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Halo Graphic Novels
Halo: Escalation Volume 3
Halo 4’s Spartan Opscontinues here as the UNSC Infinity battles the Covenant for control of the all-powerful Forerunner Janus Key. Plus, Spartan Tanaka’s thrilling origin story revealed—all in this volume collecting Escalation issues #13–#18 by Duffy Boudreau ( BlackAcre ), Sergio Ariño ( Ms. Marvel ), and Douglas Franchin ( Person of Interest ).
“The art is really great. It feels emotional and really adds to the writing. The colors are vivid from panel to panel. I really like it. Escalation is a fantastic series.”—Unleash the Fanboy
“The art is really great. It feels emotional and really adds to the writing. The colors are vivid from panel to panel. I really like it. Escalation is a fantastic series.”—Unleash the Fanboy
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 22, 2015
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252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 20, 2015
Volume 3 of Halo Escalation collects issues 13 through 18 in one collection, which is split into two arcs. It continues the adventures of the UNSC Infinity from the Halo: Spartan Ops game mode in Halo 4 and provides the backstory of Spartan Holly Tanaka from Halo 5.
The first four issues pick up almost directly where Spartan Ops Season 1 ended. Jul 'Mdama and Dr. Halsey have half of the Janus Key and are looking to complete it so they may access the location of every Forerunner artifact in the galaxy. It continues to flesh out the characters of Captain Lasky, Commander Palmer, and the Spartan IVs - throwing conflict after conflict at them and watching them overcome it.
The final two issues recount Holly Tanaka's final mission as a Sergeant in the Army before being invited into the ranks of the Spartans. It's flashback heavy and covers some of the formative experiences that toughened her up and inspired her to enlist.
The writing throughout does the series justice and continues the high bar set by the earlier issues. The characters seem real and relate-able, matching the personalities set in earlier works. The plots can be a little predictable, but not so much that it detracts from the experience.
The art is similar to past issues as well, being rather stylized and sometimes inconsistent in how it portrays characters. The environments are solid and look appropriate for the Halo universe. It gets the point across with no problems.
I've been enjoying the Halo Escalation comics and the different stories they're able to tell in them. It's definitely worth it if you're a Halo fan, but I'm not sure there's much appeal in them otherwise.
The first four issues pick up almost directly where Spartan Ops Season 1 ended. Jul 'Mdama and Dr. Halsey have half of the Janus Key and are looking to complete it so they may access the location of every Forerunner artifact in the galaxy. It continues to flesh out the characters of Captain Lasky, Commander Palmer, and the Spartan IVs - throwing conflict after conflict at them and watching them overcome it.
The final two issues recount Holly Tanaka's final mission as a Sergeant in the Army before being invited into the ranks of the Spartans. It's flashback heavy and covers some of the formative experiences that toughened her up and inspired her to enlist.
The writing throughout does the series justice and continues the high bar set by the earlier issues. The characters seem real and relate-able, matching the personalities set in earlier works. The plots can be a little predictable, but not so much that it detracts from the experience.
The art is similar to past issues as well, being rather stylized and sometimes inconsistent in how it portrays characters. The environments are solid and look appropriate for the Halo universe. It gets the point across with no problems.
I've been enjoying the Halo Escalation comics and the different stories they're able to tell in them. It's definitely worth it if you're a Halo fan, but I'm not sure there's much appeal in them otherwise.
November 28, 2025
Enjoyed the read. Had Spartan team chasing down Mdama/Halsey and the Janus key half for the forerunner artifact locations, and place of absolute record. Halsey disrupted slipspace of infinity. They deploy to planet surface and find covenant factions. One defector tried to rebel against Mdama, and failed. Last story is how sergeant Tanaka gets recommended for the Spartan IV program after fighting on glassed planet surface.
April 29, 2020
Segue mais ou menos mesmo que o primeiro volume.
Mediocridade imensa, nada possui peso nenhum, nem físico nem emocional, porém agora as coisas parecem finalmente caminhar pra algo.
Se liga com o final de Spartan Ops do Halo 4 e também introduz a Tanaka do 5.
A arte tá legal, cenas de ação ainda fraquíssimas, porém legal.
Mediocridade imensa, nada possui peso nenhum, nem físico nem emocional, porém agora as coisas parecem finalmente caminhar pra algo.
Se liga com o final de Spartan Ops do Halo 4 e também introduz a Tanaka do 5.
A arte tá legal, cenas de ação ainda fraquíssimas, porém legal.
August 18, 2017
Now I want more of this series and set of Spartans. Great artwork and quick pacing.
November 3, 2015
The Escalation series has been my favorite so far, and this book is my favorite of that series to this point. A continuation of Spartan Ops followed by the origin story of Spartan Tanaka, this book is a prime example of how 343 used the expanded universe to bridge the gap between Halo 4 and Halo 5. All fans of Halo lore should check this out.
October 20, 2015
Story mode
The art is still very good and runs like.a story board for films. Some scene to scene you can lose track of but easily rereading helps with that.
The art is still very good and runs like.a story board for films. Some scene to scene you can lose track of but easily rereading helps with that.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews