesse à Blois (1996), Bulle d'Or du meilleur scénario à Brignais (1997), meilleur album à Chambéry (2000) et à Cognac (2007), prix Interfestival (2000), prix Extrapole (2000), prix des libraires Canal BD (2000), prix Tournesol (2002), prix Jules Verne (2005), Coup de Coeur à Sierre (Suisse), meilleur album étranger à Sobreda (Portugal), et, tout récemment, médaille d'argent de l'International Manga Award (Japon).

Texte © Glénat
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Détail

Reviews

[Héloïse ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I've seen written a lot in reviews, this comic series is clearly not suitable for people who have never played Assassin's Creed. Even as a fan, I found it hard to follow certain aspects and parts of the story made me wonder if I'd forgotten more than I thought ; apparently not, they just decided to change the beginning, middle and end of Desmond's story and adventures that lead him to the second opus of the franchise.
When I understood this, I tried to distance myself from what I know about the history of these video games, but as a result, I found that the comic lacks flavor, the graphics are not incredible (even if the landscapes are rather nice compared to the drawings of the characters).
I'll see if my opinion changes with the other volumes.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge Assassin's Creed fan. I live and breathe that video game. When I saw this comic book I was excited and hesitant at the same time. I love that theres a comic book surrounding my favorite video game, but I am always hesitant about comic books, or even just books in general, that are based off of video games or movies because they just always tend to be a disappointment. This was not the exception to that rule.

If you've never played the game before, you're going to have a very hard time understanding whats happening in this story. I felt like it was jumping all over the place and barely touched on any important aspects of the video games except for the ending of what happens both in the animus and in Desmond's story. But Desmond's story was changed as well. It was a different ending that what had happened in the video game. There was also this obscure reference to another assassin from the Roman times in the beginning of the story that didn't make sense to me at all and I felt like it added nothing to the story and was unnecessary.

I've already got the rest of the series in my possession, and that is the only reason why I will be continuing with this series. It could have been done much better in terms of the story.

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 2 out of 5]

Το πρώτο βιβλίο της σειράς έχει σκοπό να μας μυήσει στον μαγικό κόσμο των Assassins, να μας συστήσει τους βασικούς χαρακτήρες αλλά και να μας εξηγήσει ποιος είναι ο ρόλος τους στην όλη ιστορία. Και τα πράγματα θα μπορούσαν να είχαν πάει καλύτερα, αν οι δημιουργοί είχαν κατά νου πως τα comic books αυτά μπορεί να πέσουν και στα χέρια αναγνωστών που δεν έχουν παίξει ποτέ το video game πάνω στο οποίο βασίστηκε το όλο εγχείρημα. Απλά, κάποια πράγματα δεν επεξηγούνται αρκετά, με αποτέλεσμα να έχουμε επεξηγηματικά κενά στην αφήγηση, στοιχείο που μπορεί να μην αποθαρρύνει κάποιον που κατέχει το αντικείμενο, σίγουρα όμως θα ξενερώσει κάποιον που αποφάσισε να γνωρίσει τον κατά τ' άλλα γοητευτικό αυτό κόσμο, μέσω της σειράς αυτής και όχι της λογοτεχνικής.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most video game comics, this would be confusing (at best) for anybody who hadn't played the games. Corbeyran's series has the distinction even to somebody who has played all the games. For some reason, it's an alternate version of the events through Brotherhood, but with a very, very different ending. There's no explanation as to why it's so different. Among other things, this version of Lucy is not a Templar mole, and Clay is still alive and very unstable. I tried to judge the overall story on its own merits, but the significant differences would throw me out of the story from time to time.

This is not a book for anybody who hasn't played any of the AC games. You'd need a much better explanation of the Animus and how genetic memory works than Corbeyran gave. It isn't for casual fans, who would probably be too thrown by the alternate continuity. In the end, it's really only for the hardcore fans who want to see Aquilus and Accipeter. They are, admittedly, pretty cool, and it helps that Ubisoft considers their stories canonical. If I ever reread the comics (doubtful), I'll probably just read their parts and skip everything with Desmond and the few unsatisfying fragments with Altair and Ezio.

It looks like there's a fourth installment, but it doesn't seem like there are any plans to release it in English. Fine by me, as I doubt I'd pick it up, even though that leaves the ancient Roman story unfinished. Also worthy of note is that each of these hardcovers have only 48 pages. Really, they're giant size issues with pretty packaging.

[Vinicius · Rating 3 out of 5]

História do desmond é contada de maneira bem direta, ocultando vários detalhes do game, tornando a HQ bem pequena, mas dá conta de contar a história dele de certa maneira. Poderia ser uma HQ maior para ter mais detalhes.

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing is true, everything is permitted. — The Creed's maxim (what else was I going to use)

This graphic novel follows the game, in this case, 2007's Assassin's Creed. Unlike the others, I've read which are creative takes on the universe. It's kind of a hybrid of those and the novels by Bowen (Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade for Altair's story) I guess. It starts with a former user of the animus in a psychiatric hospital, moves to Desmond as a Roman centurion Aquilus before getting to almost equal parts Desmond in the modern-day and Altair, a crusader.

It’s well presented it uses the space well, mixing white space and full pages. The colouring is effective, it makes it easy to differentiate not only between modern and memory but between the different memories. Including the experiences of Clay. I can easily see where the wordings have come from, I can hear the dialogue from the game. It’s a decent adaptation and would likely encourage people to play the game if they hadn’t already while still standing alone.

A representative gif:

[Cristina Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more entertaining then I expected it to be

[Michelle Villmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of a legendary story depicting the age old war between the Assassins and Templars

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

La verdad que es un cómic bastante corto en el que se nos cuenta la historia de cómo Desmond Miles entró a formar parte de los planes de Abstergo y cómo logró salir de allí y unirse al gremio de los asesinos.
Llevaba bastante tiempo queriendo leer los libros de esta colección ya que es mi saga favorita de videojuegos y tenía curiosidad por saber si en ellos se incluían datos que en los videojuegos no aparecen. La historia en sí está bastante bien ya que descubrimos algunas cosas que en los videojuegos no se mencionan. Este cómic creo que es imprescindible para todo amante de la saga y para todo aquel al que le apasione la historia de los templarios.

[Ben Nealis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun entry earlier in the modern day storyline of the AC universe. A quick recap of AC1 that adds in some extra detail. My personal favorite part was learning that Abstergo has traced Desmonds lineage further then Altier back to the Roman empire.

[Maimona alt · Rating 5 out of 5]

So awesome

[Francine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't say it's good, but it is interesting.

As others have said, this is probably hard to follow if you've never played the games, and if you have, this comic changes so much about the story it's like, what even is the point of trying to incorporate the original game's story at all.

It was interesting to see this creative team's take on Subject 16 - it never even crossed my mind to think about his body outside of the Animus, so this was a cool take on that. I also liked this glimpse into Aquilus's life, though I don't see the point of adding it onto Desmond's AC1 story. I would have much prefered an original story, possibly a different modern Assassin, like an earlier Subject for example. Or, if they wanted to keep Desmond for reasons of name recognition, a focus on just one ancestor, like Aquilus: maybe Abstergo tried to follow Aquilus's line before they focused on Altaïr and we could have seen that story play out.

So far, the story is pretty messy, and that's not a good sign for a 3 issue series. (But honestly, AC have always been pretty messy, and I've learned to live with that. I'm here for the lore.)

[47Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

The comic looks ok, but adds little to the Assassin's Creed lore. The game franchise pretty much covers what is included here. Maybe the following entries will explore the AC universe in greater detain.

After patient 16 goes insane in the Animus, a replacement is found in Desmond. He is imprisoned in a Templar building and forced to use the Animus to relive the memories of his Assassin ancestors. His goal is to find the powerful pieces of Eden that can enable the Templars to rule the world.

Desmond runs through Altair's memories until his master al Mualim is corrupted by the power of an artifact called the Piece of Eden. The latter tries to use the artifact to subjugate the world, very much what the Templars inted to use it for, but Altair kills him. With the location of the artifact in hand, Desmond has become dead weight. Lucy, an assassin infiltrated among the Templars, helps him escape.

His next trip with the Animus sees him reliving Ezio's memories.

[Soobie is expired · Rating 2 out of 5]

E finalmente si parla di Desmond Miles.

Ammetto di non aver un'idea precisa di lui. Compare in Origins e si dà per scontato che il giocatore conosca la sua storia. Ma è colpa mia che ho cominciato dal mio adoratissimo Bayek e non dall'inizio.

Diciamo che son riuscita a seguire la storia ma ci sono davvero troppi personaggi e non ero sicura delle relazioni che ci sono tra di loro.

I disegni sono un po' così. Il passaggio da uno stile americano a Defali si sente e mi viene quasi da pensare che gli americani lo abbiano disegnato meglio.

[Augurey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un comic très court et pas développé. le lecteur doit avoir joué ou au moins avoir lu les livres pour comprendre car beaucoup de détails importants ont été omis de l'histoire. On voit les évènements défiler rapidement sans creuser, c'est incompréhensible et ambigu. Il faut aussi mentionner que certaines scènes ont été renseignées, changées, et certains personnages ont même disparu comme Rebecca et Shaun qui ont été remplacés par Michael et un autre sujet qui était un hôte dans l'animus.

j'espère que les autres tomes de ce comic soit plus détaillés.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desmond, la primera entrega de Corbeyran, nos cuenta los comienzos de Desmond Miles en Abstergo y la difícil tarea de descubrir el porqué de su participación en la organización y qué está sucediendo.

Mi primera experiencia con un cómic resultó muy satisfactoria. No pensé que me gustaría tanto después de ese inicio tan confuso. No es la mejor historia de Assassin's Creed pero estuvo bastante aceptable y ESE CLIFFHANGER THOOOOOOOOOO I'M IN TEARS

[Nav · Rating 2 out of 5]

This probably would be hard to for anyone not already familiar with the video games because how else are you meant to glean that the animus allows people to re-live their ancestor's pasts. It shows Desmond's initial introduction to the animus so the comic is mostly about a guy being abducted and experimented on by scientists. Neither the art or dialogue is particular engaging. Sequels get to make use of his ancestors' colorful lives so hopefully they turn out to be more interesting.

[Fernanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como una persona que respira y vive de Assassin's Creed, me doy en el pecho por no haber obtenido esta colección de novelas gráficas antes, pero al final el consumismo y la cuarenta ganaron y ¡por fin tengo estas bellezas en el librero! jajaja
Esta primera historia no me convenció mucho, la encontré un poco plana, pero eso no le quita que es un pequeño complemento al primer juego de la saga, así que se aprecia. Desmond ¡Eres un grande! ❤

[Rain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book from my library giveaway and other 2 books in the series I think the resin I don’t understand exactly what is going on it that’s I never played the game and not really sure my self what this is about to so I am giving to star one for respect for author and one for the graphic artist who put into work on graphics. I have the book two and three I will read them and I will give it away or something I guess

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Αν και το σενάριο είναι βασισμένο σε ένα από τα πλέον κλασικά παιχνίδια, ο τρόπος γραφής είναι απλοϊκός και απευθύνεται περισσότερο σε εφηβικές/προεφηβικές ηλικίες, χωρίς να ξέρω αν αυτή η απλοποίηση έγινε στην μετάφραση ή ισχύει και στο πρωτότυπο γαλλοβελγικό. Το σχέδιο ευχάριστο χωρίς να ξεχωρίζει, συνεχίζω με το δεύτερο άλμπουμ από την ομολογουμένως ποιοτική έκδοση της διόπτρας.

[Stefi Rashkova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Η αλήθεια είναι πως δεν ξέρω πώς να βαθμολογώ κόμιξ. Ωστόσο, τα σκίτσα είναι πολύ ωραία και μου αρέσει γενικότερα αυτό το στυλ. Και τα χρώματα και η ποιότητα είναι πολύ καλή. Η πλοκή έχει πολύ ενδιαφέρον, αλλά το διάβασα μέσα σε λίγα λεπτά. Επίσης, ένιωθα πως υπήρχαν μερικά κενά ίσως; Θα το διαπιστώσω στα επόμενα τεύχη.

[mysilicielka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Komiks polecam wyłącznie fanom, którym nigdy dość przebywania w uniwersum skrytobójców. Ładna kreska, przyjemnie się na to patrzy, ale nie ma w tym tytule niczego ważnego czy przełomowego. Ot, (ekstremalnie) krótka historia. Do poczytania w czasie ładowania gry.

[Sara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like the pacing and story wouldnt really make sense to people who havent played the games already. Considering how the games play out it makes sense how it was made, but it still felt somewhat rushed and honestly to short.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice summary of what happens outaide the animus in the first game. It also gives some more info I didn't know.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

like

[Gemma Fasheun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this one and I can never compare a graphic novel to a game like others do.

[Leo Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a short comic of the first game. Really short.

[Murat · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hiçbir şey gerçek değil, her şey mümkün!"

[Jorge Schumacher · Rating 1 out of 5]

A história é fraca, com personagens sem profundidade e toda construída sobre os clichês mais batidos. A arte também é ruim.

[Stephanie Racette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Janvier 2022. Comme je n’ai jamais joué à ce jeu, je ne comprends pas grand chose à l’histoire.
Les illustrations sont correctes, mais sans scénario sur lequel m’appuyer, je suis dans le flou...