Dungeons & Dragons #1 – Review

By John Rogers (writer), Andrea Di Vito (artist), Aburtou and Graphikslava (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: A party of adventurers comes together—as all good adventuring parties do—in the local tavern. The party is wrongly arrested, and all the proper tropes for the opening of a good campaign are touched on.

What’s Good: I was more than a little dubious about this series after the ok-but-not-great issue #0. Issue #1 has gone a long way towards alleviating a lot of my fears. We have at least a token sort of ‘assembling the party’ scene, along with a solid and interesting (if not terribly original) quest hook. The absences of these basic and important elements were noticeable in #0, and their presence here elevates both the basic storytelling and the D&D connection.

One thing this comic does do very well is capture the feeling of an actual D&D campaign, while simultaneously giving both the characters and the world they inhabit their own, independent sense of authenticity. This is what I had in mind when I first heard “D&D comic from IDW.”

Dungeons & Dragons #0 – Review

Fell’s Five By: John Rogers (writer), Andrea Di Vito (art), Andrew Dalhouse (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

Freedom by: Alex Irvine (writer), Peter Bergting (art), Ronda Pattison (colors), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: IDW establishes some characters to play with in their newest licensed property: Dungeons & Dragons

What’s Good: This two-part story is a pretty effective appetite wetter for anyone who wants more Dungeons & Dragons in their life.  Like a lot of (mostly) guys between the ages of 30-45 I spent a LOT of time leafing through Monster Manuals and rolling up character sheets.  In fact, I always thought that the weakness of D&D is that they had created such a cool world that was such a pain in the butt to access because you needed 5-6 guys and a lot of time to really do the story telling.

I probably enjoyed the first of these two stories a little better.  It is a quick ~10 page story of getting-the-party-together.  And it is a pretty cliché party if you’ve ever played D&D: human fighter, dwarf fighter, halfling thief, tiefling sorcerer & half-elven ranger.  I guess no one wanted to play the cleric and be restricted to using non-edged weapons and spending all their spells healing the rest of the party??  Still, there is a reason this is a pretty classic party configuration: it works.  The art in this portion is good (not great, but good).  One of the cool things that the creators did in this story (beyond having the party fight gnolls and a black dragon) was that the thief mutters to herself constantly and it serves as a reminder of various gameplay mechanics of the D&D universe.  For example, as the party is descending a staircase, she is muttering (quietly) “trap, trap, trap…” to show the constant “thief is searching for traps” mechanic of D&D and later, during a fight, she mutters (again in an under the breath sort of way) “Sneak around to the flank…Stab them in the back” to highlight some other mechanics of the game.  It is something that could get old, but it does ground this story firmly in the D&D world.  I think that’s important because that appeal to D&D players is the only reason for this comic’s existence and it shows that IDW isn’t just slapping D&D on the cover a generic fantasy comic.

Forgotten Realms: Legacy #2 – Review

By R.A. Salvatore (writer), Andrew Dabb (script), Rob Atkins (art)

Even though we only get this title once every two months, it’s always worth the wait. With around 40 pages of actual story, you definitely get a lot of substance, and since this title is adapted from R.A. Salvatore’s novel (of the same name), it’s hard to argue with the quality of the story. Of course, the tricky thing is compressing the story into three issues. So far, Andrew Dabb has done an excellent job, not just with this book, but the entire line of Salvatore adapted titles. He controls the tempo masterfully, while ending each issue at just the right spot. Not an easy task. This issue is probably the first time I’ve seen an abrupt ending, however. It’s not jarring like, say, The Matrix Reloaded’s awful ending, but I was a bit surprised by how it came out of nowhere.

With Legacy #2, we get a big plot twist that involves Regis, who has accompanied Drizzt down into the caverns to investigate the dwarven menace. But with the trap by Drizzt’s sister Vierna sprung, it’s awakened his mind to just how complacent he has become. Making matters worse is the return of Artemis Entriri – Drizzt’s nemesis, who continues his pursuit of one final duel between the two. Unlike many reoccurring enemies who make you groan when they suddenly appear time and again, Artemis shares one common trait with Drizzt: Charisma. He’s a complete bastard in every single way, yet, there’s something about him that’s likable. He’s the rogue we all secretly wish we could be – the perfect bad guy. And every time these two lock blades, it’s more than welcome.

The story really kicks into high gear with long awaited reunions, betrayals, and lots of death taking place. There’s also a copious amount of fighting that fills the pages – so much that it would challenge even the most seasoned artist. How do you keep an ongoing fight (that goes on for pages and pages) fresh? Rob Atkins pulls it off pretty well, finding creative ways to keep the momentum going without showing signs of “artist fatigue”. Perhaps the only criticism I have with the art is that the backgrounds were lacking. Within the Mithril Hall we get a general feeling of what it looks like, but everything looks and feels so vague, devoid of any culture or personality. I realize most of this issue takes place in a series of caverns, but if the colorist added more texture to the rock or gave us more depth, it would have helped. Instead, most of the backgrounds are flat in color.

Forgotten Realms: Legacy #2 is another solid chapter to the life of Drizzt. Consistently good, this series is one of the best fantasy comics being produced today. It’s going to be another long two months for the final installment, but I look forward to it. (Grade: B+)

– J. Montes