Kratos continues his quest for the healing Ambrosia of Asclepius when he is confronted by the champion of Poseidon. As Kratos is delayed in battle, Ares’ champion moves ever closer to the prize sought. Can Kratos over come his attackers before time runs out?
God of War #2
Written by Marv Wolfman
Art by Andrea Sorrentino
Letters by Saida Temofonte
Edited by Ben Abernathy
Cover by Andy Park
Published by Wildstorm
Previously in God of War: For some yet unknown reason, Kratos seeks the Ambrosia of Asclepius for a second time in his life. Along his travels, Kratos recounts the events that lead him on his first quest. Ares had diseased his new born daughter with the plague and, being given a short time until she’s put to death, Kratos quickly set out for the Ambrosia. He was given Apollo’s Flame to guide him to the well where the Ambrosia lay. Kratos traveled until he was attacked by a fire beast sent by Hades. Kratos stops recounting his initial trip when he finds himself presently confronted with a giant spider that would love nothing more than a Spartan meal.
OUR JOURNEY CONTINUES
As Kratos faces the giant spider, hundreds of its children fall on him from above. Kratos grabs his torch and burns them off as he lunges toward their mother and plunges his blades into her underbelly. After the spiders’ defeat, Kratos returns to his memories of hacking Hades’ fire beast apart. The heat from battling the beast made Kratos weak and thirst. As he stopped to drink by a river, he recalls the reason why he fights and is interrupted by the Captain of the Spartan army and a small troop of soldiers. Sparta does not wish to see the Ambrosia wasted on a sick baby and would rather see it secured for the betterment of all Sparta. Kratos respectfully obeys just as Hades’ champion, Prince Alrik, visits his sickly father and is told of Ambrosia. The Prince gathers his men and saddles his horses to set a path for the Ambrosia as the gods watch him from Mount Olympus.
As the Greek gods are often portrayed, they’re boastfully arguing with each other on whose champion is better. Enter Poseidon’s champion, Herodius of Thera, as his ship nearly reaches the shores near Kratos. As Poseidon watches Herodius, Hermes hatches a plan to stop the now threatening Spartan. He sends satyrs to destroy Kratos and his travelers. Hermes is bewildered at how a mortal could slay satyrs when Poseidon decides to speak to his champion and have him eliminate Ares’ contender. Kratos meets Herodius aboard his docked ship and a bloody battle ensues. It’s learned that Herodius must reach the Ambrosia to cure his island of a plague set upon them by Poseidon that has infected all of his people. Kratos doesn’t seem to care as he plunges a sword through his head and sets sail for the island of Leucas. Enraged by being disqualified from the competition, Poseidon calls forth the fury of the seas to destroy Kratos’ ship. Kratos and a few of his crew reach the surface of the water after Poseidon’s attack just as a whirlpool drags them to the oceans depths.
OKAY. I GET IT. YOU’RE BAD.
I’ll just say it. This issue doesn’t impress me. The first issue had a lot of story to it and moved along nicely. This issue doesn’t feel as long but I think that that’s only because what I’m reading isn’t that interesting. They spent entirely too much time showing the battle with Herodius and his men. Much of this story is spent bragging about how superior one person (or god) is to another. There is too much ego. Wait. Did I just say that about a God of War title? I guess so. Even for God of War terms it gets to be a bit much. Perhaps hearing it in the game is easier than reading it on the page.
I think that maybe the best scenes are when Kratos is fighting creatures and not men. The creatures are at least interesting to look at where the men all seem to look the same and boast the same battle cry. Perhaps they should have lengthened the battle with the satyrs and shortened the battle with Herodius. I don’t understand how Kratos can dispatch the Olympian threat faster than the human one. The only real thing of interest in this issue is the page when Poseidon summons pillars of water to close in on the ship. As the water gets closer it transforms in to steeds much like the Lord of the Ring did with Arwen at the river. Other than that, it was a pretty lack luster issue.
WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?
It seems that the art has gotten even harder to see in the second issue. It was interesting in the first title but when I can’t tell that Kratos is being covered by spiders because he’s cast in too much shadow, you know you have a problem. There’s even a god that’s so dark that I can’t tell who he’s supposed to be. His text bubble is orange so I’m thinking its Helios but, as I recall in the game, Helios’ head is on fire so it can’t be him. No one ever mentions his name so I suppose I should just wait until this god’s champion emerges to finally find out who the heck he is. The panel where Herodius dies is no better. I had to just keep reading and find out what the final result of the battle was before I can figure out how it was won. I really hope that the next issue adds more color to the pages because the fan in me is starting to feel its limits to how much more I want to strain to read this.
IN NEED OF SOME GODLY INTERVENTION
I love the game so I’m going to have to take into account my bias when I judge this issue. The first issue was great and the art didn’t bother me because there was just enough light sources to show me what was happening. When you have to struggle to understand that you’re looking at a guy getting hit in the chest with a flail, it doesn’t help you enjoy the title even if you can hear their voices in your head. I have to give this issue one and a half star. The story gives it two and a half for just being dull and the art drops it down another whole star for being hard to look at.
