I’m going to put my conspiracy hat on for a moment and speculate on why the penultimate issue of DC’s Forgotten Realms comic series is a spoofy fourth-wall breaking story…

By 1991, DC knew that their licensing agreement for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was nearing its end. TSR, the company that owned AD&D, decided to produce their own comics. This ended the ongoing comics quite abruptly, giving the creative teams a short window to wrap up their ongoing stories. I think both Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms had their stories ready to print when they received the notice that the arcs they were working on would be their last. That likely necessitated the insertion of a quick one-shot to make sure the current story arcs ended with the license’s expiration.

Why do I think this? Because both titles had a single-issue fill-in ahead of their final stories. AD&D has “Summer in the City,” which could at least use the familiar setting of Selûne’s Smile for its one-off. But the Forgotten Realms comic was in no place to run a silly one-off when their heroes were still struggling with the aftermath of Labelas Enoreth destroying their ship. Thus, my theory goes, “Everybody Wants to Run the Realms” happened. We’ve had some fourth wall breaks in the past, such as with “Players,” but nothing that ever as explicitly meta-fiction as this.

Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Everybody Wants to Run the Realms” →

The heroes of the now-destroyed Realms Master have been through the wringer. Sure, they picked up the pieces, but they are still broken. Omen’s mind is shredded, Agrivar and Foxy are in the throws of addiction, and Vartan has lost faith in his god.

But at least it can’t get any worse…right?

Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Unreal Estate” →

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” →

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…

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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” →