Deathwatch

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: First off, I naively didn't realize that this was a graphical novel. Had I known, I would have avoided the book. In general I dislike most of the "art" that comes out of the Warhammer workshop and this book is no exception.
The individual frames are terribly cluttered - maybe this works better in a large format book (the version of Lone Wolves that I've read was 8 ½ x 11 and the drawing seemed much cleaner). There is just way to much ink on each page.
The artists really fail to capture a sense of movement or dynamic environments - whole action sequences are like confused, blurry still shots. Individual characters are indistinct, sometimes leading to "where's waldo" type searches to find distinguishing characteristics. While 40K novels often describe the streamlined, clean features of the main and secondary characters, nearly all drawn here are pockmarked parodies of human form, studded with all manner of augmentations.
But its not just the drawing that annoys. The story is paper thin, with no drama, no development, and, incredibly, no sense of conflict! Character motivations are cheep imitations of generic stereotypes. The rabid Inquisitor, the steadfast loyal marines, the degenerate, lazy governor... oh yes, don't forget the age old rivalry between two of the marines that are forced to work together. Clichés can work in the 40K universe - just take a look into the Rangnar / Space Wolf series - the clichés are obvious through out, but it works there... here it is nothing more than filler.
Save your $$ and try another 40k novel.... You'd be hard pressed to find worse than this.