Comic fans who have followed Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly through Star Trek and Marvel are about to see them tackle a new frontier. The writing duo is launching a brand new Dungeons & Dragons ongoing series at Dark Horse Comics, and the first issue lands in comic shops in two weeks.
Dark Horse is calling it a flagship D&D comic, built around a draconic apocalypse and one of the game's most legendary wizards. The publisher has been promoting the book's dragon foil variants ahead of launch, and each of them comes with something extra for tabletop players.
What The Series Is About
Here is the official synopsis for issue #1:
"A draconic apocalypse approaches the Forgotten Realms, and it has one name on its lips: MORDENKAINEN. Now, stripped of his magic but never out of the fight, the most powerful wizard in all reality will need the help of Faerun's most legendary heroes to restore the balance."
That setup is classic team-up territory. With Mordenkainen powerless, he has to assemble a crew of famous Forgotten Realms figures, including the traveling scholar Volo and the witch Tasha. Both are best known to D&D players as the voices behind major rulebooks, so this is a rare chance to see them in action on the page.
For readers who do not play, Mordenkainen is a big deal in D&D lore. Gary Gygax created the wizard for his own campaign decades ago, and the character has since become one of the most recognizable names in the game.
A Strong Creative Team
Lanzing and Kelly are Eisner-nominated writers whose recent credits include Star Trek, Captain America and NYX. They have a knack for big ensemble stories with long histories behind them, which should serve them well with a property that has five decades of lore.
On art, Ibraim Roberson handles pencils. His credits include Star Wars, Weapon X and Annihilation 2099. He is joined by inker Arabson Oliveira, colorist Dan Brown and letterer Haley Rose-Lyon. Dark Horse pitches the book as a must-read for fans of Monstress, The Witcher and Conan the Barbarian.
The Covers
The main cover for issue #1 is by Esad Ribic, with additional covers from D&D 5th Edition key artist Tyler Jacobson, Karen Darboe, Mateus Manhanini and Eric Canete, whose cover is a 1:25 ratio variant.
The real collector hook is the dragon foil variant from Antonio Jose Manzanedo. Each issue of the ongoing will have one, and according to Dark Horse, those variants also include the featured dragon's in-game stats and lore so Dungeon Masters can use them in their own games. Polygon got the first look at the first three dragon covers back in the summer, and one of them appears to show Bahamut, the god of good dragons.
Every issue will also carry bonus backmatter, including essays from RPG personalities and D&D campaign assets that are exclusive to the single issues. Issue #1 includes an essay from Erika Ishii, the voice actor and Dimension 20 player.
When You Can Get It
Dungeons & Dragons #1 hits comic shops in two weeks (November 4th) for $4.99, with the dragon foil variant priced at $6.99. Issue #2 is currently listed for early January.
The ongoing adds to a busy run of D&D comics at Dark Horse, which has also published The Fallbacks, Total Party Killers and Ravenloft. It is a good time to be a D&D fan who also reads comics, with the publisher clearly treating this as the centerpiece of its line.
Are you picking up Dungeons & Dragons #1 for Lanzing and Kelly's story, or for the dragon foil covers?
Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.