Halo: Escalation

Halo: Escalation is a comic book series produced by Dark Horse Comics. It focuses on "how the events of Halo 4 have helped define the destiny not only of the Chief but of the galaxy as a whole". The series is told in multiple arcs set between Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. The majority of issues focus on the crew of the flagship shortly after the events of Spartan Ops, particularly during their encounters with remnants of the Covenant and the resurgent Insurrection. However, the third story arc ("The Next 72 Hours") instead acts as an epilogue to Halo 4 and takes place six months before the greater part of the series.

Halo: Escalation was originally marketed as a limited-run series consisting of 12 issues; however, it was later continued with another twelve issues. A paperback edition of Halo: Escalation - Volume 1 (collecting Issues #1-6) was released on October 8, 2014. Halo: Escalation - Volume 2 (collecting Issues #7-12) was released on April 21, 2015, Halo: Escalation - Volume 3 (collecting Issues #13-18) was released on September 22, 2015, and Halo: Escalation - Volume 4 (collecting Issues #19-24) was released on March 22, 2016.

The series was later released in two hardcover "Library Editions" featuring extra content such as developer commentaries. Library Edition Volume #1 (collecting Escalation Volumes 1 and 2, and the entirety of Halo: Initiation) was released on May 11, 2016. The second and last Library Edition (collecting Volumes 3 and 4), was released on June 27, 2017. Dark Horse Comics later released two softcover "Omnibuses" collecting both Initiation and Escalation Volumes 1 through 4 similarly to the previous Library Editions. Halo Omnibus Volume #1 (collecting all of Initiation and the first year of Escalation) was published on November 28, 2018. Halo Omnibus Volume #2 (collecting the remaining half of Escalation) was published on May 1, 2019. The entire series was bundled once more with Initiation into a single trade paperback compendium entitled Halo: Initiation and Escalation that was released on November 2, 2022.

Plot synopsis
Issues 1 to 3 focus on UNSC Infinity's mission to provide security for the Sangheili-Jiralhanae peace delegation on Ealen IV and their struggle for survival after Covenant forces under the command of Vata 'Gajat attack the conference. In Issues 4 to 6, the Infinity crew track down the spy in the UNSC's ranks who leaked the location of the negotiations to the Covenant and face down the New Colonial Alliance and Captain Daniel Clayton, the true mastermind behind the attack. Issue 7 focuses on Spartan Gabriel Thorne's trip to the reopened New Phoenix to receive closure for his grandmother's death in the Didact's attack on the city.

Issues 8, 9 and 10 form a story arc called "The Next 72 Hours" which details Spartan John-117's fate immediately after the events of Halo 4. Issues 11 and 12 comprise a story arc called "Exposure" in which Spartans Ray and Thorne are deployed on a mission to uncover the secrets of a mysterious biological weapon. The next four issues form another story arc, "Spartan Ops: The Janus Key", that returns to the principal plot threads of Spartan Ops, continuing the ongoing conflict between Infinity and Jul 'Mdama's forces and their struggle for control of the Janus Key. Issues 17 and 18 comprise a story arc called "The Glass Horizon", which tells the mysterious origin of Spartan Holly Tanaka.

Issues 19 to 24 comprise the last story arc called "Absolute Record", continuing the conflict between the UNSC and Jul 'Mdama's Covenant after the end of Issue 16, and gives an end to the story started in Spartan Ops.

Issue 1


Official summary:

Issue 2


Official summary

Issue 3


Official summary

Issue 4


Official summary

Issue 5


Official summary

Issue 6


Official summary

Issue 7


Official summary

Issue 8 - "The Next 72 Hours, Part 1"


Official summary

Issue 9 - "The Next 72 Hours, Part 2"


Official summary

Issue 10 - "The Next 72 Hours, Part 3"


Official summary

Issue 11 - "Exposure, Part 1"


Official summary

Issue 12 - "Exposure, Part 2"


Official summary

Issue 13 - "The Janus Key, Part 1"


Official summary

Issue 14 - "The Janus Key, Part 2"


Official summary

Issue 15 - "The Janus Key, Part 3"


Official summary

Issue 16 - "The Janus Key, Part 4"


Official summary

Issue 17 - "The Glass Horizon, Part 1"


Official summary

Issue 18 - "The Glass Horizon, Part 2"


Official summary

Production notes

 * Though the series primarily uses Halo 4 ' s designs for the Covenant species and their equipment, the Halo 3 and Halo: Reach incarnations of certain elements appear occasionally throughout the series. Most notably, Lydus resembles the Brutes seen in Halo: Reach, yet his bodyguards are clearly drawn in their Halo 3 likeness. Curiously, despite his recognizable classic appearance, Escalation depicts the Arbiter much like the Sangheili in Halo 4 with regard to his skin tone and mouth structure. Vata Gajat's combat harness is based on a piece of concept art for Halo 4, exploring the possibility that hard light technology could be incorporated into Sangheili armor.
 * Throughout the first three issues Banshees are depicted in their unpiloted stance even though they are flying. Similarly, in Issue 1 they are shown firing thin beams at DS-004, rather than the bolts that they canonically fire. This is similar to the Halo: Combat Evolved box art and very well may be a deliberate homage.