Gather your dice, your figures, your pencils, your maps and the adventuring party you left at the tavern. There’s a quest in the offing!
For me (and for all, really) today’s Wednesday Run comic book pick is perfectly timed.
This weekend, I’m getting together with my Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party and we’re having a different sort of gathering. This particular event is centered around our collective kids – who are having their first D&D adventure scenario. Oh, us grizzle vets will take part as well, but only as guides and expert advisors (“No, no. There was interference. Roll that die again.”), but this exciting journey is all their own.
We’ve already rolled up characters together, chosen names, picked up weapons and spells and familiars. All that’s left is picking up some snacks and ordering pizza this coming Sunday afternoon. It promises to be a rip-roaring, mysterious adventure full of sleuthful deduction and mighty smiting.
Ah, but one thing is still missing from the event, me thinks.
There’s still one more important item to pick up in preparation for the lot of newby Forgotten Realm waywards who want-to-be heroes: today’s release of the brand-new Dungeons & Dragons #1, published by Dark Horse Comics. Something I’ll be doing (for each of this weekend’s party members) at my local comic book shop, later today.
Dungeons & Dragons #1
Written by: Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly
Illustrated by: Ibraim Roberson
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (Star Trek, Captain America, NYX) and illustrated by Ibraim Roberson (Annihilation 2099, Star Wars, Weapon X), Dungeons & Dragons #1 begins a brand new ongoing series, absolutely epic in its scope. Set in the most popular D&D role-playing multiverse, the Forgotten Realms and the expansive continent of Faerun, Lanzing, Kelly and Roberson have done their role-playing homework.
Here, readers are immediately emersed in the deep mythology of the lands as they are introduced to two long-standing and important characters. In a tavern, of course, we come across Volothamp Geddarm (better known simply as Volo), a boastful and famous explorer of the realm. As a D&D player, you can actually buy/read his in-universe, early 1990s, guidebooks like Volo’s Guide to Waterdeep (1992), Volo’s Guide to the North (1993), Volo’s Guide to the Sword Coast (1994), Volo’s Guide to All Things Magical (1996) and Volo’s Guide to Monsters (2016) to name a few. A quick side note: I had many of these guidebooks in my collection of D&D reference material and they were all wonderful additions to both the lore of the Forgotten Realms landscapes, material for a deeper role-playing experience and just imaginative entertainment. Readers also meet the arch-mage Mordenkainen, a being dedicated to the comic balance of good and evil. He hails from the World of Greyhawk – a different D&D roleplaying experience but one steeped in its own long-standing mythology. One thing is certain: If Mordenkainen has plane-walked to Faerun, then something altogether epic is afoot.
In this tale, Mordenkainen has been stripped of his magical power and seeks to gather the most legendary heroes of the Forgotten Realms in order to eradicate a coming apocalypse and restore balance to all reality! Could other notable and favourite characters like Elminster the Sage, Khelben Blackstaff, Bruenor Battlehammer or Drizzt Do’Urden soon make their appearance?
Cast “Foresight” or “Augury” to find out…or, you know, just pick up the book!
With multiple covers to choose from (all are brilliant), each issue of Dungeons & Dragons will feature explosive backmatter and essays from fan favorite RPG personalities as well as game assets for D&D campaigns.
We’re all rolling 20’s here!
Now cast “Haste” and make the run to your local comic book shop today and grab the first part of the new epic Dungeons & Dragons comic book series!
