Warframe, the free game for PC and console, has a pretty simple surface premise: be a robot space ninja with guns and do cool parkour tricks. It’s free and, honestly, it serves the game well. You don’t have to care more about what’s going on that that if you don’t want to. In a lot of ways, it’s a lot like Overwatch in that respect: lore is meant to enhance the experience of the gameplay but isn’t entirely necessary. It’ll definitely make things clearer however, especially as you get deeper into the game’s story missions.

The Warframe comics from Image and Top Cow also help to fill in some of the lore of the world of Warframe where Tenno, Grineer, and other factions are constantly at war over the solar system and the secrets of the Orokin hidden within the Void. The first arc thus far seems to come before the start of the game and details how a Tenno came to be in the hands of the Grineer Captain Vor. If you’re curious about how what’s supposed to be a great warrior ended up a prisoner of war, #1 and 2 fill in the gap well.

Fans of the game will recognize several faces (or, in the case of Warframes, “faces”) like the Lotus, Vor, Excalibur, Mag as well as locations like the Ostron village of Cetus introduced in the latest major patch of the game, Plains of Eidolon, and an Orokin vault. But other characters will be a new vector of storytelling from the ideas of Steve Sinclair and the writing team of Matt Hawkins and Ryan Cady. My favorite bits thus far have been the expletive substitutes used in #2. It’s always interesting to see how writers choose to navigate language in sci-fi settings.

The art by Studio Hive works well with this, stylizing the lush worlds created by developer Digital Extremes in much the same way as final concept art to help draw you in deeper. Alongside the lettering of Troy Peteri that makes it easy to follow along with who exactly is speaking when, this comic is a well communicated and smooth read.

If you’re a fan of the game or have become one, this comic is definitely one to pick up to dive even deeper into the lore of a game that already has a ton to offer. And hey, the game is free.

Story: Matt Hawkins, Ryan Cady Art: Studio Hive
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0
Recommendation: Keep up with it if you’re invested in Warframe’s lore or want to be

#1 was obtained as a convention exclusive, #2 was provided to Graphic Policy.