Gears of War: The Rise of Raam

Gears of War: The Rise of RAAM

by Kurtis J. Wiebe

The best-selling video game series returns to comics! Discover the origins of General RAAM and how he became the most feared Locust on all Sera.

FOR THE HORDE! Before he was a general leading the assault against humanity on the surface, RAAM was an upstart commander tasked with waging an unwinnable war against the Lambent to protect the Locust homeland. With the enemy pushing inexorably forward, he knows the Horde must turn its attention to more vulnerable prey, and he'll use every atrocity and deception at his disposal to bring the high council around to his way of thinking.

A prequel to the original Gears of War, written by Kurtis J. Wiebe (Rat Queens) with art by Max Dunbar (Dungeons & Dragons). See how it all began as Queen Myrrah's deadliest servant steers the course of history to bring about Emergence Day and the attack on humanans, setting in motion the events of the game!

Genres: Comics, Video Games, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 26, 2018

About the author

Kurtis Wiebe is a Vancouver, Canada based author. The founder and CEO of Vast Vision Publishing, he comes from a two decades long career in comics and games. He is the co-creator of over ten original comic series and a content creator spanning podcasts, live streams and other digital media. His stories have garnered multiple industry awards including two coveted Shuster’s for best writer.

Reviews

[Bren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta es la historia de RAAM y la forma en que sucedió todo para conocer el antes de como empieza la historia en el juego.
Me ha gustado mucho, la historia, las ilustraciones y la manera en que nos relatan las cosas del "antes de". Una muy buena precuela.
Los personajes por supuesto los conocemos, así que solo queda destacar a RAAM y la manera en que este llega a donde está, el conocer esto nos puede ayudar a comprenderlo un poco más.
Por lo demás es un cómic o novela gráfica de esas que encantan por su arte y por su historia en independencia de si no conoces el juego, con que sigas la serie en libro basta.
La portada, las ilustraciones, la historia llena de acción, sangre y los elementos básicos de cualquier historia de ciencia ficción es sencillamente buenísima, como digo, si no conoces el juego, los amantes del cómic amarán esta serie, sin ninguna duda.
Personalmente, cuando hablamos de este género, me refiero al cómic o la novela gráfica, me gusta mucho disfrutar el arte, no es que la historia no importe, pero creo que la parte esencial es precisamente la representación gráfica y cuando esto está bien hecho, me encanta, incluso más que la historia misma, así que agradezco infinitamente lo cuidado que está todo en ese sentido, la calidad de imagen de papel y la portada que además tiene unos vivos en metálico preciosos.
Agradezco mucho a la Masa Crítica México de Babelio en Español por haberme considerado para este libro, lo he disfrutado muchísimo.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't lie it's a short series but it's very interesting to learn the history of the rise of raam and why the locust decided to take over the groundwalkers. It's all truly fascinating I'll take as much gears of war lore as i can get!

[Rob Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't have a good grasp of the story or the characters until finishing the 2nd of the 5 comics in this novel. I'm glad I stuck with it because I really enjoyed the final 3 issues. So much so that I immediately bought Gears of War Remastered for XB1 after I finished reading.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would cause a vast and fearless empire to have the need to run and hide? Gears of War: The Rise of Raam is about how Vold Raam, a member of the Locust military, knows that the war they are fighting is lost and they need to leave, but the General, Uzil Sraak refuses to accept defeat and won’t tell their Queen. This leads Raam to use lies and deception with no limit to tell the Queen about the war’s situation and avoid Sraak’s wrath.

Even though this is a graphic novel, the writing kept me interested. The art in the book is merely a vessel to enhance what the words mean. There are graphic depictions in the book that show bloody injury and death in order to properly show how ruthless the Locust really are and to show how even more ruthless their foes are.

This book is all about survival. In this story, the Locust are the good guys. The fact that they are fighting for the survival of their own race. The enemy they are fighting are far worse than they are. The enemy has no sense of nationality and doesn't respect the dead, a plague with no cure. Raam’s friend Skorge makes a remark about the lambent “That’s the problem with these fuckers, they’re never really dead are they”, and everyone who was infected or died to the lambent eventually become a part of them.

Anyone who likes the video game Gears of War, will be a big fan of this book. This book especially goes into detail about the inner workings of the Locust and why they attacked humans in the first place. I would recommend this book to students in middle school on up or those who play Gears of War.

[Joseph Vasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Gears fan's dream come true, a run based on the most iconic villain in the series. This mini-series shows how RAAM came to power and the reasoning behind E-Day and the fight with the Serians. The artwork is muddled & fitting for the tone that Gears in general has always provided. It's a great insight into the Locust's way of life & how they society is ran. It complements the video game series as a good cheese to a sweet red wine. I don't want to spoil any story but it provides a balance of action & story-telling. This is a must read for any fan of the series and a good jumping on point to anyone who hasn't played the games or read any of the books.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Read in 2019)

The Rise of Raam was a neat expansion of the Gears of War series. Overall a pleasant amount of surprises be it how nuanced and human the Locust Horde's leadership could be (ironic or not so ironic how they're trying to backstab each other, argue about religion, etc. just like humans) and how strangely heartwarming it was to learn that Raam and Skorge were BFFs amidst all the carnage they caused. This will probably only appeal to Gears fans but its surprisingly deep expansion of the lore.

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rise of Raam continues the trend of good Gears of War side-material by providing an origin story for Gears 1 antagonist and leader of the locust forces General Raam. After all I've read about the human experience prior to the game, it was interesting and insightful to see the horde side of things.

These four issues demonstrate the the locust had all the internal politics, power struggles, and bloody, shooting action that the humans did, even before the invasion of the surface. It also comes at a good time, since it expands on what I learned throughout the series about human-locust-lambent relations without acting as a spoiler. (I'm not sure if it'll be a tantalizing tease or a little confusing if you haven't completed the Gears 1-3 trilogy.)

Unfortunately, the shooting is a lot less interesting than the politicking. The colors accurately represent Gears by looking all brown and muddied, but it doesn't make for a very good looking comic. And it doesn't help that a lot of the locust look the same or very similar, making it almost impossible to tell them apart in wide shots and even a bit difficult close-up.

Overall, The Rise of Raam is worth a read for the locust backstory, but it's not some brilliant or beautiful comic. Good for Gears lore fans, but not a general audience.

[Gauthier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember when I first "met" Raam in Gears of War I. He killed a Gear and appeared to be a troublesome figure. He came back as a boss at the very end of the game, an annoying one at that, and that was the end of his story. At this point, Raam was only a mindless locust whose whole purpose was only to eradicate the human race. Of course, as the story of Gears of War developed through the other games and books, we realized that locusts were more than those mindless brutes and that some of them were actually much more intelligent and fearsome. Raam was among them, and this comic book aims at telling his backstory prior to his rise as the general leading the onslaught on Sera.

For people familiar with the story, the Locusts are driven to conquer the surface as they realize they are fighting a losing war against the Lambents. Raam is among the first ones to realize that, and he must convince allies within the Locust hierarchy to support him in his bid to climb to power. He does that in a brutal and gruesome way, the locust way, and eventually leads the invasion of Sera on E-Day. At the end, we have a glimpse of the invasion and its cruelty as it claims the lives of countless people who thought that after decades of war, peace had finally arrived. Knowing that Raam will meet his death at the hands of Marcus Fenix is no consolation.

[Sasch Stormcloak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but very intense series about how Uzil Raam came in to command of the Locust Horde and the reason behind E-Day. An interesting plot backed by some incredible art.
It would be amazing to see more Locust-related stories in order to find out more about their society. Throughout the games, books and comics there are several Locust characters and curiosities that habe never really been further developed.

[Annemary Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this pretty much feels like the comic that thw WH40k could be.
In short, a bunch of monster guys have some infighting before the invade the surface. Great character, plot, very nice art. It was weird that even though the characters were some ungly, bloodthirsty alien bastards, they were really distinct and likeable! And I'm saying this despite that I usually don't like sci-fi stories.

[Eric Leeson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gears of War is a epic story and any background information is welcome; the story of Raam is entertaining, action packed and a cool book. The book I want to read is about the origins of the Locust Queen. I have not played Gear 4 yet, but I will soon.

[Nabil Abdulla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this interesting backstory into the Rise of the Scary Boss of the Original Gears of War . The One and Only General Raam . A good entertaining read if you have an hour to spare .

[MoToEr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love gears and this comic puts you in the shoes of the horde.

[Zackery]

I found myself feeling sorry for Raam at the beginning of this. Then after the full picture is uncovered, you realize where your feelings are.

[Brian Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any Gears of War fan.

[cody nofsinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good prequel

It dos a good job of showing that general raam wasn't just any old commander for the locker. Interesting to see the power struggle

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Михаил Городилов · Rating 5 out of 5]

best gears of war comic: good story, lots of really cool dialogue and competent visual part

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It makes general Raam seem not as legendarily badass as he is in the game. I thought he was supposed to be giant for his species, but there is a guy in this book who is twice his height, and makes Raam look like a child,

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun romp through Locusts lore

RAAM is a G. This book is a little difficult to follow at first, but once the story picks up, it moves right along.