God of War is a six-issue American comic book limited series set in the Greek mythology era of the God of War universe. The series was written by Marv Wolfman, illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino, and the cover art for each issue was produced by Andy Park, who was also an artist for the video game series. The first five issues of God of War were published by WildStorm. Due to the company's closure in December 2010, the final issue was published by their parent company, DC Comics. The series' launch coincided with the release of the video game God of War III in March 2010. The final issue was published in January 2011, followed by a trade paperback in March.
The limited series follows the story of Kratos, the protagonist of the video game series. The majority is told in flashback and shows a past quest for the Ambrosia of Asclepius, and also relates the story of Kratos' present search for the same object. The two narratives are told simultaneously; Kratos first attempts to save his dying daughter, Calliope, and years later, he is seeking to destroy the Ambrosia to prevent the resurrection of the former God of War, Ares.
The series received mixed reviews. Some critics praised Wolfman's writing, while others said that although the setting was a good comic book incentive and a good prequel for the video game series, the story did not make sense. Sorrentino's interior artwork was criticized for being "muddy" by critics, but some did praise it for being distinctive and did a good job at setting the tone and atmosphere.
Publication history
The comic book series was announced at the 2009 Comic-Con International, and was scheduled to debut in October 2009, but its launch was delayed to coincide with that of God of War III in March 2010. Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Product Marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America said, "we are thrilled to work with the world's largest comic book publisher to bring one of our most beloved PlayStation franchises...to comic book fans." In an interview with IGN, writer Marv Wolfman stated that when he heard rumor of the comic series, he "put [in his] name right away and kept pushing" to be chosen as the writer because God of War was one of his favorite video games. Wolfman said that he had already played the first two games, so there was no research to be done and "it's because [he] loved the game that [he] wanted to do the comic." He received copies of the scripts for all the games to ensure his work was as accurate as possible, and stated that he worked very closely with Santa Monica Studio—the developer of the video games—and tied the comic book's narrative directly to the story they created for the games. Wolfman said that Santa Monica ensured the mythology was consistent while revealing new facts about Kratos' past.
In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Wolfman stated that Santa Monica suggested the use of two time periods, with past events affecting the narrative present. He introduced new characters, including Kratos' wife—who appeared in the games but was never named. He stated the final script was a combination of his ideas and Santa Monica's character-appropriate dialog. Series artist Andrea Sorrentino stated, "it was clear from the start that for this project Sony and DC [Comics] wanted something a bit different from a 'classical' comic. So I just took my usual style and added to it something new, like new colors from the videogame palette." She stated that the games have strong, epic images, and that she easily adapted her style to Wolfman's writing as he "did really good work showing both dramatic and epic scenes." Sorrentino used color to give importance to each scene, adding hot colors (red, orange, or brown) in action scenes and cold ones (green or light blue) in others so that readers could immediately have an emotional reaction.
The series was published on a bi-monthly schedule between March 2010 and January 2011. In March 2011, the series was collected into a trade paperback.
Synopsis
Setting
As with the first seven video games in the series, the comic book series is set in an alternate version of Ancient Greece, populated by the Olympian gods and other beings of Greek mythology. The story is split between two chapters in the video game chronology; a period before Ascension (2013), and a later period between God of War (2005) and Ghost of Sparta (2010). For the majority of the series, it narrates the events of the past via flashbacks with occasional focus on present events. In both, protagonist Kratos traverses Ancient Greece and the Aegean Sea on a quest for the Ambrosia of Asclepius.
