Review by Ian Keogh

Sea of Thieves is a 2018 pirate game where a player’s choice of avatar takes them on a dangerous quest to acquire riches via the good offices of three main trading companies. So how did some of the main cast come to be involved in their particular speciality? Starting with Humphrey the Trader, Jeremy Whitley and Rhoald Marcellus take readers through the backgrounds of three characters individually.

In the game Humphrey is gloriously designed as a scabby old pirate minus a few bodily parts, so there’s a sadness attached to seeing him in his optimistic youth with a wife he adores. He falls prey to the unscrupulous competition of the Grand Maritime Union when he opts not to sell to them, and his life spirals downward from there.

Mollie leads the Merchant’s Alliance, but while always diligent and observant, her path to power isn’t without complications, and requires the flexibility to adapt to a new way of working. Madame Olivia’s allegiance is to the Sea of Souls, and her background is entwined with Omina and Ozanne and an investigation of the supernatural.

Marecellus gives the cast personalities and brings them to life whether on sea or on land, and given the success of his own creation Raven the Pirate Princess, rip-roaring sea adventure is a bit of a speciality for Whitley. That being the case it was surprising that the first Sea of Thieves graphic novel was so listless. However, this is an improvement, with Olivia’s story the most unpredictable and spooky via the involvement of powers beyond mortal knowledge. Origins continues with Champion of Souls.