Our last story with the Realms Master crew put them through their paces. Vartan became possessed by a mad god, Agrivar’s successful fight against alcoholism was undone, Minder’s body got shattered, and the ship was smashed to pieces by an angry god.
But at least it can’t get much worse…right…?
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Picking Up the Pieces”
The D&D comics produced by DC came out right at the dawn of 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, so the Time of Troubles which shaped that edition’s Forgotten Realms setting played a major role from the beginning. Characters referred to magic going awry, the gods becoming more distant, and so on. However, as the Forgotten Realms comic draws to a close, the Time of Troubles finally arrives.
What happens to the crew of the Realms Master when the gods are suddenly cast down and magic stops working? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Against the Gods”
All good things must come to an end. In 1991, TSR decided that they wanted to create their own line of comics, breaking the licensing agreement they had with DC. This meant the end of several ongoing titles at DC, including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms. As such, “Rites and Wrongs” is our last tale with the adventurers from Waterdeep.
Fittingly, it all begins with some drunken carousing…
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Rites and Wrongs”
I griped a bit about the ending of “Pillar of Gold” due to a god just popping up and resolving the story in the last couple of pages, but gods do tend to meddle in the Forgotten Realms. The real issue is when a god has no role in the tale other than as a resolution mechanic. By comparison, “Summer in the City” features a good dose of Selûne, but the ending doesn’t feel like a cop-out. This is largely due to the fact that the heroes still earn the ending they get. It also doesn’t hurt that Selûne has been part of the ongoing story since the beginning, so she doesn’t pop out of nowhere to save the day.
Despite the need for divine intervention, “Summer in the City” is a light-hearted tale and serves as the last one-shot story in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comic. Our team of Kyri, Onyx, Timoth, and Vajra are all together once again, so let’s see what they get up to on a hot summer day in Waterdeep.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Summer in the City”
In the last storyline, Kyri got a turn in the spotlight with “Death and the Dragon’s Eye.” This time, it’s Onyx’s turn as the lead. Once again, the rest of our intrepid adventurers get cameos or nothing in terms of appearances. I think this was a result of the creative team wanting to do some character-building for what they thought was going to be a longer-running title. However, it could also be a bit of meta-commentary on D&D as a game, since almost everyone has experienced a game night where most of the players couldn’t make it and the DM had to cobble together a hasty side quest.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Pillar of Gold”
It’s no secret that I really like Kyriani, especially after her makeover during “The Ostus Legacy.” Once she combined her “good” and “evil” halves, she became confident, charming, and clever. Her flirtatious ways, usually avoided in 1990s fantasy heroines, are something she has no shame over but do not define her character. So I should be very happy that she gets a story arc focused on her, especially since she’s been mostly a side character since “The Ostus Legacy.”
I should be happy…so am I?
Well, let’s dive into “Death and the Dragon’s Eye” to see if Kyri gets the treatment I think she deserves.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Death and the Dragon’s Eye”
Originally posted on Panic in the Skies January 23, 2018
For all its misses, the DC Extended Universe has mustered up a single film that took over the box office while also receiving strong praise from critics. Wonder Woman stands out at the only unqualified success from DC’s cinematic universe so far. It also provided one of the best scenes in any superhero movie.
I’m referring, of course, to the No Man’s Land scene, which nearly got cut from the film. Luckily, director Patty Jenkins won the argument and kept the scene in the final cut despite the fact that Wonder Woman wasn’t fighting a villain. It’s an iconic moment, and the film builds up to it incredibly well.
Continue reading “Wonder Woman in No Man’s Land: Anatomy of a Great Scene”
Our last, light-hearted tale mentioned that Timoth and Vajra were off on another adventure. In “Scavengers,” we see what they are up to while Onyx is shirking his responsibilities in repairing Selûne’s Smile. Sadly for Timoth and Vajra, it’s not as silly as Onyx’s quest to rid Waterdeep of lawyers.
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Dungeons & Dragons has an inherent amount of silliness to it, derived its roots as a casual hobby filled with puns and friendly banter. You can absolutely do epic quests with it, but the game often works just as well if it tells smaller, sillier stories. This story is one of the latter, as Onyx the Invincible and Khelben Arunsun team up to deal with something that the city of Waterdeep has outlawed for years: lawyers.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Lawyers!”
By 1990, DC Comics had four concurrent Dungeons & Dragons comics running: Dragonlance, Spelljammer, and two Forgotten Realms titles. A TSR Worlds Annual one-shot that year tied all four settings together, while the Forgotten Realms Annual featured a crossover between the two Toril-bound adventuring groups. Meanwhile, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Annual went for something much smaller, but very fun…
D&D is the original role-playing game, yet the media that ties into it very rarely leans into the “game” aspect of it. That’s natural, since it’s hard to handle that sort of fourth wall breaking without feeling trite. “Players,” the tale told in the 1990 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Annual, manages to subvert that by simultaneously fleshing out our cast of heroes and presenting them as characters in a game. All it takes is a little magic…
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Players”
Babbling Brooks 
