I haven’t been a total snob only buying old comics (here and here). I did pick up a
couple of new comics.
Rolled
& Told #7 March 2019
This is a bit of a cheat; it’s not a comic book. Actually, this was first (and only) thing I
bought when I went to the new Zia Comics. Rolled
& Told is a 5e D&D magazine
in a comic book format. It’s twice the
price of a typical comic ($8), but it is 64 pages (but there’s some blank filler
pages in the back). It has a thick cover
on it, so it can be abused at the gametable.
They sold the issues bagged, so I couldn’t look at it until
I bought it. Inside, I was pleased with
the cheery artwork featuring their iconic characters. The art was spread throughout and well
done. There were two adventures
inside. Each featured comic pages to go
with them. There were also three general
gaming articles.
Unfortunately, here’s where I have to be honest. Actually reading the issue was a
disappointment. The adventures were
little delves and not that great. They
left me really wanting. Expanding them
yourself might be difficult, because they are pretty self-contained. Given the size format, they’d have to devote
the entire issue to a Dungeon Magazine-sized
adventure, so it’s an editorial choice.
Some new monsters and magic items were included. The articles were of little interest. You can go to their website and get
copies of their maps and see some articles for yourself.
(That said, the reason I actually went back to the store
after my first visit, when I had declared I was done with them, was because I
was looking for another issue of this.
They didn’t have the one I was looking for and that’s how ended up
buying some comic books instead.)
Adventure
Finders-The Edge of Empire #1
One thing that surprised me on the comic book shelves was
how many were fantasy-inspired. There
was Conan, Red Sonja, some licensed D&D
and Pathfinder comics, and a Critical Role comic. There were a couple of independent titles as
well. This one caught my eye
immediately. Of course, I was only
judging by the cover, since it was bagged.
I was delighted that the artwork inside was even
better. It could perhaps be described as
a manga that was Euro-comics inspired.
It doesn’t look like Nausiccaa,
but it reminded me of it in style.
Pretty panographic pictures fill the issue. It’s a good thing visually, but story-wise
that makes this very decompressed. Not a
whole lot happens towards advancing the story.
On the other hand, this $4 comic had a recap page and a roster of
characters page at the end and everything in between was story. Marvel
and DC will not give you this many
pages of story in a 32 page comic.
I can’t tell you much about the characters or the story,
because I couldn’t really figure out much of what was going on. The recap was no help. The little bit of story just gave a hint of
the characters and set the stage of very large caravan moving out. There was quite a bit of action at the end
though. The slightly disturbing image of
a naked Gnoll, who shows up to help defend the caravan, seemed a bit
unnecessary. No naughty bits were shown,
but either give him a loincloth or a bunch of thick fur down there. (No, I’m not posting a picture of that.)
So, I kind of liked it.
Given that it’s an independent one-man comic production, who knows when
the next issue comes out. I’m not
holding my breath, but I’ll keep an eye out for it.
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