This is probably the easiest comic book in the world for me to review. It’s so awesome and action packed that even though it’s a full-sized comic I feel as if I’ve only read five pages, but that they were the most spectacular five pages ever. In all seriousness this series continues to be one of my favorite things published by IDW and Baldeon’s art is exemplary. The story begins with Doum cutting down her own people with the evil fucking sword. She looks fierce and angry as she massacres them all, but then suddenly she snaps out of it and looks confused and lost as we see her actually standing over a pile of dead Orcs. The sword tells Doum to rest and so she flees from the scene to do so. Her mother and the other Elves arrive and find the dead bodies. They fear that the slaughtered Orcs will bring war. In the distance they hear drums and they know that the Orcs are on the move. The Elves turn to run back towards their territory so that they don’t help in starting the war, but Doum’s mother is not returning without her daughter; as all of the parties turn and leave, Doum’s father stands up out of hiding.
The story continues to be great. Doum’s father might either be evil as shit or just knows how to deal with the sword and needs this experience to shape his daughter. It’s still pretty jacked up that she need to kill her brother, but hey you can’t make a kingdom without cracking a few skulls. The sword continues to be an interesting character and I’m curious to see what its end game is. I love the pacing of this series and though it’s a quick read, I’m actually kind of glad. I think in my first review I said it could slow down, but now it’s like I said in the beginning. It’s a very polished script and it holds the reader’s attention the entire way through making the fast pace perfect.
I will never get tired of talking about or looking at the art. Baldeon’s pages are poster worthy and if IDW was smart they would take each of his splash pages and covers and make posters. I would buy one in a heartbeat. The action is easy to follow and the dream sequence that we find Doum in is the perfect metaphor of the battle ragging in her mind. The more she kills the larger the sword becomes, clearly showing that the sword is taking control. The animated look to the series continues to be my favorite aspect and the perfect fit for the story. I would kill for original art… or buy it, but I doubt it’s in my budget. Baldeon forever!
If you missed this series it’s a real shame because it’s not set up for new readers to just jump on the title. I would recommend that you pick up the back issues and jump into the series that way. I can only imagine what the experience would be like to read three of these back-to-back, in fact you’d probably be pissed off that you didn’t have more to read. This is a great series regardless of whether you’re a D&Dfan or not and a must read for any fantasy fan.
Score: 5/5
Writers: R.A. Salvatore & Geno Salvatore
Artist: David Baldeon
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 6/12/13