I’ve played Fortnite for exactly one session. For an afternoon, I sat down attempting to figure out how to play the game and found the experience to be the classic Halo matches except amped up to 11 as if everyone was on energy drinks. The experience wasn’t positive and I haven’t tried again. So, going into Fortnite x Marvel: Zero War #1 my knowledge of the property was minimal. I know it’s a video game and it often has crossovers with other properties. The story, the characters, that’s all new to me. And generally, I still have no idea what’s going on.
Written by Christos Gage and Donald Mustard, Fortnite x Marvel: Zero War #1 has Spider-Man recruiting heroes to take on some bad guys who seem to control reality. It’s all a little weird and doesn’t feel like it totally jives with the Marvel comic universe but whatever, it’s a threat and gives a reason to fight. Spider-Man gives the rundown to Wolverine as he attempts to recruit him for a mission and it sort of makes sense.
Where the comic gets bumpy is there are a lot of references to Fortnite chapters as if someone coming to the comic not from the game would understand any of it or even know where to go to reference these things. It’s not like a comic where there’s an issue you can find, we’re talking events from a video game storyline. It’s familiar and not at the same time. The story Spider-Man weaves is just utterly confusing, something the comic itself acknowledges, which is at least something.
Sergio Dávila provides the art with ink by Sean Parsons, color by Edgar Delgado, and lettering by Joe Caramagna. The comic looks good but there’s an excitement aspect that’s not there. When it comes to comics and Fortnite, my previous experience was the DC crossover. There was a kinetic aspect to it that delivered a lot of excitement. That’s not here. The art feels rather flat in that way. For a story that features characters bouncing all over, the visuals play out very static and boring.
Fortnite x Marvel: Zero War #1 isn’t bad, it sets things up for what’s to come. It does its best at explaining what’s going on. Fortnite fans may understand that a bit more but those new might feel a bit lost. While it’s not bad, the comic might be one for Fortnite fans more than just Marvel.
Story: Christos Gage, Donald Mustard Art: Sergio Dávila
Ink: Sean Parsons Color: Edgar Delgado Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
