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Halo: Uprising #1-4
Halo: Uprising
Picking up from the conclusion of blockbuster video game Halo 2, this must-read reveals how the Master Chief, while onboard a hostile ship headed towards Earth, is battling against Covenant forces! Intertwined with Master Chief's interstellar one-man-war is the saga of a great American city's rebellion and downfall, two disparate lives' collision and shared fate, and the Covenant's hunt for an ancient relic of untold power and value. With hope dwindling and the fate of humanity hanging by a thread, is there any chance for a future? Read this debut issue to start the journey into the Halo universe! Collects Halo: Uprising #1-4, and Marvel Spotlight: Halo.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published December 3, 2008
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,415 books2,608 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 4, 2024
Brian Michael Bendis does a great job of isolating this story: if you are a Halo fan you will enjoy the attention to detail; if you just want to read a great sci-fi GN you be able to understand this story without continuity. Friends of mine that are really into Halo have recommended this book on several occasions.
December 22, 2021
Set between Halo 2 and 3, Cleveland is attacked when the Covenant learns of a key that resides there. The story follows two ordinary people as they try and stay alive during the invasion. There's a nice twist in there as well. Maleev draws some great looking battle scenes although the colors are a little dark at times.
January 31, 2024
A pretty cool adventure set right after the events of Halo 3 Master Chief is on that Forerunner ship that flew out of the Covenant's city-ship High Charity.
Apparently Halo 2 was supposed to have a couple levels on this ship and on Earth but got scrapped because of time constraints. I always found it awkward that Halo 2 ends with you playing as the Arbiter. And then I didn't play Halo 3 until fairly recently. Halo 3 starts with the Forerunner ship breaking into Earth's atmosphere and Master Chief falls off the ship into the jungle.
But here we see what Master Chief was up to on that ship! That's the best part of this book, Maleev doing photo realistic renderings of Chief shooting up Covenant.
Bendis tells a story of a guy being tortured on the ship and sends the Covenant on a wild goose chase to Cleveland in search of a key. It's fine and provides more context of what a regular person was going through during the Covenant invasions than the games did.
Apparently Halo 2 was supposed to have a couple levels on this ship and on Earth but got scrapped because of time constraints. I always found it awkward that Halo 2 ends with you playing as the Arbiter. And then I didn't play Halo 3 until fairly recently. Halo 3 starts with the Forerunner ship breaking into Earth's atmosphere and Master Chief falls off the ship into the jungle.
But here we see what Master Chief was up to on that ship! That's the best part of this book, Maleev doing photo realistic renderings of Chief shooting up Covenant.
Bendis tells a story of a guy being tortured on the ship and sends the Covenant on a wild goose chase to Cleveland in search of a key. It's fine and provides more context of what a regular person was going through during the Covenant invasions than the games did.
December 2, 2011
This is a really interesting collaboration by one of Marvel Comics’ premier creative teams. Fresh off from their critically lauded run on Daredevil, writer Brian Bendis and artist Alex Maleev reunite on an unexpected project, an original miniseries based on the hit video game Halo.
That the game has science fiction heavy themes, does not deter the duo, whose last work was on crime and noir comic book fiction. Reading the supplemental material in this hardcover collection of their miniseries, they are perfect for their assignment. Aside from being acclaimed comic book creators, they actually send their free time in the Halo universe, playing both single and multi player modes of the game.
Bendis manages to write a script that showcases both their talents, while also highlighting one of the main themes of the game which is the Master Chief’s indomitable will in his lonely war against the Covenant. Bendis has his signature dialogue heavy lines while giving Maleev the chance to show his strength in realistic and gritty artwork. This makes Maleev the right artist for one of the plots that involve a civilian uprising as the Covenant invade Cleveland. Turning a futuristic city into a warzone happens to be one of Maleev’s strengths.
Publishers don’t normally assign their top talent to licensed properties, but it appears Marvel went all out to secure the Halo license. This makes me want to try the original graphic novel that came before this miniseries and any follow up material.
You don’t have to be a video game player to enjoy these Halo comics. You just have to appreciate good comics.
That the game has science fiction heavy themes, does not deter the duo, whose last work was on crime and noir comic book fiction. Reading the supplemental material in this hardcover collection of their miniseries, they are perfect for their assignment. Aside from being acclaimed comic book creators, they actually send their free time in the Halo universe, playing both single and multi player modes of the game.
Bendis manages to write a script that showcases both their talents, while also highlighting one of the main themes of the game which is the Master Chief’s indomitable will in his lonely war against the Covenant. Bendis has his signature dialogue heavy lines while giving Maleev the chance to show his strength in realistic and gritty artwork. This makes Maleev the right artist for one of the plots that involve a civilian uprising as the Covenant invade Cleveland. Turning a futuristic city into a warzone happens to be one of Maleev’s strengths.
Publishers don’t normally assign their top talent to licensed properties, but it appears Marvel went all out to secure the Halo license. This makes me want to try the original graphic novel that came before this miniseries and any follow up material.
You don’t have to be a video game player to enjoy these Halo comics. You just have to appreciate good comics.
October 31, 2014
Halo: Uprising is a collection of 4 short comics in the Uprising story. The story follows a man named Ruwan who is a concierge at a hotel. The story is about how the covenant believe that there is a key called the key of Osanalan. The covenant invade Cleveland which is where they are told the key is being hidden. The covenant believe that the key is important to the human race and need want it for thier plan Ruwan and a famous singer who is well known are together throughout there entire adventure and develop feelings for each other. The art style of the book is almost pencil drawn when you look at it and is very shaded. This is a nice little story that i think fans of the games would definitely enjoy reading. There are some pretty cool scenes that I liked such as the scenes of Master Chief killing off covenant. There is some blood in this book and partial nudity so just look out for that if you plan to read this. Overall, i like this book and would recommend it to anyone into sci-fi or fantasy comics or is just a fan of the Halo series.
August 15, 2017
Now this is one of the more interesting graphic novels from Halo universe!
This graphic novel consisted of four mini stories set in events after Halo 2 and prior Halo 3 game. If you played Halo 3, reading this graphic novel would 'complete' your experience. You might notice some kinds of 'easter eggs' in game especially after reading this graphic novels.
Each of the mini stories are unique, nicely written and illustrated. It also gave you more backstory and perspectives you would not get by playing the game itself. Just like the first Halo Graphic Novel, due to the stories mostly serves to 'complete your Halo game experience', I recommend this for Haloverse fans or those who played at least Halo Combat Evolved through Halo 3.
This graphic novel consisted of four mini stories set in events after Halo 2 and prior Halo 3 game. If you played Halo 3, reading this graphic novel would 'complete' your experience. You might notice some kinds of 'easter eggs' in game especially after reading this graphic novels.
Each of the mini stories are unique, nicely written and illustrated. It also gave you more backstory and perspectives you would not get by playing the game itself. Just like the first Halo Graphic Novel, due to the stories mostly serves to 'complete your Halo game experience', I recommend this for Haloverse fans or those who played at least Halo Combat Evolved through Halo 3.
May 8, 2012
Two strangers find love amidst an alien invasion, and it does not end happily. You would not have expected this from the title, or cover. Although cliched, Bendis handles the various elements well enough to still make the story effective. HALO fans might be irked or disappointed by the fact that Master Chief exists only as a background character rather than as the protagonist. I never played the game and only picked this up because Alex Maleev did the art, so I am not unduly bothered. Speaking of the art, Maleev's panels do more than enough to make up for the story's general lack of depth and originality. Overall, a quick and satisfying read.
May 26, 2013
Bendis surprised me with this series. I expected to love the Master Chief scenes and hate the little orignal character scenes but Bendis really made them likable and real. He spends the time to really get down to who these characters are after the first issue. The whole series gets better after the first issue. My only problem is, that the Master Chief scenes were cool but they were messy and the messy art kind of takes away from it all. Overall I liked the series, just nothing huge. Not as Blockbustery as other Halo stories.
October 31, 2019
I honestly give this book a 3.5 out of 5. It's not bad, in fact some of characters are very interesting. (The singer was my favourite character in the story) It's just the fact that the story becomes predictable very early on.
If you're a fan of Halo and Chief in particular and thinking of getting this book; you need to understand that the made up characters are the main characters of the story. Master Chief has the second biggest role in the book (in my opinion anyway), but his role is interesting and influential.
If you're a fan of Halo and Chief in particular and thinking of getting this book; you need to understand that the made up characters are the main characters of the story. Master Chief has the second biggest role in the book (in my opinion anyway), but his role is interesting and influential.
June 4, 2015
Bendis and Maleev are a great combination bringing Halo to the pages of Marvel comics. This book makes me want to re-explore the games series and see how those stories play out. If you're a fan of military sci-fi, it's worth a look.
November 13, 2009
this book was about a war between aleins and the human race
November 13, 2015
great book loved it, aliens attack a colony of humans on a planet 2 civilians save them while waiting for military suport
October 7, 2025
The problem with this type of franchise is that there are mandatory passages. This gives us a story that follows two storylines, one of which, the main one, is very human and talkative (à la Bendis) and rather nice without being brilliant, and the other, the secondary one, silent and full of action with a mute Spartan who is fundamentally of NO interest as it is so disconnected from what remains the main action. But a Spartan kicking whatever aliens’ asses is a mandatory figure.
Furthermore, Maleev's very static and dark artwork does not always help to make the action easy to follow.
That said, it is an easy read but remains reserved for aficionados of the franchise with no real hope of interesting pure newcomers.
Furthermore, Maleev's very static and dark artwork does not always help to make the action easy to follow.
That said, it is an easy read but remains reserved for aficionados of the franchise with no real hope of interesting pure newcomers.
October 20, 2024
Was a solid halo story. It was nice to see more Spartans added into the universe.
March 9, 2024
Two of comics’ greatest names take on a tie-in for the ages. Great characters and a finale that will make you shed a tear for humanity.
March 10, 2014
This comic was very slow and hard to follow throughout the very beginning. While reading this I couldn't really get into what was happening. It wasn't very interesting to me until I was three quarters of the way through the comic. To me Halo is supposed to have an amazing story but this comic didn't seem to fit that until it redeemed itself towards the end of the comic. The best thing about this comic was the art style and i would only recommend this to hardcore Halo fans.
January 31, 2017
It was cool and sorry for the date I couldn't remember when I read it or finished I recommend it
September 2, 2024
Set between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3, here we see the Master Chief returning to Earth aboard the Covenant-controlled Forerunner dreadnought. Meanwhile, on Earth, a hotel concierge discovers that he's the key to preventing the Covenant from destroying a city.
At first I was unimpressed by the story of the concierge and the famous musician he meets amid the Covenant invasion, feeling like it was just another derivative 'here's two nobodies caught up in the conflict, isn't that sad?' storyline. They're not always bad, but they have been played out ad infinitum. It was therefore refreshing to see that these ordinary people do actually have an important role to play in the overarching story of the Covenant attack on Earth.
The Master Chief's storyline is largely disconnected from everything else going on in the book but it was nevertheless entertaining to see him, alone, outgunned and massively outnumbered, proving to the Covenant why he is The Demon.
I honestly enjoyed this book more than I was expecting to, thinking that it would just be a run-of-the-mill filler story between the main narratives of the two games. But there was more here than I initially thought.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
At first I was unimpressed by the story of the concierge and the famous musician he meets amid the Covenant invasion, feeling like it was just another derivative 'here's two nobodies caught up in the conflict, isn't that sad?' storyline. They're not always bad, but they have been played out ad infinitum. It was therefore refreshing to see that these ordinary people do actually have an important role to play in the overarching story of the Covenant attack on Earth.
The Master Chief's storyline is largely disconnected from everything else going on in the book but it was nevertheless entertaining to see him, alone, outgunned and massively outnumbered, proving to the Covenant why he is The Demon.
I honestly enjoyed this book more than I was expecting to, thinking that it would just be a run-of-the-mill filler story between the main narratives of the two games. But there was more here than I initially thought.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
October 11, 2023
(Read in 2009, review from 2023)
Read this in high school during the height of my days playing Halo yet before I became a fan of the Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev team. So "Uprising" is at an interesting junction of things I like. Story is set between Halo 2 and Halo 3 and nothing of real consequence happens, just showing what Master Chief was up to before Halo 3's intro as well as showing how normal humans are responding to an alien invasion in the Halo universe. Story didn't do too much but Maleev's artwork was phenomenal. Some of the sizing for vehicles, weapons, and Covenant aliens was off but the scenes of your stand Halo firefights were gorgeous.
Not essential reading but I remember this was a fun look at the Halo universe.
Read this in high school during the height of my days playing Halo yet before I became a fan of the Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev team. So "Uprising" is at an interesting junction of things I like. Story is set between Halo 2 and Halo 3 and nothing of real consequence happens, just showing what Master Chief was up to before Halo 3's intro as well as showing how normal humans are responding to an alien invasion in the Halo universe. Story didn't do too much but Maleev's artwork was phenomenal. Some of the sizing for vehicles, weapons, and Covenant aliens was off but the scenes of your stand Halo firefights were gorgeous.
Not essential reading but I remember this was a fun look at the Halo universe.
June 2, 2026
I did not think the two storylines harmonised very well besides taking place at the same time.
Chief high octane action was very fun but not that deep.
I was not the biggest fan of the artstyle.
But the Cleveland storyline reminded me a lot of the Halo Graphic Novel in the sense that it was about normal people thrust into this war. I liked Ruwan and Myras as characters and their dynamic, but it took me an issue to get into their story.
And I have to say that the pacing and such were very good!
This is still a very solid story with a lot of effort put into it.
I am still giving it 4 Stars because I think it still hits the very high Halo standards even if it is comparatively weaker.
Chief high octane action was very fun but not that deep.
I was not the biggest fan of the artstyle.
But the Cleveland storyline reminded me a lot of the Halo Graphic Novel in the sense that it was about normal people thrust into this war. I liked Ruwan and Myras as characters and their dynamic, but it took me an issue to get into their story.
And I have to say that the pacing and such were very good!
This is still a very solid story with a lot of effort put into it.
I am still giving it 4 Stars because I think it still hits the very high Halo standards even if it is comparatively weaker.
April 14, 2020
Rating: 2.5 - The best part is a hotel clerk. That wasn't a joke
Bendis did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if he's a Halo fan, but he made the bits not about the master chief interesting. Unfortunately he was working with Maleev again. When the art isn't so bad you can't figure out what's going on it's still just a hot mess. The master chief scenes are all up to the artist and Maleev does not deliver. Pretty much all the good things I said about the Halo Graphic Novel (wasn't rushed, didn't just have big names to have big names, focused on things other than master chief) were not here. Disappointing.
Bendis did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if he's a Halo fan, but he made the bits not about the master chief interesting. Unfortunately he was working with Maleev again. When the art isn't so bad you can't figure out what's going on it's still just a hot mess. The master chief scenes are all up to the artist and Maleev does not deliver. Pretty much all the good things I said about the Halo Graphic Novel (wasn't rushed, didn't just have big names to have big names, focused on things other than master chief) were not here. Disappointing.
December 12, 2025
Read this one in the Halo Legacy Collection.
Wow.. this caught my attention and KEPT IT. The story is about two people who form a partnership amidst chaos, leading to feelings, leading to sacrifice. The backstory of the two brothers is sweet, and makes the characters very real to the reader in my opinion. I also love that it helps fill in the blanks between the Halo 2 and Halo 3 games and story. The art was unique, engaging, and captured the emotions of the characters as well.
Wow.. this caught my attention and KEPT IT. The story is about two people who form a partnership amidst chaos, leading to feelings, leading to sacrifice. The backstory of the two brothers is sweet, and makes the characters very real to the reader in my opinion. I also love that it helps fill in the blanks between the Halo 2 and Halo 3 games and story. The art was unique, engaging, and captured the emotions of the characters as well.
December 13, 2025
The comic book superstar Brian Michael Bendis takes on the Halo universe to mixed results. Touted as Master Chief's missing story between Halo 2 and 3, Big Green only makes up half the narrative, and is mostly a string of prose-less action sequences that seem tacked-on to the true focus of a group of humans experiencing the invasion of New Mombasa as the Covenant dig up the deus ex machina of Halo 3 - The Ark.
December 28, 2022
Never was a burning question of “what was chief up to on the Dreadnaught”, but nice to have an answer. The Cleveland tie in is really clever and we get a taste of the early novels’ motif of how much it takes humanity to get one surprise edge on the Covenant.
April 6, 2023
I am assuming this took place either between Halo 2 & 3 or during Halo 3. Or maybe 1&2 due to the prophets being alive. I don't know, it was confusing.
I loved seeing Chief, however the romance between the other characters was... odd.
I loved seeing Chief, however the romance between the other characters was... odd.
July 21, 2023
I went to goodwill down the street from my home and I found the hard cover of this I couldn't believe my eyes because they usually put it on their website for auction and I got it such a beautiful cover.
June 21, 2018
Should be titled Halo: Uninspired. This book had no real content
Want to Read
November 5, 2019I really want this book. I also love video game series! And I have read the flood and that was a amazing book.
March 20, 2020
A ideia é muito boa apesar da execução ser bem "okay".
Vale a pena.
Vale a pena.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews