If you want to take in the full scope of the Halo cross-media universe, you need to be reading dark Horse's Halo comics. Fortunately, that task is about to get much easier thanks to the release of a softcover omnibus collection called Halo: Initiation and Escalation Compendium.
This hefty graphic novel collects the entirety of Halo: Initiation and Halo: Escalation, totaling 27 issues and 650 pages. Both series greatly expand on the story of Spartan-IV Sarah Palmer, with Initiation serving as a prequel to 2012's Halo 4 and Escalation picking up where the game leaves off.
Check out the cover to Halo: Initiation and Escalation Compendium below:
Here's the official description for the compendium:
In the dark years following the war with the Covenant, the Spartans of UNSC Infinity represent humanity's best hope against a growing tide of enemies that imperil all they have tirelessly worked to recover. Led by Commander Palmer, these super-soldiers are unparalleled warriors, but it will take more than raw combat skill and dogged bravery to keep humankind safe from the danger that approaches on all sides.
Halo: Initiation originally debuted in 2013, making it the first Halo comic published after Dark Horse acquired the Halo license from Marvel Comics. Escalation followed shortly after, ultimately running for 24 issues. Dark Horse has yet to announce any follow-up books, though they did recently publish The Art of Halo Infinite.
Halo: Initiation and Escalation Compendium is priced at $39.99 and will be released on June 29, 2022.
Paramount+ recently debuted the long-awaited live-action Halo series. While the series isn't set in the same continuity as the rest of the Halo franchise, we think that's worked to the show's benefit so far.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.