While doing some background on that, I discovered The Halo Graphic Novel – never knew there was one – which Moebius had a hand in as well. While Icaro was interesting, if not wholly satisfying, Halo felt like a cobbled-together cash grab. You can read about it in The Halo Graphic Novel review.
Now, the first time I played the original Halo, I was very impressed. But not by the story – after all, high-tech badass running through weird environments blowing away icky aliens is a trope as old as Doom, if not Metroid or even Space Invaders. It was the level design, music, and the fluidity of the combat that made the game stand out for me.
These are precisely the kinds of attributes which cannot be translated into the comic book medium; there has to be something else brought to the table. This can be done with some success – look at how the Alien movies (character driven, mind you! And the original was briefly co-designed by Moebius!) turned into a whole whack of solid, if not revolutionary, comics in its expanded universe.
Translation between media can work the other way, too: the first time I played Alien vs. Predator was the only time I was actually scared during a video game. Of course, Alien vs. Predator was turned back into not one, but two, crappy movies – they didn't cut out the parts that work in a video game (illogical re-spawns, avatars instead of dramatic characters), but are stupid in a movie.
But thankfully Moebius didn't have anything to do with that.
Also in the news: This week, a new Hergé museum opens in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, apparently even more high-minded than the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée. Read about it here.