WARNING: The following review contains major spoilers for the manga in question.
StarCraft: Frontline Volume 2 delivers the same close-up look at the StarCraft universe as volume 1. Volume 1 set the stage for the StarCraft comics, therefore SC:L reviewed it extensively. The following short stories from volume 2 continue the momentum that has been established:
Heavy Armor Part 2
Synopsis
"Heavy Armor Part 2" continues where Part 1 left off. Captain Jon Dyre was ransacking a colony on Dylar IV in his Viking, and Wes Carter stepped into his inferior “Wyrm” mech in order to save the colonists. Jon Dyre is a man with a history. Having “written the book on ground combat” and once eradicating a Zerg infestation almost singlehandedly, Jon Dyre has had an eminent military career. However, his inner demons, the horrors he witnessed when forced to kill infested colonists as well as infested members of his own unit, combined with his increased intake of Stim Packs, has instilled a paranoia inside him. He now believes that colonists are being infested, yet no signs of their infestation is visible upon death. Carter lured Dyre away from the colony and on top of a natural gas field, which he then targeted with a missile, doing damage to Dyre’s Viking. The fight ended when Carter again lured Dyre away into tempa, a terrain feature like both quicksand and wet concrete. Carter’s Wyrm was destroyed, but Dyre’s Viking was trapped in the tempa. Dyre then entered the self-destruct sequence for his Viking, and died with it.
Review
Heavy Armor Part 2 contained the same awesome mecha action as Part 1. Even though the Terrans are using sophisticated mecha, there is still the feeling that these machines are nothing but rickety contraptions that the Terrans have forged to survive on the galactic rim – the same feeling present in StarCraft. However, the entire story felt a little cliché, reusing many common elements such as “battling inner demons”.
Story - 7/10
Art - 8.5/10
CreepSynopsis:
The narrator in this story is a Protoss scientist named Gruu. The story begins with a Shuttle emerging from the at the Protoss Advance Experimental Facility, PAX, for short. PAX has a history of unethical and unconventional scientific experimentation, with one of their scientists, Nubas, deciding to experiment on himself by supercharging his genetics. The experiment went wrong, with Nubas transforming into a globular monstrosity and dieing shortly thereafter. Three Protoss Zealots, Golarath, Ruom and Akam brought a sample of creep to Protoss scientists at PAX. The Zealots have been charged with overseeing the experiment to ensure that previous “mistakes” would be avoided. The creep sample was injected with an experimental viral agent that was supposed to infect and destroy creep, effectively committing genocide against the Zerg.
However, the Protoss are plunged into a nightmarish predicament; when Ruom and Golarath go in to extract tissue from the creep they are instead surrounded and infested by it. Golarath fell on his Psi Blades in order to protect the other Protoss from infestation. Ruom’s mind turned into a torrent of nonsensical and contradictory imagery and he was sent to be placed in isolation. Due to the virus injected into the creep sample, the creep itself metamorphosed into a type of psionic predator, attacking the Protoss mentally via their nerve appendages, foggint the khala for them and trying to lure them into madness. False and eerie images were implanted into the Protoss’ minds, such as Protoss skeletons and Protoss crawling on their bellys through a corridor.
Afterwards, the only warp gate at PAX was destroyed. Another Khalai scientist, Wa'Rak was also infected by the creep, who the remaining Protoss theorize was the one to destroy the Stargate. Wa'Rak cut off his own nerve appendages to prevent the madness from continuing and to protect the remaining Protoss. The Protoss then started blaming the events on the deceased scientist Nubas, who they believe reached a form of ascension after his death and has mentally returned to make the Protoss pay for allowing him to be experimented on. However, this is probably not the case – the creep is most likely the culprit. The Protoss themselves were confused about the true circumstances of brother Nubas’s death – probably an effect from the creep.
Ruom then emerges and takes Akam's head off with Psi Blades. Protoss normally cannot be infested due to the nature of the Khala, but the creep has evolved, and if it spreads beyond PAX, all Protoss are imperiled. Ruom continues hunting the remaining Protoss down as their heads are filled with horrific images from the madness being propagated by the creep. Eventually, Gruu takes control of a laser found in the lab, and psionically guides it to shoot the creep and the cooling crystals that were keeping the creep sample at an optimum temperature. With the cooling crystals broken, the rest of PAX freezes over. Later, a group of Terrans find the creep sample, hinting that the story might be continued in the future...
Review
"Creep" was a story replete with macabre and horrific imagery, a perfect choice for the subject matter. However, it’s hard to follow, and readers will most likely not make sense of it during their first pass through. Some of the art is unidentifiable, and it requires nothing less than detective work to discern who the narrator actually was. The overuse of pretentious jargon doesn’t help readability either. The Protoss were drawn just plain weird in this short story, with their mouths being much too thin. It seemed kind of strange that the Protoss have never put creep up to the microscope in all this time, and that a sample is really that hard to get. However, seeing a Protoss science facility was extremely interesting. And the Infested Protoss was eerie, cool and scary all at the same time.
Story - 8/10
Art - 7/10
Newsworthy
Synopsis
Kate Lockwell is a star UNN reporter who recently acquired the chance to accompany a Dominion Marine battalion on a mission to Candore, and interview Emperor Mengsk shortly after. The opportunity was one that could make her career. Aboard a Battlecruiser, Major Hawkins probes Kate’s loyalty to the Dominion, and ensures that she won’t betray them, like the last embedded reporter the Dominion allowed – Michael Liberty. Aboard the Battlecruiser, Kate’s old cameraman, Zack Oliver, whom she fired months ago, unexpectedly showed up as her replacement cameraman. Kate reported on pre-arranged events which made the Dominion look good, until the Marines had to leave for an unexpected mission, which Kate could not accompany them for. The Marines captured rebels and put them into the brig of the Battlecruiser. Zack however, implored Kate to get both sides of the story.
Then late at night, Kate and Zack couldn’t resist heading down to the brig and seeing what’s what for themselves. To their shock, they found humans in the brig, who were locked away for simply speaking out against the Dominion. Kate interviewed a rebel, but was later caught with the footage. Major Hawkins then shoved Zack out the airlock, and later shot Kate through the chest while he was chasing after her. Michael Liberty and a band of rebels called the "Knights of Freedom" boarded the Battlecruiser and attacked the Dominion Marines onboard. They took a copy of the disk containing the interview footage from Kate, leaving Kate with another copy so that nothing else would be suspected. Kate was later seen on UNN reporting that Michael Liberty and the Knights of Freedom massacred Dominion troops and colonists. She was either resocialized or simply playing along to protect the footage she gave to Liberty. Michael Liberty decided that he would air Kate's footage next month, when Kate interviewed Arcturus Mengsk himself.
Review
"Newsworthy" was one of the better stories in Frontline Volume 2. It introduced us to the tense political scene within the Terran Dominion, and showed the extent that the Dominion takes to cover up its tracks. The story and art were crisp and clear, but if anything made the story hard to follow, it was Kate's unproportionally large chest. Nonetheless, it was good seeing Michael Liberty in this story and hearing about where he is now. We never got a chance to see his appearance in Liberty's Crusade, but his appearance and dialog in this short story certainly did him justice.
Story - 8/10
Art - 8/10
A Ghost Story
Synopsis
A down-on-their-luck Kel-Morian salvage team arrives on a fringe world in search of valuable technology. The team was made up of Luke Keegan, an engineer, Uriah Cyris, the Salvage Commander, Macy Clift, the information officer, and Chuck Tyorsine, the Combat Specialist. They find an abandoned complex and turn on the power generator. Macy gains access to a computer where she finds the work of Pelagius, some so-called “hybrid chem./bio/neuro-research” that nevertheless points to something big. Uriah however is only concerned with making a copy of the valuable information and selling it for credits.
On the computer, the crew finds vid-footage of the “Church of Besainted Brother Pelagius”. Pelagius managed to convert a Confederate Ghost into his fold. As one of his high brothers rambles onboard the computer screen, strange noises and voices begin to come from nowhere, scaring the crew. Other than Macy, the rest of the crew is mysteriously killed or has disappeared. As Macy begins to leave, Pelagius himself appears before her, and his Ghost pilots the crew’s ship away. Pelagius’s cohorts then emerge from their holes, including the newly-converted Luke Keegan. Pelagius discusses how he predicted the cleansing of the fringe planets by the Protoss, and further prophesises that he and his followers will be the only ones left as the rest of the universe is scoured. Macy is then grabbed by the followers, and the story ends…
Review
The most noticeable thing about “A Ghost Story” is the dark, but goofy art style. Despite the fact that some characters look like straight-up clowns, a few panels were exceptional – such as the incineration of a planet. It's clear that Pelagius, his Ghost and his machine-controlled followers have been in isolation for a long time. How exactly Pelagius made his prophecies or what his ultimate goal is is anybody's guess.
Story - 7/10
Art - 7/10
StarCraft: Frontline Volume 2 was a satisfying read for any StarCraft fan. Comics bring the universe alive in a much different way than the novels do, so every StarCraft fan should definitely pick them up. These comics also have better re-readability, as there are many details that might not be picked up during the first read through. The series has been expanded into four volumes now. Chris Metzen will contribute his Jim Raynor story to the last of them, volume 4. In the meantime, here is what's in store for volume 3:
The sadistic Dr. Burgess, from volume one's "Why We Fight," gets his bloody hands on Muadun, a recently captured protoss High Templar...
A lounge singer on a backwater planet brokers an unlikely peace between the Kel-Morians and the Dominion, until the zerg arrive...
To save her race after the zerg attack on Aiur, a protoss teacher learns to embrace the fearsome powers of the dark...
Senator Phash's innocent young son from volume one's "Weapon of War," is hunted by a government that would turn him into a killer...
