StarCraft: Frontline Volume 1 has some interesting stories to tell, and more planned for the second volume. It has some moments that help to give a good feel to the StarCraft world, and might add a little depth to those who are a bit less familiar with it.

Why We Fight

"Why We Fight" is actually three stories in one. It offers a good look at how each of the three races build up their armies, how they fight, and their reasons for doing so while trying to take control of a Xel'Naga Temple at Artika - located in the outskirts of the Koprulu Sector. However, this story is replete with cheesy one-liners – most of them derived from StarCraft. "Why We Fight" provides a general insight into the basics behind the three races, and works very well as an introductory story, though it's a little difficult to understand if you try to take it all in with one read. Though a little confusing, at each story's core is the basic goal that each race strives for, the means they use to achieve that goal, and how that goal affects the individuals fighting for it. During the course of this story, many units from Brood War and StarCraft 2 appear, suggesting that this takes place during a transitional period between the games. There are several one liners, most notably the lines thrown from the Marines or Zealots such as "For Aiur." or "Jacked up and good to go." There's even a Starship Troopers reference, which isn't surprising, since StarCraft makes so many sci-fi references, it's almost expected to see it in the manga. It's a little tough to read because of the layout, so we'll break it down into three storyline sections that unravel concurrently.

Terran

This story begins with a protest on the Dominion world of Tyrador IX at New Canaan. There is a large group of people protesting the Dominion before the Marines step in to ensure order. One of the protestors named Jin-Ho Lim tries to reach his fiancée Anna before he gets taken down. Jin-Ho Lim is taken away to become resocialized, but instead of being subject to the less invasive, standard method of Resoc Tanks, the sadistic Dr. Burgess has him undergo brain surgery and a procedure reminiscent of the Ludovico technique from A Clockwork Orange. After the procedure, Jin-Ho Lim has changed to the point where he is ordered to execute another protester - his fiancée - and shoots her in the face without a moment's hesitation. He's conscripted into the Death's Head Legion of Marines and sent into combat. Their Dropship sets down on Artika, as Wraiths and Valkyries push back a large group Mutalisks, Scourge, and Devourers. As the Marines pour out of the Dropships, Hydralisks attack the Marines, while a clutch of Zerglings come swarming down on a Goliath. A Queen then shoots spores at the Terrans. The Terrans are overwhelmed, but manage to secure the landing zone, though they lose their commander. Jin-ho Lim takes charge, and takes the remaining ground forces to occupy the temple. The Protoss had arrived a little while back, but had only been fighting the Zerg until now. As the Marines move towards the objective, they get attacked by Dark Templar. Most of them get sliced down before the Marines get any information relayed to them from a Comsat scan to be able to return fire. A squad of Wraiths flies by firing at the remaining Zerg as Jin-Ho Lim enters the temple. Here he encounters the new Protoss Zealot Khastiana who peers into Jin-Ho Lim's mind, and sees the damage that's been done to him from the resocialization process. She attempts to help him by repairing the damage, forcing him to remember the things that he did. Jin-ho loses control at the flood of the painful memories gushing back, and guns down the Protoss for making him remember as a scar-faced Zergling leaps from the darkness and impales him. Arcturus Mengsk then explains the reasons that the Terrans fight – to accumulate power and protect humanity from alien races.

Zerg

The Zerg start out with two Zerglings hatching from an egg on a Hive Cluster on Char. One of the Zerglings is more pale than the other, and they leap and tear at each other, one taking a slash across the face, but eventually killing the lighter hued Zergling, and then turning towards a larger group of Zerg and heading off. The action then shifts to a massive swarm of the Zerg all around the Xel'Naga Temple at Artika fighting the invading Terran forces. The Zerg have creep-like terrain around the temple's base, and the Terran are fighting against them to gain access to the temple. Our 'hero' Zergling with a scar over its left eye (which we'll call Scar for identification purposes) leaps up at Firebats, and stabs its claws into a Terran's chest. A larger overall battle is shown before cutting to Marines fighting Hydralisks. Scar leads some other Zerglings, killing another Terran before charging onboard a Dropship that's preparing to lift off. The Zergling sneaks through the hatch, tears the pilot's back open through the seat, and the ship crashes. Scar leaps out through the wreckage and continues on. A group of Immortals fire upward, blowing away an Overlord as Scar and its swarm charge forward. Scar tears into one of the Immortals, revealing the Protoss inside before killing it. As the Protoss tear through a group of Zerglings, Hydralisks, and Ultralisks to gain access to the temple, our scar-faced Zergling swiftly burrows into the ground, barely avoiding fire from a squad of Wraiths passing overhead. Scar eventually makes his way into the temple, and appears again leaping out of the darkness at the frightened Jin-Ho Lim, impaling him through the chest, while the wounded Khastiana cuts Scar down with her Psi-Blade. The scene then cuts back to Kerrigan speaking about the weak being culled while the strong are reborn again and again. Kerrigan then explains why the Zerg fight – in order to consume everything in the universe so that all of creation will bow before her, the Queen of Blades.

Protoss

The Protoss story begins at the Templar Archives on Ash'Arak with the young Protoss Khastiana talking with the Templar Muadun about serving as a Zealot. She completes her combat training against a Dark Templar on Shakuras, struggling with the fact that she must peer into a sentient being's soul, and still kill it, even to save the lives of others. She outmaneuvers the Dark Templar through her precognition ability – which is shown through her vantage point. She is then given her Zealot armor in a ceremony at the Citadel of Adun, and joins the forces headed for Artika. The fleet that arrives contains the new StarCraft II units along with Arbiters and Scouts. The Protoss Zealots are shown outside the Warp Gate on Shakuras before they are transported to the ground outside Artika by a Phase Prism. Khastiana cuts through Zerglings and Hydralisks, her shields protecting her from fire as she moves forward towards the Temple. One of the High Templar casts a Psionic Storm on a group of Hydralisks, and tells the Protoss that they must take the Temple. A group of Ultralisks charge at the Protoss. The Zealots leap to incredible heights in order to gain a better vantage point from which to fight the Ultralisks. Khastiana kills an Ultralisk by jamming a Psi Blade into the Ultralisk's soft spot behind its head. Inside the temple, as Jin-Ho Lim comes out of the darkness, Khastiana leaps out slicing through his weapon, but hesitates to kill him. As she peers into his mind, she sees the damage done by the resocialization, and she fixes him. He goes mad, gunning her down as a scar-faced Zerling comes out of the darkness and impales him. She slices the creature down as it falls, and her body is recalled back to Shakuras. The Praetor Muadun asks Artanis if it was worth the cost as Khastiana is placed inside an Immortal. He assures his comrade that she has not surrendered to despair, and neither can they.

 

 

Impressions

Terran

This story gives a look into how various criminals are taken and "resocialized" for combat. The Terrans have a very small percentage of willing participants in the front lines of their military, which isn't surprising given the high death rate of the average Marine. Having seen the resocialization used to control criminals, like the Marine who was a serial killer in Firstborn, it's interesting to see how it's also used on relatively harmless people, like the Marine from the planet Bountiful in Shadow of the Xel'Naga, and now in the protester Jin-Ho Lim. The section showing how Detector units or a Comsat scan reveal cloaked units to the Terran was very interesting in giving a small bit of realism to the mechanic. The mix of both old and new units shows that this story takes place at a mid point between the two games, and that the new units and evolution of combat was a gradual process. The Terran have a large difficulty in the StarCraft universe that the Protoss are only recently overcoming with the Dark Templar. More so than either of the other races, the Terran have internal power struggles. The Dominion seeks to unify the Terran by any means necessary, and to force them to fight for the same goals.

Zerg

It's easy to miss the Zerg having a role in this story, instead of being an aggressor, especially if it's read all in one take. This is because the idea of following an individual Zergling isn't common like following the story of a Marine or a Zealot. The Zerg send waves of forces, and their deaths don't shake morale, or hold the same value, and they have no ulterior motivations. Nor do they have a past, as they are spawned, and exist solely for the purpose of living to destroy and assimilate their opponents. The idea of a stronger individualism still existing in the Swarm, like the cerebrates' reincarnation process, but to a lesser extent is very interesting. The Zerg are still said to serve the original purpose of the Swarm, until every living thing will bow before the Queen of Blades or die. It makes the Zerg seem like they're capable of individualism, but not at the expense of the will of the Swarm, and this even applies to Kerrigan, although she is the figurehead for the pinnacle of Zerg Evolution. Since the Overmind and the cerebrates are now gone, the fact that the motivations of the Swarm have not been lost under Kerrigan's control of the Zerg is reassuring. Kerrigan is more like a careful tactician, carrying out the will of the Swarm. It's always been known that the loss of a unit isn't a loss to the Zerg, but the idea that when a unit is struck down, everything they learned is carried on by the Swarm to help perfect their design makes them a truly frightening enemy.

Protoss

This story gives an interesting look at combat taking place on the ground via Warp-In for large Protoss assaults. The air units arrive early to secure locations for the ground forces, allowing the Phase Prisms to deploy, and bring them in from wherever the available ground forces are. It also shows how Protoss are transported from their homeworld (or where they are trained) to a battlefield. In this case, the Warp Gate acts as the conduit that sends the warping Protoss to the Phase Prism.

This story also offers some more insight to the inner workings of Protoss society, being the more peaceful of the three races, and how the Protoss train from civilian to warrior. It's also one of the first times that the unification of the Protoss has been seen with the Dark Templar and the Zealots training together. It shows how the Protoss are now working together to strengthen themselves and overcome their enemies. One confusing aspect is that Khastiana somehow ascended from an untrained Khalai Protoss to a so-called "5th level Khala Adept" Templar in a very short time. This quick ascension did not do the Protoss justice, as it normally takes the Protoss years or decades of training to reach those levels.

The fact that the Protoss peer into the minds of those they attack, and that even after being shot down trying to save one of her enemies, Khastiana still won't give up hope is central to the new Protoss, and their goals and feelings towards retaking Aiur.

Art

The art style remains very close to how the generic units and buildings look from concept art, and what they've been shown as in game. This holds true for the close up shots of all the old units as well as those from StarCraft II. There are lots of spectacular epic scale battle scenes, and for the most part, the units all manage to stay fairly clear despite the mayhem, and destruction. On top of this, the Protoss give a good look at both the male and the female Protoss Zealots, and the differences in their facial features. However, there are some issues. The Ultralisks are incredibly massive. Far larger in scale than they have ever been shown before, as an example they're probably five times the size of the ones seen in the "StarCraft: Ghost" trailer. The Protoss warp-in artwork looks like wisps of smoke and nothing like the data warp from StarCraft II - which wouldn't be as bad if the panels were in color. When Khastiana is warped back to Shakuras it appeared that she was casting a Psionic Storm. The Roach makes its appearance in a single tiny panel, and it's almost impossible to tell what's being shown because of the coloration and awkward view. The Carrier still appears to look just like the old Tempest, and without the color, it's really impossible to tell what it was intended to be. If it was a Carrier, something matching the newer artwork would have been preferable. Though they only have a brief appearance, Mengsk and Kerrigan differ from their StarCraft2.com artwork, and Artanis's features are vastly different from his Brood War incarnation.

 

Thundergod

This story centers around three main characters on Mar Sara. Sandin Forst - nicknamed "Thundergod" because he's the top Thor pilot with over twice the kills of the next top pilot. He often finds illicit ways to earn money on the side with a little bit of help from his friends Rieff and Garth. Rieff is the closest thing Sandin has to a friend. Rieff is an SCV pilot/hacker, and has remained so because Sandin's side jobs pay better than he'd make as a high-level computer ops. Garth is an obedient Crucio Siege Tank pilot who always gets the job done. Sandin and his friends leave during an assault on the Zerg to plunder the remains of the Jacobs Installation. The firepower they're using will go unnoticed amongst the vicious fighting occurring farther away. The story discusses the rumors about what the Confederacy used the Jacobs Installation for, and that it still remained after the planet was bombarded by the Protoss (shown to be executed by Motherships). Next, the resettling of Mar Sara is explained:

 

Ever on the hunt for new resources to exploit, the Kel-Morian Combine had quickly set up several facilities on Mar Sara the moment that it had been deemed at all habitable…The result of so many miners with little else to do on their free-time had created shanty-towns with almost no law. The Dominion had sent in forces to ‘keep the peace,' but they had also been interested in other activities.

 

The Dominion had apparently been very adamant that the Kel-Morians were not to excavate the remains of the Jacobs Installation, and had done quite a bit to cover up that any interaction between them ever happened. Sandin had discovered that there was a stash of Ardeon Crystals of very high value within the Jacobs Installation, and he intended to recover them. Sandin used the Thor to break through the rock and walls into the complex. Garth went in the complex to investigate, but was destroyed by sentry guns which managed to easily destroy the Crucio's tough armor. Rieff became cautious, as part of the installation has had painstaking care put into it to ensure that it remained running. Sandin urges them to continue, the uneasy feeling growing especially when Rieff learns that Sandin plans to leave with his new-found riches and become a deserter. They continue on, using Rieff to spot the activity, and the Thor to take out the guns before they get in range. They manage to reach a door that even the Thor can't bypass through brute force, so Rieff hacks and gets it to open. Seconds after the doors open, Sandin shows his true colors and shoots Rieff's SCV into rubble. He continues down to the crystals, and gets out to load them. In doing so he notices a viscous liquid clinging to his hand. He starts hearing voices, and an urge to kill rises. A look at his hand reveals everything; the Zerg spores that had remained on the crystals are infesting him. His madness quickens, and spines emerge from his body as he climbs back into the Thor becoming consumed by the urge to kill. He attempts to destroy the crystals, as the facility locks down around him. Unable to escape, he fires until he breaks through the floor, going mad and still firing, and finally fatally crashing into the ground below. It ends noting that greed and the most minute of weapons can combine to bring down the most gargantuan of war machines, and the greatest of empires, even "Thundergods", are destined to suffer their downfall.

 

 

Impressions

In "Thundergod", the extent of the Confederacy's and the Dominion's efforts at secrecy were revealed, and the lengths they went through in order to cover up what experiments had been done at the Jacobs Installation, even though they literally had to bury a fortune to do so. The extreme value of the Ardeon Crystals begs the question of whether these crystals and the yellow crystals that we see in StarCraft II are one in the same. Seeing an SCV perform more complicated tasks gives the little workers a little more credit, and helps show that it's not only a grunt job. As a showcase for the Thor, this story works very well. Nothing like the Siege Tank's long bombardment, the Thor is almost always standing within the smoke of its own destructive power. The story also showed the Wild West type feeling to the world of Mar Sara that has been seen with the Starcraft2.com Mar Sara update. The fact that the Jacobs Installation remains intact even after the Protoss razed the world through their Motherships' orbital bombardment may account for the continued or renewed presence of the Zerg. It introduces the Kel-Morian Combine setting up small mining towns, and the Dominion's presence there to regulate the law, keep the peace, fight the Zerg, and make sure nothing gets uncovered that should stay buried.

 

Art

Thundergod's art seem to change based on what's being shown. While the characters have a slightly more sketched look about them features being vague, and tending to look more stylized, the Thor and the other vehicles are rendered with careful, realistic precision. The cockpits are shown in detail, and seem correct for the pilots. It was interesting to note though, that the Thor is operated with a joystick. There are small details like, when the Thor fires, bracer pads extend from the rear of its feet for support. The lighting showing high contrast when its guns annihilate whatever lies in front of it. The scenes of the three vehicles moving across Mar Sara, and making their way into the Jacobs Installation are crisp, and display the scale of the SCV, Siege Tank, and Thor. The top-heavy Thor's movement looks a little odd at one point, with one of its feet pulled way back as if it was in the middle of a sprint, but overall it's very well done.

 

Weapon of War

This story takes place on the Maltair IV Vespene Gas Facility. A six and a half year old boy named Colin is with his father Senator Phash and a squad of Marines - Captain Veers, Piett, Jenkins, Rivera, Paolilli, and Chavez. They're visiting a facility under the control of Mr. Dagget that is mining for hidden pockets of Vespene gas in the crust. The facility is a key location in the Dominion's current supply of Vespene. The workers' morale is low, and Dagget is trying to secure more money from the Senator for his men. Captain Veers takes a liking to the boy, commenting that he would have had a son the boy's age, but his child and wife died on Tarsonis. Seconds later, a massive swarm of Zerg descends on the facility. The Senator, Marines, Mr. Dagget, and the remaining survivors are forced deep inside to secure cover. 70 hours later, Colin senses that the Zerg are close again, raising suspicion from Mr. Dagget as the Zerg come pouring in, and they are forced back again. While firing from cover, Jenkins breaks rank, and gets killed by the swarm of Zerg. As they continue back into the corridor after the firefight, Piett brings up the topic that no one's brought up – using the kid as a weapon against the Zerg. Veers says that Piett of everyone should understand, because his brother is a ghost. Piett screams that his brother is a freak, and was taken away when he was younger than the kid, and turned into a weapon. Mr. Dagget comments back that that's how things should be - and would be if the Senator didn't pull strings to keep his kid safe. Phash responds by punching Dagget in the mouth, and confirming their suspicions. Dagget stands and knocks the Senator unconscious, and Colin rushes to his father's side. Veers pushes Dagget into a wall insisting that they stop fighting or everyone's going to end up dead, and tells Dagget that he's responsible for carrying the unconscious Senator. There's a bunker about a half a day from their current location, but with the Zerg everywhere he doesn't think they'll be able to reach it.

Piett suggests that they leave Colin behind with explosives, and continues on - addressing the rest of the survivors. Since his psionics are completely untrained, and not kept in check through inhibitors, they attract the Zerg and are giving away the peoples' location. Aside from the fact that if it weren't for the boy's father, he'd have been trained and put on a proper leash a long time ago. Veers disagrees, stating that that's not how it works, and the boy's warnings have saved them on several occasions. Veers goes on to say that the boy is a human being, and is now under his protection. Veers tells everyone to rest, and that they'll be moving out in a few hours. While everyone is sleeping Piett knocks out Veers and captures Colin, taking him off into the facility and leaving him trapped with explosives. Veers awakens, and knocks out the other two Marines. Confronting Piett, Veers tells him to move out and protect the civilians on route to the bunker, before going after Colin. He finds the boy, and unties him as two Zerglings descend on him from behind. He fights them off, but takes a severe blow to the chest. Colin's panic blows one of the creature's skulls open, and Veers manages to stuff the explosive into the other's mouth. The explosion clears, and Colin asks Veers if he's alright, completely unaware that his abilities kept the two of them from being harmed. Veers is fatally wounded however, and tells Colin that they're going to play a game of hide and seek, and that Colin has to get to the bunker to press the distress beacon before he hides. The boy runs off as Veers starts counting, swarms of Zerg gather behind the wounded Veers in the darkness as he runs off.

Meanwhile, the other Marines and survivors move out with Mr. Dagget leaving Senator Phash unconscious on the ground behind them. As they continue through the corridors, Piett thinks he hears something and turns to face a Hydralisk, guns blazing. The Zerg continue to pour in from all directions, descending on the Marines and the other Terrans, shredding them to pieces. One of the Marines dies, coating Dagget's face in blood. Dagget backs up pleading with the approaching Zerg, and staring in fear before a Hydralisk swings its massive scythed claws and decapitates him. Piett continues firing until he runs out of ammunition, and then uses another explosive to kill himself and the surrounding Zerg. Senator Phash wakes up, Colin running to his side. They're in the Bunker and the distress beacon has been activated, Colin apologizes if his father's hurt, since he had to drag him. Upon wondering why they're alone, Colin replies that the others weren't very good at Hide and Seek.

 

Impressions

This story shows the feeling of fear that the Terran have of the Zerg, and of all psionics. Ghosts are a very interesting and key element in StarCraft's storyline. There's a lot of unknown potential, and misunderstandings involving psychic powers from the Terran. It's interesting exploring the powers of a boy who hasn't been put into the Ghost program, and how most of the time, he isn't even aware of what he's doing or how to control his abilities. Keep in mind that blowing up the head of a Zergling shouldn't be easy for Terran psionicists. Either the boy was an extremely powerful psychic or the authors are too liberal with their representation of a Terran psionic powers.

This story also helps show the strong feelings of the Terran towards resocializing and controlling their troops. Especially when looking at the Zerg, and knowing that Kerrigan herself was once a Terran Ghost, their comments are easily understandable. There's a well portrayed dark, treacherous atmosphere that StarCraft is known for. The whole comic feels like the cinematic "The Amerigo". While it doesn't really show anything new about the Zerg, it does let them be the creeping monsters in the darkness again, descending to rip apart Terran, innocent, guilty, armed, and helpless alike without mercy or hesitation. This story holds another possible sci-fi reference: Piett and Veers are both Imperial officers on the Super Star Destroyer Executor in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Art

The artwork is much more heavily stylized than the other pieces. It has a painted look, lacking defined lines and shadow, with the characters' faces being more anime-like, and the Zerglings being a little lankier and spidery-looking. Some of the art looked plain ridiculous (i.e. the drawing of some faces and Dagget punching Senator Phash six feet into the air).

The painted style often causes the Zerglings to appear as little more than dark spikey blurs with eyes. That being said, the style works in helping this piece to achieve the dark, creepy feeling that it would be missing with clearer images. It helps to make the swarms of Zerg in the darkness a frightening mass of eyes and claws, and gives them the appearance of stretched out monstrous silhouettes of what they really are. However, when the art does display something in detail, it has some spectacular panels. Kerrigan standing at the invasion and Dagget being decapitated by the Hydralisk are excellent for any Zerg fan.

Heavy Armor Part 1

On the Dominion world of Ursa, Wes Carter is preparing his Wyrm (a precursor to the Viking) for ground combat step-off. As it slowly warms up, his former commanding officer, Captain Jon Dyre, is destroying civilians as well as anything else in sight with a Viking. In comparing the two machines Carter muses that the Wyrm moves with all the grace and finesse of a recently tranquilized Rhynadon, whereas the Viking is hell on wheels. He thinks about the report that's going to be filed, and the details it's going to list on the reasons for the events taking place, and how he doesn't think they'll even touch the main issue. Carter and Dyre then lock in combat. Carter narrowly avoids missile fire from the Viking, and rebukes Dyre for not being the same man who taught him everything he knew about piloting heavy armor, the codes to follow and firing on non-military targets, while questioning his motivation. Dyre turns to face Carter, and the story shifts back to where everything began.

Visiting dignitaries came to the Dominion planet of Ursa to view the new Viking technology. Captain Jon Dyre was chosen to demonstrate the Viking Ground/Air Combat Facilitation System. Carter is talking to his Chief, saying that Dyre's been on edge ever since they arrived, and he advises against letting him pilot for the PR Display that the Dominion's putting on. The Chief tries to shrug him off, as Jon Dyre's one of the most highly decorated officers in the Dominion Fleet. Carter states that he's known Dyre for six years, fought with him in 29 campaigns, and the man saved his own life on 3 occasions, so it's not something he can just let go. The Chief gets Carter to agree to let Dyre perform the demonstration, and afterward he'll be scheduled for a full evaluation. Carter approaches his friend just before the dome asking if he's alright, because he just saw him use a stimpack and he doesn't think that the occasion warrants the need for one. Dyre says that the enemy never sleeps, and goes to start the demo. As the demonstration starts, Dyre turns the Viking and fires missiles at the base, destroying rows of Crucio Siege Tanks and Banshees, thus crippling any sort of tactical response that the base may have been able to put up. The civilians run towards a Dropship to get shuttled off to safety as Carter mentions that this was just a move to prevent anything from stopping Dyre from completing his objective whatever it may be. He gears up for combat, climbs aboard the Wyrm, and begins to start it up. The rest will be concluded in Part 2.

 

 

Impressions

This story did a nice job of showing off the Terran Viking mecha, and establishing the evolution of the Terran's vehicles. For example, in "Why We Fight" there were Wraiths, and Valkyries dominating the air, now we see the Banshee, Crucio Siege Tanks, the Wyrm, and the Viking being shown off by the Terran military. It provides an interesting look into the inner workings of the Terran military structure, and showing off their new technology as well as the development process. We get to see a branch of the Terran military that's not placed in the front lines, and where the individuals make a career out of what they do. It was also nice to see how Terran soldiers suit up and interact with each other. The information about using Stim Packs when they're on edge, and the so far unrevealed motivations for the actions of Jon Dyre are all quite compelling, and help to build the characters in the story towards a conclusion in the next installment. The story does have a small issue. Since it begins with the battle between Carter and Dyre, and then flashes back to where everything began (the pages turn black at this point) the story feels like it's cut a bit short. Just when it finishes explaining everything, the reader has to wait for the completion of the tale during in Volume 2. At first, rather than building tension and excitement for the next installment, it's rather confusing as you reached the chronological ending midway through. After having "Why We Fight†cram three stories into one it's difficult ending things with a story that's half finished even though it's an interesting tale it seems like the most compelling bits of the story are yet to come in Volume 2.

Art

The style in this story is crisp and clear. There's never too much going on in a single panel which allows for rather dynamic and personal shots of the characters and vehicles. It feels very similar to "Why We Fight" in many ways but is focused in on a much smaller scale.

 

Conclusion

StarCraft: Frontline had some enjoyable artwork showcased a few different styles and told some new stories. It definitely immersed the reader into the StarCraft universe. Though short the stories each served their purpose. However they left something to be desired and could arguably have been expanded into a work that felt slightly more complete or spanned a greater amount of pages to avoid cramming so many details in such a short space. Their length belies the amount of detail that's been put into the book so even though it's a quick read it may not be sufficient to fully grasp the storylines and Frontline definitely benefits from a second pass through. Frontline's weakest point however is that was hard to follow - especially when trying to keep track of the characters. The stories themselves were sub-standard; little to no characters or events were truly interesting or memorable - given the length of the manga though this isn't really a surprise. Hopefully the sequel will help to generate a more involved feeling with the storylines and make them seem less small-scale. Since StarCraft: Frontline was pretty short and can probably be read in one sitting most people will just give it a quick pass through rather than buying it. Nevertheless if you're a serious StarCraft fan you'll still want this manga in your collection. Keep an eye out in November and see where StarCraft: Frontline Volume 2 takes things.

 

Upcoming Releases

Here are some of the upcoming adventures in Volume 2:

• "Why We Fight" by Josh Elder: The story continues when the sadistic Dr. Burgess gets his hands on the High Templar Muadun who has been recently captured. The doctor seeks to test his theory that mankind's adaptability makes them inherently superior.
• "Newsworthy" by Grace Randolph: Reporter Nora Colby gets the interview of a lifetime during her duty with the Marines but what she discovers is so horrifying she may not be able to report it.
• "Creep" by Simon Furman: The Protoss begin experimenting with Zerg creep with fascinating and disastrous results!
• "Just Another Ghost Story" by Kieron Gillen: On the decimated fringe-world of Antiga Prime Kel-Morian soldier-scavengers uncover a deserted compound which appears to be haunted.
• "Heavy Armor: Part 2" by Simon Furman: Wes Carter and Jon Dyre's confrontation reaches its exciting conclusion.
• Chris Metzen himself may contribute a Jim Raynor story for Volume 3.

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