Coming out of Europe and based on the hit series of Assassin’s Creed games by Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed: Hawk is a lush, visually-rich story set in the same universe.

Following close after the Ankh of Isis events of previously published volumes Desmond, Aquilus, and Acciptor, Hawk continues the story of the Assassins as they seek a series of relics known as the Pieces of Eden, rumored to give extraordinary power to those who wield them.

Assassin Jonathan Hawk meets with Assassin’s Creed’s one hero and protagonist, Desmond Miles, and receives File 24, a mission to recover a powerful ancient artifact lost in the shadows of history: the Scepter of Aset.  His only clue: a shard of the Scepter, lost when it was taken in 1340 Egypt.

Using the Animus, Hawk is installed in the figure of his Assassin ancestor, El Cakr, and sets out to locate the missing artifact, but the Templar threat is not far behind him, both in the past and in the present, as Templar agents seek to obtain a different sort of artifact . . . Hawk’s stolen eye.

Much more cinematic and less wordy than its American counterparts, the slim, 48-page volume is representative of the French style of comic storytelling, taking its time to tell its stories and intercutting them at leisure, yet still maintaining a string narrative thrust.  Especially interesting and entertaining is El Cakr’s relationship with his companion, Ali Al-Ghraib, displaying a richness and warmth missing in his descendent centuries later.

Defali’s rich and full artwork retains much of the lushness and detail of the software versions while still functioning under its own power and interpretation, and just shows that even with four games currently out (and supplementals), there is still plenty of rich ore to be mined in the Assassin’s Creed worlds.

VERDICT:    FOUR Sleeve-Hidden, Spring-Loaded Daggers out of FIVE