Magic: The Gathering #1

This had a mainstream national release this week, but I did buy my copy from one of the Templecon vendors.

Title: Magic: The Gathering
Issue: 1
Date: December, 2011
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Matt Forbeck
Artist: Martin Coccolo
Colorist: J. Edwin Stevens
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: Carol Guzman, John Barber
Cover: Aleksi Briclot

Okay, fine. I admit it. I bought this for the promo card. I would guess I'm probably not the only one.

Magic: The Gathering has been failing to translate well into comic form since around the release of Ice Age. This is the latest attempt, with the offer spiced up by the addition of an alternate art promo card (in this case, the card is Treasure Hunt, and the artwork on the card is the cover art for the comic).

The lead character here is Dack Fayden, a roguish planeswalker, who seems to be in some sort of trouble pretty much everywhere he goes. In this sense, Dack is a fairly generic loveable rogue, and much of the book is spent with him on the run from various enemies including Ravnica's cult of Rakdos, from whom Dack has just stolen an artifact.

Stealing artifacts is Dack's business, as it turns out, although he describes it as stealing spells. And Dack discovers that this particular artifact holds a link to his own past, and the first clue on a mission of vengeance that Dack had once followed until the trail went cold. Now, the new clue is leading him to (wait for it...) Innistrad.

The story was fast paced, and there were enough hints of depth to Dack that I was left with hope that he might be more than the cliche that is mostly evident here. I was pleased that writer Matt Forbeck generally kept game mechanics out of the story, as there are few things dumber than a game-based comic getting bogged down in game-mechanics references.

The artwork is good mechanically, but the choice to keep everything dark and on multiple pages to use a red wash over everything does more to obscure the art than to enhance the mood.

Overall, this was a reasonable start, and it is possible that a good story can be built out of this.

And the promo card is nice.

Rating: 5.5/10

Sky Pirates of Valendor Series 2 #4

We're at Templecon in Warwick RI this weekend. It's a steampunk and gaming con, so I'm not sure if I'll get much in the way of comics, but there was one major comic release at Templecon: The new issue of Sky Pirates of Valendor from Jolly Rogue Studios!

Title: Sky Pirates of Valendor
Issue: Series 2 #4
Date: 2012
Publisher: Jolly Rogue Studios
Writer: Everett Soares
Penciler: Brian Brinlee
Inker: Alex Rivera
Tones: Jet Amago
Letterer: Steve Kuster
Editor: Amy Haley
Cover: Craig DeBoard

The Prince of Valen has been poisoned, and he's fighting for his life while sky pirates Gearz and Shyni spent most of last issue fighting, well, each other. But now, the Night Razors have decided not to wait to see the outcome of the poisoning. Time for the old frontal assault with half pincer movement.

Up against the horde of assassins (plus one chimera!) is Shyni and Gearz, plus Gun Knight Kirby Kingsman and about 30 redshirts. As it turns out, that's about even odds.

This issue was almost entirely one huge fight scene. And generally it was a pretty good one. It had even had a few little touches that were quite awesome. I love how artist Brinlee delivers the details on Shyni's fighting style, switching knives between two hands and a prehensile tail and making every movement graceful and deadly.

Gearz actually gets the big moment in this, as she takes on the chimera (which actually resembles a manticore) and manages to add some depth to the mystery of her origins as she is upping her ability to dish out damage by several notches.

Some of the fighting is a bit goofy, and in spite of the threat of the chimera, the bad guys really don't ever seem all that effective here, but this is a good scene for showing what the heroes are capable of, especially Gearz. There is action start to finish, and it's all fun.

Rating: 7/10

Lai Wan #2

Title: Lai Wan
Issue: #2
Date: 2006
Publisher: Moonstone Books
Writer: C.J. Henderson
Art: Kieran Yanner
Colorist: Thompson Knox
Letterer: Nate Pride
Editor: Lori G
Cover: Kieran Yanner

The second issue's story, "A Happy Mother Takes Away Pain", is in many ways a more interesting introduction to the character of Lai Wan than the first issue was. This story stands alone nicely, and tells of a plain-looking middle-aged woman who seeks psychic Lai Wan's help for her mother's mysterious affliction.

The affliction, as it turns out, is demonic possession. The problem is that Lai Wan isn't in the business of fighting demons. She just gives the daughter the chance to fight the battle for herself. Not everything is as it appears, and the plot twists are fun, but what I really enjoyed here was the depiction of a very ordinary person finding the courage to fight a very extraordinary battle.

Kieran Yanner, who painted the cover for the first issue, handles all the art here, and his work is appropriately eerie and disturbing, especially his demon (a djinn, actually, for those wishing to be technical).

Lai Wan continues to be a fascinating character, and she really shines in this clever and disturbing tale.

Rating: 8/10

Photo is from today at TempleCon, with writer C.J. Henderson holding up Lai Wan #2 as well as his Lai Wan prose anthology. This is my last of 3 reviews of books purchased at TempleCon. We had a great time at the convention. Our next con appearance is in only two weeks at Queen City kamikaze in Manchester NH.

Lai Wan #1

Title: Lai Wan
Issue: #1
Date: 2006
Publisher: Moonstone Books
Writer: C.J. Henderson
Penciler: Shawn McGuan
Inker: Chad Hunt
Colorist: Thompson Knox
Letterer: Chuck Maly
Editor: Lori G
Cover: Kieran Yanner


With a serial killer on the loose in New York, and the police at a loss to figure out the link between the seemingly random victims, NYPD Capain Beldon receives an offer of assistance from "Spooky Mary" AKA Lai Wan (AKA several other names, depending on what NYC neighborhood she's hanging out in, apparently). Lai Wan is a psychometrist, gifted (and cursed) with the ability to read the history of a thing or the thoughts of a person with a touch. But even her abilities lead to further riddles, and the last thoughts of the victims point to a shadowy warrior dressed in armor.

The solution to the mystery and the resolution both come a bit quickly and arbitrarily, and Lai Wan's personality takes a bit of warming up to. She comes off as rather arrogant at first, although that softens a bit as the story progresses. There's a good hardboiled and gritty feel to the narration, and a couple of interesting subplots, once involving Captain Beldon's past and the other providing the reason that Lai Wan gets involved in the case.

The text feature at the end of the book discusses the creation of the Lai Wan, who began as a supporting character in C.J. Henderson's Theodore London prose detective stories. From there, she began to appear in her own solo stories and has now made the transition into comics.

Lai Wan herself is a refreshing change in a lot of ways, as a character who doesn't fight on a physical level (as is pointed out in the essay at the end of the book, Lai Wan would actually have some extreme difficulties even touching a weapon of any kind), but is still presented as exceptionally strong and confident.

Lai Wan has some great potential, even if this particular introduction felt rushed.

Rating: 6.5/10

This is my second purchase at TempleCon. I picked up this book along with the second issue in the same series from writer CJ Henderson. I also bought the Sky Pirates of Valendor anthology, Valendor Chronicles #1 from the Jolly Rogue Studios team and that was my review for last night. I'll be reviewing the second issue of Lai Wan tomorrow.

Reviewing Live From TempleCon This Weekend!

Dandelion Studios will have a dealer table at this weekend's TempleCon in Warwick RI. We'll be debuting our newest fantasy comic, Kaeli & Rebecca by Rick Silva and Katrina Joyner.

Once again, I'll be doing live reviews of comics purchased at the convention if at all possible. I know several comic publishers and vendors will be attending, so I'm looking forward to picking up some interesting new reading material.

And if you're attending the con, stop by our table and say hello!