Pete Parsons, the studio director of Bungie, wanted to hire Alan Moore and Joe Kubert for the graphic novel, though Trautmann was highly skeptical that such high-profile artists would deign to work on the project.

[4] Buoyed by their success in approaching those in the medium that they respected and admired, including British comic book artist Simon Bisley and French artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud, the progress of Halo Graphic Novel was described as a "cool morale boost for our team to see their universe, their characters, realized by people that we idolize in the comic industry.

[1] The studio worked alongside Marvel director of development Ruwan Jayatilleke, an early booster of the project, to assist in the distribution and publication of the novel.

[6][7] The stories themselves were designed as glimpses into the Halo universe, including information on the inner workings of the alien Covenant, as well as details regarding elements of the backstory that were hitherto undisclosed.

"[6] Jarrard further described this as an attempt to move away from the story of the Master Chief, the central character of the franchise, and focus instead on what they believed to be the core themes that lay behind the game universe, such as maintaining hope in the face of overwhelming odds and humanity's struggle for survival; themes that extended beyond "... a genetically enhanced super soldier picking up two guns and kicking some alien butt.

[8] The graphic novel comprises 128 pages and four main stories;[1] each has an introduction by the creators of the work detailing their thoughts about the plot or their experiences adding to the Halo lore.

Located after the main body of stories is a selection of art pieces that represent interpretations of the Halo universe from a number of comic book artists.

[2] These difficulties were mitigated by the knowledge that fans were not as intimately connected to the history of the character of Rtas as they were to the likes of the Master Chief; this allowed ample room to expand 'Vadumee's background in sync with the Halo canon while permitting the writer to "bring something new to the table".

Faced with the technological superiority of the Covenant, humanity's chief hope is the tenacity of the Spartans, elite supersoldiers equipped with special armor.

A lone Spartans puts the armor through its paces by dropping from Earth's atmosphere and engaging in a mock battle against UNSC special forces.

The concept of the story was inspired by the book Skunkworks, a memoir of the testing of military projects at Lockheed;[10] highlighting the rigorous experimentation the SPARTAN equipment goes through before it ends up in the hands of the Master Chief was an idea that Bungie originally wanted to pursue at the beginning of Halo 2.

Both art and story were provided by Tsutomu Nihei, a manga artist and architect who based his illustrations directly on the structures found within the game.

[13][14] Mike Deeley of Comics Bulletin lauded the book for the diverse range of storytelling and art styles that lent the Halo Graphic Novel the feel of an anthology yet still retained a cohesive whole.

[15] Other areas that received particular attention included Tsutomu Nihei's work on Breaking Quarantine for its vivid imagery and its focus on visual storytelling in lieu of any dialogue.

[16] Each publication had their own opinions on the weakest story in the collection; both IGN and GameTrailers thought that "Armor Testing" had the least emotional impact, although its surprise ending and art were well done.