God of War: Fallen God (Comic)

Following the previous God of War comic from Dark Horse, a second miniseries, subtitled Fallen God, was made with the same creative team as the first, which began publishing in 2021. This miniseries would be another prequel to the 2018 game, this time going further back to the Greek games, making it the first new material to explore this era of the series since 2013’s God of War: Ascension. Unlike the previous comic, however, the physical collection for this one proved far easier to come by, which I would read shortly after the first. Much like the 2018 comic, Fallen God feels like a solid extension of the God of War mythos, while also seeming to provide a tease of what’s yet to come.

Following the events of God of War III, Kratos once again attempts to free himself from his torment by throwing away the Blades, only for them to reappear when he wakes up. In desperation, Kratos continues to throw them away and increasingly deprives himself of sleep as he travels further from Greece, to his detriment. On his aimless journey, Kratos winds up in Egypt, where he learns it his destiny to fight a great beast, which attempts to delay for a s long as possible.

 

No matter what Kratos does, the Blades follow him.

One thing to know before going in is that the comic assumes you are familiar with the events of the Greek games, as it starts shortly after God of War III with only the bare minimum context. That aside, the way Kratos is written feels like a natural extension of his mindset at the time, having grown tired of his violent ways and wanting nothing to do with them anymore, which also helps to line things up with the previous Dark Horse comic. Though the story only touches upon the long-teased Egyptian setting, presumably so as to avoid contradicting whatever plans there may be for the games themselves, the comic still takes advantage of Egyptian mythos to explore the comic’s themes of fate and destiny in a more unique way. As with the previous comic, I was actually able to read Kratos’ dialogue in his voice, though interestingly my brain defaulted to T.C. Carson’s voice rather than Christopher Judge, which I attribute more to the use of Kratos’ Greek design.

The art remains consistent with the previous comic, but takes the opportunity to get experimental. Whereas the first comic uses more standard panel designs, this one consistently presents more uneven panel borders of varying intensity, reflecting both Kratos’ mental state and the flashback nature of the story. With the presence of more elements from the Greek games, there is even an action sequence in the back half that feels reminiscent of said games, to the point that I could mentally visualize QTEs. Kratos is also seen starting to grow a beard throughout the comic, making for an interesting passage of time and further bridge to his full beard in the Norse games. Notably, this comic also presents an interesting first look at Egyptian mythology in the God of War setting, including the design of a single member of the Egyptian pantheon, which only makes me even more curious how much of that will carry over into the main series.

If you’re a fan of the God of War series and want more insight into the transition between the Greek and Norse settings, God of War: Fallen God will give you that and a little more. If not, you are more likely to be lost without at least some prior knowledge of the Greek games.