Darksiders II: Death's Door

by Andrew Kreisberg, Dave Marshall (Editor)

Delving into the days before the Apocalypse, Darksiders II: Death’s Door is a pivotal contribution to the world of the anticipated new game! Created in collaboration with Joe Madureira’s Vigil Games, this original story follows Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, on a mission to destroy a rogue demon. Chasing the creature across magical realms and even through time, Death takes on a heart-pounding adventure that reveals some of the greatest mysteries of the games!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Video Games

64 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2006

Reviews

[CS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

A recommendation from a friend, I wasn't sure what I was getting when I first started it, other than some pretty panels. But by the end, it was an extremely solid comic, with a great female character.

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got to admit I was a bit uncertain when I first heard about the Darksiders series - the first game has somewhat clunky controls when translating to PC, and there is a certain degree of grinding in the game which gets a little tedious. However, I have to admit I was won over by the mythos. The deals going on behind the scenes, the betrayals, the blurring of the lines between good and evil. My interest was piqued after the first game, but as far as storytelling went I felt like I'd only been introduced to this world. So I went in search of more material. This graphic novel is the result.

It is admittedly rather on the short side. I wanted more than this. Maybe I'm spoilt from all the omnibus volumes I usually pick up in graphic novels. However, it does add to the mythos in what it does give us. The plot serves as a prelude to the second game, Darksiders II, and switches protagonist from War, lead of the first game, to Death, the second game's player character. A fair bit of background is added too - we get to see War and Death's brother and sister, Strife and Fury, who don't appear in the original Darksiders except as references - and, there's a nice aside where there's a flashback to how the four siblings got their impressive steeds.

Not a 'must-have' that I'd recommend to everyone, however, for fans of the series hankering after more, it sates the appetite.

7 out of 10

[JJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Darksiders II: Death's Door is just OK.

It's a short tie-in comic series that takes place before the Darksiders II game, and is a serviceable way to get a look at the character of Death, his horse, and a few environments and other characters in the Darksiders universe. But the story of Death going to Earth to fight a demon isn't particularly memorable, and the art is almost too gritty with lots of black lines and shadows that don't quite bring through the wide color palette of the games.

I'm pretty sure it's out of print these days (had to buy an expensive copy on ebay), so if you can't pick this one up don't worry -- you're not missing much.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una pieza de acompañamiento que ayuda a establecer mejor la personalidad de Muerte. Como tal, no es tan innovadora historia o una fuerte trama, pero hace el trabajo de entretener. A veces los monólogos internos del personaje principal estaban de más y sólo quería ver al dibujo desenvolverse en las secuencias.

En el departamento de ilustración no hay fallos. El dibujo es excelente y el color explota en cada cuadro. Me hubiera gustado que esto sea una serie, pero como antes mencionado, es un material de publicidad para el videojuego.

[Kyle Dougherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

First two issues feel like throwaways and while the last 3 have a shared plot it doesn't really explain much or give more depth to Death. Still, some cool scenes and characters. Missed Joe Mad's art style here though.

[Guilherme Krüger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótima HQ, principalmente as ilustrações. Já a história é boazinha, se passa antes do segundo game e faz uma conexão com o mesmo. Para quem curte o universo de Darksiders vale muito a pena ler.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without doubt the best Darksiders tie-in so far, and far better than the comic that launched with the first game. Like Darksiders: The Abomination Vault , it predictably builds Death's backstory, unlike that book though (and probably due to the closer involvement of Joe Madureira) the character is a closer match to his in-game persona - sardony more or less intact. Beyond that, the story here also throws light on the first time that Death becomes aware of Corruption.

I'm a big fan of the Darksiders franchise and this book kind of reinforces the need for Nordic Games to involve Madureira if they are to continue it. Whether it's worth a read for anyone who isn't a fan is another question entirely.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pivotal? Really? Nothing in this collection is pivotal; finding out how Death gained his horse is not vital to understanding the Darksiders games. And neither are the other bits and pieces here; all they really do is display how bland the characters are outside of the game itself. The art and style is very 90's, but I don't think it was an intentional stylistic choice. There's nothing inherently bad here, it's all just really blase. Fans of the games might enjoy it, but they won't be missing anything by skipping it. And if you're not a fan of the games, there's absolutely no reason to pick this up.

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was super excited to read this! Darksiders II is my favorite game out of the series. I loved the artwork and I especially loved the part when Death tamed Despair.

[Stéphanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le graphisme est efficace et agréable à l'oeil mais il est malheureusement desservi par une narration parfois un peu brouillonne. C'est agréable d'en apprendre encore d'avantage sur l'univers et les Cavaliers, mais je suis dubitative quant à certains éléments de l'histoire (le "gardien" des chevaux, sorte de Clint Eastwood avec des katanas et des superpouvoirs... mouai...) Un comics à réserver aux gros fans (comme moi...) de Darksiders.

[Michael Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very quick read, pretty much the equivalent of 2 or 3 comics. That being said, the story is a decent prologue for Darksiders II, unfortunately Darksiders II came out months ago and I already played it. The art is very nice to look at. A decent package if you can find it for a good price, but not amazing.

[Rocki S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a comic book and goes way to fast as usual. But as a fan of Darksiders series, I ate it up like a sirloin steak. The highlight of the story for me that made it worth the price was learning how the Horsemen got their amazing horses.

[harlequin {Stephanie} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous spreads. Truly, ever single panel was a breathtaking work of art.

Story was not too shabby either. My opinion was heading downhill with the direction I thought the ending would be. Writer turned it around though. Anxious to see what comes next.

[B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too bad, but also not really great either. It doesn't give any depth to Death or Darksiders, which I was hoping it'd do.