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Halo: Uprising #1-4
Halo: Uprising
Picking up from the conclusion of blockbuster video game Halo 2, this must-read reveals how the Master Chief, while onboard a hostile ship headed towards Earth, is battling against Covenant forces! Intertwined with Master Chief's interstellar one-man-war is the saga of a great American city's rebellion and downfall, two disparate lives' collision and shared fate, and the Covenant's hunt for an ancient relic of untold power and value. With hope dwindling and the fate of humanity hanging by a thread, is there any chance for a future? Read this debut issue to start the journey into the Halo universe! Collects Halo: Uprising #1-4, and Marvel Spotlight: Halo.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published December 3, 2008
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,698 books2,439 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
March 4, 2024
Brian Michael Bendis does a great job of isolating this story: if you are a Halo fan you will enjoy the attention to detail; if you just want to read a great sci-fi GN you be able to understand this story without continuity. Friends of mine that are really into Halo have recommended this book on several occasions.
December 22, 2021
Set between Halo 2 and 3, Cleveland is attacked when the Covenant learns of a key that resides there. The story follows two ordinary people as they try and stay alive during the invasion. There's a nice twist in there as well. Maleev draws some great looking battle scenes although the colors are a little dark at times.
December 27, 2018
Halo: Uprising is one of the better tie-in comics I’ve read…well, ever. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, with GORGEOUS art by Alex Maleev, it manages to tell the kind of story that’s increasingly rare in today’s tie-in market: one that fits in nicely within the property’s established canon, while also being distinct and interesting in its own right. The fact that it gives us a pair of wholly original characters that we actually care about that AREN’T named Master Chief or Cortana….well, that’s more than the writers of “Contact Harvest” and “The Cole Protocol” could manage in 400-some pages!
December 2, 2011
This is a really interesting collaboration by one of Marvel Comics’ premier creative teams. Fresh off from their critically lauded run on Daredevil, writer Brian Bendis and artist Alex Maleev reunite on an unexpected project, an original miniseries based on the hit video game Halo.
That the game has science fiction heavy themes, does not deter the duo, whose last work was on crime and noir comic book fiction. Reading the supplemental material in this hardcover collection of their miniseries, they are perfect for their assignment. Aside from being acclaimed comic book creators, they actually send their free time in the Halo universe, playing both single and multi player modes of the game.
Bendis manages to write a script that showcases both their talents, while also highlighting one of the main themes of the game which is the Master Chief’s indomitable will in his lonely war against the Covenant. Bendis has his signature dialogue heavy lines while giving Maleev the chance to show his strength in realistic and gritty artwork. This makes Maleev the right artist for one of the plots that involve a civilian uprising as the Covenant invade Cleveland. Turning a futuristic city into a warzone happens to be one of Maleev’s strengths.
Publishers don’t normally assign their top talent to licensed properties, but it appears Marvel went all out to secure the Halo license. This makes me want to try the original graphic novel that came before this miniseries and any follow up material.
You don’t have to be a video game player to enjoy these Halo comics. You just have to appreciate good comics.
That the game has science fiction heavy themes, does not deter the duo, whose last work was on crime and noir comic book fiction. Reading the supplemental material in this hardcover collection of their miniseries, they are perfect for their assignment. Aside from being acclaimed comic book creators, they actually send their free time in the Halo universe, playing both single and multi player modes of the game.
Bendis manages to write a script that showcases both their talents, while also highlighting one of the main themes of the game which is the Master Chief’s indomitable will in his lonely war against the Covenant. Bendis has his signature dialogue heavy lines while giving Maleev the chance to show his strength in realistic and gritty artwork. This makes Maleev the right artist for one of the plots that involve a civilian uprising as the Covenant invade Cleveland. Turning a futuristic city into a warzone happens to be one of Maleev’s strengths.
Publishers don’t normally assign their top talent to licensed properties, but it appears Marvel went all out to secure the Halo license. This makes me want to try the original graphic novel that came before this miniseries and any follow up material.
You don’t have to be a video game player to enjoy these Halo comics. You just have to appreciate good comics.
January 31, 2024
A pretty cool adventure set right after the events of Halo 3 Master Chief is on that Forerunner ship that flew out of the Covenant's city-ship High Charity.
Apparently Halo 2 was supposed to have a couple levels on this ship and on Earth but got scrapped because of time constraints. I always found it awkward that Halo 2 ends with you playing as the Arbiter. And then I didn't play Halo 3 until fairly recently. Halo 3 starts with the Forerunner ship breaking into Earth's atmosphere and Master Chief falls off the ship into the jungle.
But here we see what Master Chief was up to on that ship! That's the best part of this book, Maleev doing photo realistic renderings of Chief shooting up Covenant.
Bendis tells a story of a guy being tortured on the ship and sends the Covenant on a wild goose chase to Cleveland in search of a key. It's fine and provides more context of what a regular person was going through during the Covenant invasions than the games did.
Apparently Halo 2 was supposed to have a couple levels on this ship and on Earth but got scrapped because of time constraints. I always found it awkward that Halo 2 ends with you playing as the Arbiter. And then I didn't play Halo 3 until fairly recently. Halo 3 starts with the Forerunner ship breaking into Earth's atmosphere and Master Chief falls off the ship into the jungle.
But here we see what Master Chief was up to on that ship! That's the best part of this book, Maleev doing photo realistic renderings of Chief shooting up Covenant.
Bendis tells a story of a guy being tortured on the ship and sends the Covenant on a wild goose chase to Cleveland in search of a key. It's fine and provides more context of what a regular person was going through during the Covenant invasions than the games did.
October 31, 2014
Halo: Uprising is a collection of 4 short comics in the Uprising story. The story follows a man named Ruwan who is a concierge at a hotel. The story is about how the covenant believe that there is a key called the key of Osanalan. The covenant invade Cleveland which is where they are told the key is being hidden. The covenant believe that the key is important to the human race and need want it for thier plan Ruwan and a famous singer who is well known are together throughout there entire adventure and develop feelings for each other. The art style of the book is almost pencil drawn when you look at it and is very shaded. This is a nice little story that i think fans of the games would definitely enjoy reading. There are some pretty cool scenes that I liked such as the scenes of Master Chief killing off covenant. There is some blood in this book and partial nudity so just look out for that if you plan to read this. Overall, i like this book and would recommend it to anyone into sci-fi or fantasy comics or is just a fan of the Halo series.
August 15, 2017
Now this is one of the more interesting graphic novels from Halo universe!
This graphic novel consisted of four mini stories set in events after Halo 2 and prior Halo 3 game. If you played Halo 3, reading this graphic novel would 'complete' your experience. You might notice some kinds of 'easter eggs' in game especially after reading this graphic novels.
Each of the mini stories are unique, nicely written and illustrated. It also gave you more backstory and perspectives you would not get by playing the game itself. Just like the first Halo Graphic Novel, due to the stories mostly serves to 'complete your Halo game experience', I recommend this for Haloverse fans or those who played at least Halo Combat Evolved through Halo 3.
This graphic novel consisted of four mini stories set in events after Halo 2 and prior Halo 3 game. If you played Halo 3, reading this graphic novel would 'complete' your experience. You might notice some kinds of 'easter eggs' in game especially after reading this graphic novels.
Each of the mini stories are unique, nicely written and illustrated. It also gave you more backstory and perspectives you would not get by playing the game itself. Just like the first Halo Graphic Novel, due to the stories mostly serves to 'complete your Halo game experience', I recommend this for Haloverse fans or those who played at least Halo Combat Evolved through Halo 3.
May 8, 2012
Two strangers find love amidst an alien invasion, and it does not end happily. You would not have expected this from the title, or cover. Although cliched, Bendis handles the various elements well enough to still make the story effective. HALO fans might be irked or disappointed by the fact that Master Chief exists only as a background character rather than as the protagonist. I never played the game and only picked this up because Alex Maleev did the art, so I am not unduly bothered. Speaking of the art, Maleev's panels do more than enough to make up for the story's general lack of depth and originality. Overall, a quick and satisfying read.
May 26, 2013
Bendis surprised me with this series. I expected to love the Master Chief scenes and hate the little orignal character scenes but Bendis really made them likable and real. He spends the time to really get down to who these characters are after the first issue. The whole series gets better after the first issue. My only problem is, that the Master Chief scenes were cool but they were messy and the messy art kind of takes away from it all. Overall I liked the series, just nothing huge. Not as Blockbustery as other Halo stories.
October 31, 2019
I honestly give this book a 3.5 out of 5. It's not bad, in fact some of characters are very interesting. (The singer was my favourite character in the story) It's just the fact that the story becomes predictable very early on.
If you're a fan of Halo and Chief in particular and thinking of getting this book; you need to understand that the made up characters are the main characters of the story. Master Chief has the second biggest role in the book (in my opinion anyway), but his role is interesting and influential.
If you're a fan of Halo and Chief in particular and thinking of getting this book; you need to understand that the made up characters are the main characters of the story. Master Chief has the second biggest role in the book (in my opinion anyway), but his role is interesting and influential.
June 4, 2015
Bendis and Maleev are a great combination bringing Halo to the pages of Marvel comics. This book makes me want to re-explore the games series and see how those stories play out. If you're a fan of military sci-fi, it's worth a look.
November 13, 2009
this book was about a war between aleins and the human race
November 13, 2015
great book loved it, aliens attack a colony of humans on a planet 2 civilians save them while waiting for military suport
March 9, 2024
Two of comics’ greatest names take on a tie-in for the ages. Great characters and a finale that will make you shed a tear for humanity.
March 10, 2014
This comic was very slow and hard to follow throughout the very beginning. While reading this I couldn't really get into what was happening. It wasn't very interesting to me until I was three quarters of the way through the comic. To me Halo is supposed to have an amazing story but this comic didn't seem to fit that until it redeemed itself towards the end of the comic. The best thing about this comic was the art style and i would only recommend this to hardcore Halo fans.
January 31, 2017
It was cool and sorry for the date I couldn't remember when I read it or finished I recommend it
October 11, 2023
(Read in 2009, review from 2023)
Read this in high school during the height of my days playing Halo yet before I became a fan of the Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev team. So "Uprising" is at an interesting junction of things I like. Story is set between Halo 2 and Halo 3 and nothing of real consequence happens, just showing what Master Chief was up to before Halo 3's intro as well as showing how normal humans are responding to an alien invasion in the Halo universe. Story didn't do too much but Maleev's artwork was phenomenal. Some of the sizing for vehicles, weapons, and Covenant aliens was off but the scenes of your stand Halo firefights were gorgeous.
Not essential reading but I remember this was a fun look at the Halo universe.
Read this in high school during the height of my days playing Halo yet before I became a fan of the Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev team. So "Uprising" is at an interesting junction of things I like. Story is set between Halo 2 and Halo 3 and nothing of real consequence happens, just showing what Master Chief was up to before Halo 3's intro as well as showing how normal humans are responding to an alien invasion in the Halo universe. Story didn't do too much but Maleev's artwork was phenomenal. Some of the sizing for vehicles, weapons, and Covenant aliens was off but the scenes of your stand Halo firefights were gorgeous.
Not essential reading but I remember this was a fun look at the Halo universe.
April 14, 2020
Rating: 2.5 - The best part is a hotel clerk. That wasn't a joke
Bendis did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if he's a Halo fan, but he made the bits not about the master chief interesting. Unfortunately he was working with Maleev again. When the art isn't so bad you can't figure out what's going on it's still just a hot mess. The master chief scenes are all up to the artist and Maleev does not deliver. Pretty much all the good things I said about the Halo Graphic Novel (wasn't rushed, didn't just have big names to have big names, focused on things other than master chief) were not here. Disappointing.
Bendis did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if he's a Halo fan, but he made the bits not about the master chief interesting. Unfortunately he was working with Maleev again. When the art isn't so bad you can't figure out what's going on it's still just a hot mess. The master chief scenes are all up to the artist and Maleev does not deliver. Pretty much all the good things I said about the Halo Graphic Novel (wasn't rushed, didn't just have big names to have big names, focused on things other than master chief) were not here. Disappointing.
December 28, 2022
Never was a burning question of “what was chief up to on the Dreadnaught”, but nice to have an answer. The Cleveland tie in is really clever and we get a taste of the early novels’ motif of how much it takes humanity to get one surprise edge on the Covenant.
April 6, 2023
I am assuming this took place either between Halo 2 & 3 or during Halo 3. Or maybe 1&2 due to the prophets being alive. I don't know, it was confusing.
I loved seeing Chief, however the romance between the other characters was... odd.
I loved seeing Chief, however the romance between the other characters was... odd.
July 21, 2023
I went to goodwill down the street from my home and I found the hard cover of this I couldn't believe my eyes because they usually put it on their website for auction and I got it such a beautiful cover.
June 21, 2018
Should be titled Halo: Uninspired. This book had no real content
Want to read
November 5, 2019I really want this book. I also love video game series! And I have read the flood and that was a amazing book.
March 20, 2020
A ideia é muito boa apesar da execução ser bem "okay".
Vale a pena.
Vale a pena.
December 19, 2023
The Artwork Was Unpolished and The Two Side Characters Were Annoying. Skip.
January 22, 2024
Good red herring story! The Masterchief is in the thick
of it but on his own?!
of it but on his own?!
February 22, 2024
There’s a alien key in Cleveland
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2024
Amazing! The artwork had a Gritty feel to it with plenty of detail. The story spanned earth and space and love the fact the two events were intertwined. Adds more background to the halo universe :)
May 1, 2011
I had purchased the original Uprising issues when they were first coming out years back, but recently picked up the graphic novel and took the opportunity to reread it. I've been a long-time Halo fan, and love the story and being immersed in the fiction.
The story of Uprising consists of two paths - one tells the story of Master Chief, starting where we left him in Halo 2 and brings us close to where we find him in Halo 3. The other is about two humans in the city of New Cleveland and how they cope with the Covenant invasion of their home.
They're very much two separate stories that happen to join together at the end. I thought the Master Chief's adventures were rather simple, basically a level's worth of running-and-gunning, but I guess it filled its purpose. The other half was more interesting though, if maybe a little forced. The characters are developed well enough, but still seem a little flat. It's pretty clear that we're never going to see them again in any other fiction (although I suppose it is technically possible) and that this is just a quick one-off.
All in all I like what happens and thought it filled the void between the two games well (it just would have been nice if it had been released on time :-P ).
The art is very hit-or-miss to me. The style seems very flat and doesn't have a lot of shading or depth. During action pieces it's hard to distinguish what's going on in a panel. Sometimes the way the panels are laid out doesn't seem to give enough space in each one to make things clear either. You can definitely tell we're in the Halo universe though, with the Master Chief, Grunts, Brutes, Prophets, Marines, Pelicans, Banshees, and just about everything else you know and love.
At the end of the book there's some interviews with the writer, artist, and Frank O'Connor and Brian Jarrard. You get to see the dedication on both sides (Bungie and Marvel) of this project and I think that shows in the comics as well. It's certainly a good story, and it achieves what it set out to do. If you're a Halo fan you'll probably want to pick this up but otherwise you might want to pass. If you're interested in the Halo Universe I'd suggest something like The Fall of Reach first.
The story of Uprising consists of two paths - one tells the story of Master Chief, starting where we left him in Halo 2 and brings us close to where we find him in Halo 3. The other is about two humans in the city of New Cleveland and how they cope with the Covenant invasion of their home.
They're very much two separate stories that happen to join together at the end. I thought the Master Chief's adventures were rather simple, basically a level's worth of running-and-gunning, but I guess it filled its purpose. The other half was more interesting though, if maybe a little forced. The characters are developed well enough, but still seem a little flat. It's pretty clear that we're never going to see them again in any other fiction (although I suppose it is technically possible) and that this is just a quick one-off.
All in all I like what happens and thought it filled the void between the two games well (it just would have been nice if it had been released on time :-P ).
The art is very hit-or-miss to me. The style seems very flat and doesn't have a lot of shading or depth. During action pieces it's hard to distinguish what's going on in a panel. Sometimes the way the panels are laid out doesn't seem to give enough space in each one to make things clear either. You can definitely tell we're in the Halo universe though, with the Master Chief, Grunts, Brutes, Prophets, Marines, Pelicans, Banshees, and just about everything else you know and love.
At the end of the book there's some interviews with the writer, artist, and Frank O'Connor and Brian Jarrard. You get to see the dedication on both sides (Bungie and Marvel) of this project and I think that shows in the comics as well. It's certainly a good story, and it achieves what it set out to do. If you're a Halo fan you'll probably want to pick this up but otherwise you might want to pass. If you're interested in the Halo Universe I'd suggest something like The Fall of Reach first.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews