: This issue in particular highlighted just how unsuitable this art style is
: for storytelling. Lord Hood looks like he's in some sort of action figure
: pose on page 8 and apparently Blue Team can only make like two faces when
: their long lost leader and friend showed up. All sorts of wow in this
: issue. UrDidact's hideout in the end looks like some strange lovechild of
: Human and Forerunner architecture. Then there's that super duper evil
: chair that was totally needed. I don't know. They really need to find a
: good artist for the next series because so much of this is mediocre. The
: only panel I enjoyed was the Composer's Abyss and what the obvious
: inspiration behind it was.

: Like the rest, of course, this story feels rushed and it has no real business
: doing so. Blue Team is such an integral component of the Halo universe
: that fans absolutely adore and crave more for. Putting that aside, newer
: fans who have no idea who Fred, Kelly, and Linda are would probably be
: totally dumbfounded as to why the Master Chief, who was drifting in space
: for four years, wouldn't have been welcomed to warmer sight by his best
: friends. This is a guy the three of them have known and loved as a brother
: and a leader since they were six. Not one smile on their face. Not one
: affectionate comment to their long lost friend. Spartans are so much more
: than the emotionless, walking tanks people expect them to be and this
: reunion really let me down.

: Really, this story and all others in Escalation would be so much better in a
: short story anthology. The comic medium for Halo seems to rarely provide
: us with an intriguing and engaging tale, and Escalation is shaping up to
: be no exception. There are few instances where the visuals shown provide
: any worthwhile effect on the story for me. Honestly, this series is making
: me think that comics are a very poor way to tell a story.

I tend to agree, they are hitting a lot of excellent story beats but they are not pacing it well. That said, I'm not too worried about the relative lack of emotion shown by the Chief in reuniting with Blue Team. John has never been one to show much emotion and this issue occurs right after he lost Cortana so it stands to reason he would be a little withdrawn. Him cracking a joke and getting right to business fits with him trying but being generally unable to grieve like a "normally socialized" person would.

I disagree that Blue Team didn't show emotion. Fred cracked a faint smile which for a Spartan is a pretty huge deal. Also remember that Spartans typically communicate through very subtle body language (another limitation of the format) and so having them show more emotion may have been even more out of character. Still, I did like that Kelly was the one who was most enthusiastic about seeing John. (Even Noble Team acted with pure stoicism as they saw their fellow teammates die for instance and Jorge was seen as pretty abnormal for being sentimental in the slightest.) I think that Halo initiates would not have realized this, like you said, but they also wouldn't understand who Blue Team was in the first place so it evens out.

I have a feeling we will see some pretty emotional last stands with Blue Team venturing into the abyss (literally). I don't think they will come out unscathed (or alive for that matter) but I don't think they will get the Black Team treatment. I think we'll see Blue Team communicate their camaraderie through their deeds rather than with their words, the olde Spartan way. Or they die stupidly and everything is terrible, who knows?