: These comics are getting better and better. Escalation is an interstellar
: political/spy drama with a few Spartan-y shoot 'em up bits here and
: everywhere. It doesn't let up and keeps your attention until the very end
: right as you want more.

: I'm actually quite sad that these aren't full-fledged novels, or something
: akin to Evolutions. These comics are incredibly short and the depth of the
: content they're introducing into the universe would be perfect for
: traditional literature. At least the art continues to make the series
: worthy of the visual medium. They did take some liberties when putting
: faces to characters. You can recognize them but they're just not
: "there."

: One spoiler-y bit I'm excited for is all the big names. Lord Hood, Admiral
: Osman, and General Strauss (from First Strike) return, as does the
: Arbiter, who sports a sexy new cloak.

There's a lot to like in here. The art is inconsistent (Lasky looks like he's doing this Benjamin Button age-deage thing every other panel) but there are some nicely rendered action scenes, and it was nice seeing some classic designs return (classic Halo Banshees, H3 Jackals, Brutes that drew from H3 and Halo Wars for the Chieftan.) On the story front we got a lot of updates on the universe post-K5 trilogy, and best of all it didn't feel like dull exposition. Dialogue was fine, although the Arby didn't quite feel like he had his voice. I liked the character interplay between Palmer and Lasky, and I hope we get a bit more in the series going forward because they've got an interesting dynamic and from a writing standpoint, they seem to bring the best out of each other, at least in Schlerf's hands.

If you get annoyed by cliffhangers and abortive cuts, wait for the trade so you can read it in one gulp.