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

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