When I attended San Diego Comic Con last year, I had an amazing opportunity to interview Christofer Emgard, the lead writer for the upcoming Mirror’s Edge Catalyst game. However, we didn’t talk about the game, but about the comic prequel for the game, Mirror’s Edge Exordium. He happened to be also writing that as well. In the interview I learned that he wanted to explore Faith’s (the protagonist) backstory and share with fans and potentially new fans a little bit more about Faith and the City of Glass she runs in. The comic series ran only 6 issues (was supposed to lead into the game’s release, but the game was delayed), but in that time we learned more than just about Faith; we learned about her family.
No, not her family in the traditional sense. She is an orphan after a riot that seems to have created what the City of Glass is now. Her mentor and father figure is a man named Noah, who runs a runner Cabal. The runners are among those who are “off-grid,” meaning they aren’t part of the system in City of Glass, aren’t employed in a legal work force, and therefore live outside the law, which seems to be run by a corporation. Me personally, I’m not sure which side I’d rather be on–the side where I stay out of trouble but I constantly have to follow strict rules and do what I’m told or be on the side where I can go and do whatever as long as it’s not hardcore criminal but always be on the run and kind of hurting for food and money. Both kind of suck, don’t they?
And that’s the wonderful world Faith is in. Noah looks out for her, but as a leader for a Cabal, he has more than just her to think of; he has an entire family of runners. Faith feels that Noah doesn’t trust her or have enough faith in her abilities to let her become a full-fledged runner, so she takes matters into her own hands, like a rebellious young teenager would most certainly do. And as rebellious young teenagers do, she finds herself on the wrong side of the law, doing work for a criminal all in hopes of retrieving a piece of her biological family’s history. She has to make a choice between her living family and the family of her past, and neither choice has delightful consequences.
I started the comic thinking this would be a simple explanation of the City of Glass, who and what runners are, and possibly why Faith ends up in juvenile detention, as she is released upon the start of the Catalyst game. While the comic touched on these a bit, it was really more about learning what family is, especially in this beautiful and cold city. I know this is a bit of a “well duh” moment, but not every family is by blood, and sometimes it takes a trial by fire and faith to figure out who your family really is.
Okay, I totally laid it on thick there. I’m laughing so hard right now, even though what I wrote was true with this particular comic series and yeah, I guess with life too.
I’ve never played the first Mirror’s Edge game, but this comic doesn’t require any previous knowledge. In fact, I might have enjoyed it more without those preconceived notions. If anything, I’m more excited about the upcoming game now, as I didn’t expect it to have so much heart as Exordium certainly suggests.
All six issues are out now with Dark Horse comics.
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