The Legend of Drizzt Book IV: The Crystal Shard

Last of four Forgotten Realms graphic novels loaned to me by the GM from my gaming group here in Shanghai. These were purchased at Atomic Comics in Artesia CA.

Title: The Legend of Drizzt
Issue: Book IV: The Crystal Shard
Date: 2007
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: R.A. Salvatore, Andrew Dabb
Penciler: Val Semeiks
Inker:Dan Davis, Jeff Austin, John Stanisci, Jeremy Freeman, John Lowe, Marc Deering, Em Stone
Colorist: Blond
Letterer: Brian J. Crowley
Editor: Mark Powers

The fourth volume of the Legend of Drizzt graphic novel series goes back to the prose novel where Drizzt was originally introduced. The barbarian Wulfgar was the lead character of that novel, but here the emphasis has been shifted slightly to focus more on Drizzt, although the story is, so some extent, an ensemble cast.

The lack of female characters (there is one, and she only appears in two minor scenes), was a bit disappointing, particularly after this had not been an issue in other books in the series, but again, this feels like a product of this graphic novel being based on an earlier piece of Salvatore's writing.

As for the story, there's an evil artifact, a weak-willed but power-hungry wizard who uses his newfound power to set himself up with a horde of monsters, and the heroes determined to save Icewind Dale in spite of the struggles of the locals to unite.

This volume tells a complete story. I had forgotten that the Icewind Dale books were more standalone than the Dark Elf Trilogy.

Wulfgar gets a lot of the spotlight, as does the halfling rogue Regis, who ends up having one of the best scenes in the story in a mind-control battle with the villain. Drizzt does all of his usual Drizzt things, but seeing him as a mentor-figure to Wulfgar is a nice turnaroud after all of his times in the student role in the first three graphic novels.

The battle scenes are bloody and intense, and all of the artwork on the action scenes is great.

This novel had a lot of plot, and the graphic novel struggled a bit to give everything the space it deserved, with a scene involving a dragon getting sold a bit short in the crunch for space.

The climactic battle does get the space it needs, and the pacing on that final battle is great.

Rating: 6.5/10

The Legend of Drizzt Book III: Sojourn

Title: The Legend of Drizzt
Issue: Book III: Sojourn
Date: 2006
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: R.A. Salvatore, Andrew Dabb
Penciler: Tim Seeley
Inker: John Lowe, Robert Q. Atkins, John Rauch, Mark Englert
Colorist: Blond
Letterer: Brian J. Crowley
Editor: Mark Powers

Dark elf Drizzt Drizzt Do'Urden seeks a new home on the surface of the Forgotten Realms world of Faerun in this adaptation of the third novel in R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy.

When his first attempts at finding peace and friendship end in tragedy, Drizzt finds himself hunted again, this time by a ranger and her party of adventurers, along with a rugged frontiersman who blames Drizzt for the injury that left his face scarred.

The long pursuit will bring Drizzt face-to-face with some classic Dungeons & Dragons creatures, and will lead to his discovery of the path of the ranger, and finally to a last refuge in a place called Icewind Dale.

The Icewind Dale trilogy was written before the Dark Elf trilogy, and this volume completes the prequel, bringing together the characters and the setting that originally introduced the character of Drizzt.

There is a lot happening in this story, and supporting characters are sometimes written out rather abruptly. Still, there is a lot of good character development for Drizzt, and some very memorable members of the supporting cast. The characters in this volume, with a couple of notable exceptions, come across as smart and nuanced, and are not defined just by their preconceptions about Drizzt.

Rating: 7/10

The Legend of Drizzt Book II: Exile

Second of four Drizzt graphic novels I borrowed from a friend here in Shanghai.

Title: The Legend of Drizzt
Issue: Book II: Exile
Date: 2006
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: R.A. Salvatore, Andrew Dabb
Penciler: Tim Seeley
Inker: John Lowe, Marco Galli, Dennis Cristostomo, Rob Atkins, Cory Hamscher, Robert Grabes, Serge LaPointe, Rebekah Isaacs, Johnny Timmons, Shaun Beaudry, Alex McCaffrey
Colorist: Blond
Letterer: Steve Seeley, Brian J. Crowley
Editor: Mark Powers

Graphic novel adaptation of R.A. Salvatore's second novel in his Dark Elf Trilogy, set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms world.

Away from the intrigues of Menzoberranzan, Drizzt Do'Urden's struggle becomes an internal one against the primal instincts that threaten to make him into a merciless creature of the Underdatk.

Facing the prospect of centuries of isolation and a descent into madness, Drizzt throws himself on the mercy of the deep gnomes of Blingdenstone, where for the first time in his life, he finds the possibility of true friendship.

But his Mother, (the rather blatantly named) Matron Malice, still seeks him out, and she has called forth Drizzt's father in spirit-wraith form to hunt him down.

Although there is some resolution to the political drama in Menzoberranzan in this volume, this is a much more personal story about Drizzt recovering from his totalitarian upbringing and his toxic family. He grows closer to his first real friend, the astral panther Guenhwyvar, and he makes new friends in his travels through the Underdark.

This volume also introduces the menace of the Illithids, although the conclusion to their part in the story felt a bit rushed. The subplot involving the tragic Clacker, a pech transformed into a monstrous hook horror by a wizard's spell, does work very well with the graphic novel pacing.

The artwork looks great throughout, especially the work on the mind flayers.

This volume features an introduction by Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood, and a nice gallery of individual issue covers.

Rating: 7.5/10

The Legend of Drizzt Book I: Homeland

Borrowed from a friend here in Shanghai, who recently brought the first four of these graphic novels here from the US.

Title: The Legend of Drizzt
Issue: Book I: Homeland
Date: 2005
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: R.A. Salvatore, Andrew Dabb
Penciler: Tim Seeley
Inker: Andrew Pepoy, Marco Galli, Derek Fridolfs, Dennis Crisostomo, Serge LaPointe
Colorist: Blond
Letterer: Steve Seeley
Editor: Mark Powers

Adapting the first novel in R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy. Set in the Forgotten Realms (D&D campaign setting) underdark city of Menzoberranzan, the story is essentially the origin of Drizzt Do'Urden. In the original prose novels, the drow elf Drizzt was introduced in the Icewind Dale Trilogy, and was then given his own story, starting with Homeland. In this graphic novel series, the stories will appear in chronological order, with the Icewind Dale adaptations to follow the Dark Elf trilogy.

This volume gives the story of Drizzt's birth and childhood through his days at the infamous Melee-Magthere combat academy where he trained to become one of Menzoberranzan's greatest warriors, even as he began to have his doubts about the brutal nature of drow society.

The original Homeland is a richly-detailed novel, and a lot had to be cut in order for this to flow smoothly in the graphic novel medium. Script writer Andrew Dabb did a remarkable job, especially with the complex web (see what I did there?) of political intrigue that binds the drow noble houses. While not all of the descriptive worldbuilding could be included, the art team led by Tim Seeley manage to capture much of the mood of Menzoberranzan in the visuals.

The drow society as presented in these stories has always felt like it could have used more nuance, but the conflicting motivations of the characters are handled well. The story felt complex, but not to the point where it was hard to follow. Drizzt himself comes off as a bit less broody than the prose version due to the limitations of space, and the emphasis on actions over words helps move the story along.

The Dark Elf Trilogy were not really favorites of mine as I look back on them, but this edition got me sufficiently nostalgic and never overstayed its welcome.

Rating: 7/10

Drafted: Free Comic Book Day Edition

From the random stack of unread comics and that massive FCBD haul we got in '08.

Title: Drafted: Free Comic Book Day Edition
Date: May, 2008
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: Mark Powers
Artist: Chris Lie, Mike O'Sullivan, John Lowe, Joseph Baker, Wes Dzioba
Letterer: Brian J. Crowley
Cover Art: Mike O'Sullivan

This Free Comic Book Day special was essentially a recap of DDP's Drafted series, issues 0-5. It's cobbled together from those five issues with a "voiceover" in caption form.

The story is about Earth's first encounter with an advanced alien civilization, who has arrived to draft the whole human population into war with another alien species, a race of sentient world-eating worms. The incentive for humanity is pretty straightforward: The World-Eaters have Earth as their next target.

This looked like a really interesting idea. The aliens are desperate in their own way, in spite of their advanced technology, and there are a lot of plot twists as humanity gears up for all-out war.

The execution of this sample book could have been better, however, as the narration got wordy, and all of the cuts in the story disrupted the flow of the narrative and failed to give much sense of the characters.

I was also left wondering why exactly these aliens need humans in their battle. Hopefully that is explained in the full series, but it still felt like something of a gaping hole in this glimpse of the story.

And finally, the villains left a lot to be desired. They felt generic, and not sufficiently threatening, especially compared to the abilities of the "good" aliens.

Rating: 5/10

GI Joe Vs. Transformers: Black Horizon #1

Another random comic from the backlog. No idea how I ended up with this.

Title: GI Joe Vs. Transformers: Black Horizon
Issue: #1
Date: January, 2007
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Andrew Wildman
Colorist: Wes Ozioba, Art Lyon
Letterer: Brian J. Crowley
Cover Art: Mike O'Sullivan

Scorecard definitely needed here.

Basically, the setup is that there is a race of monstrous creatures living an a lost city in the Himalayas called Cobra-La. No, really.

Anyway, back in ancient times, they defended the Earth against Unicron. Well actually, what they really did was to negotiate to sell out the Earth to Unicron at a later date. Which has arrived.

Now it's up to Optimus Prime, Hawk, and Flint to stop them. Oh, and joining them is "G.I." Joe Colton, an original member of the Adventure Team, who has been held captive in Cobra-La since 1978, and who has conveniently just now figured out how to pick a lock.

There is also some other stuff going on. Destro is doing some generally evil things. Lady Jaye gets a cameo. Snake Eyes gets a cameo. Various other good guys and bad guys show up, and if you're really into this stuff, then it probably makes more sense than it did to me.

But even if you are really into this stuff, this story was still trying to do too much at once.

Rating: 4.5/10 (And now you know. And knowing is half the battle.)

Mercy Sparx: Under New Management #1 Free Comic Book Day Edition

This is the first of my purchases/finds from the South Coast Toy & Comic Show in Fairhaven MA a couple of weeks ago. This was one of a stack of old FCBD books that Rubber Chicken Comics had brought and put out on the freebies table.

Title: Mercy Sparx: Under New Management
Issue: #1 (Free Comic Book Day Edition)
Date: May, 2009
Publisher: Devils Due Publishing
Writer: Josh Blaylock
Artist: Matt Merhoff
Colorist: Bill Crabtree
Letterer: Crank!
Cover Art: Tim Seeley, Josh Blaylock

Two pages of text in a very small font are required to fill the reader in on the basic scenario and the happenings in the previous series. And then it takes another four pages of exposition before the story gets started. This could have gotten out of the gate a lot faster and with a lot fewer words.

Mercy Sparx is a, well, essentially a demonic being of some sort, but she's not particularly evil. Just snarky. The main thing she seems to do is to get manipulated into doing other people's dirty work. Dirty work, in this case consisting mostly of tracking down rogue angels and beating them up. With occasional moments of getting beat up by said rogue angels, not to mention suffering the occasional serious beatdown from the various more powerful beings that she works for.

When we finally get to the plot of this issue, Mercy is acting as a messenger for Heaven. Messenger here kind of in the mob sense. So she's got some angel she needs to deliver a message to, but en route she gets jumped by some other angels. A brawl ensues, followed by the seemingly inevitable bondage scene.

I liked the cynical dialogue in this, and the fight scenes were reasonably pretty if occasionally lacking in logic (Mercy gets knocked through a window and into a wall by an angel flying at full speed and gets up swinging, but a single kick puts her lights out a couple of pages later).

But there is a definite vibe that this is a comic that's pretending to be about a strong woman, when really it's a comic about a woman that things happen to, and who is constantly being controlled by (male) beings that she is hopelessly outmatched against. Silly excessively revealing outfits, generic comic-heroine body types, and bondage sequences did little to alter my opinion.

Which is too bad, because there is a lot of fun in the way this is written and there is a lot to like about the artwork. I have a distinct bad gut feeling about the themes I'm reading into this, but I would love for that feeling to be proven wrong.

Rating: 5.5/10