Comic Info
Comic Name: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
Publisher: IDW/DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Grubb/Dan Mishkin
Artist: Jan Duursema
# of Issues: 10
Release Date: 2011
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #11
Reprints Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #9-18 (August 1989-May 1990). Timoth and Onyx find themselves in a battle under the streets of Waterdeep when Timoth decides to get an honest job as a courier. Vajra and her hatred of Conner comes to a head when Vajra finds herself betrayed again by the man who sold her into slavery the first time. Kyriani learns that the transformation she underwent that merged her two sides might not be complete…and the world could be doomed unless the transformation is finished!
Written by Jeff Grubb and Dan Mishkin, Dungeons & Dragons Classics—Volume 2 is an IDW collection. The Classics series reprints the DC Comics’ series Advanced Dungeons & Dragons published from 1988 to 1991 and features art by Jan Duursema. The volume collects three story arcs.
If I got a comic as a kid, I read it. A free copy of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #14 ended up in my hands, and I of course pored through it…understanding little. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons stories on the outside were relatively simple constructs, but the individual issues were often difficult to just pick up and read without background…collections like these benefit the series.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #14
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was unapologetically bad fantasy. Based on the roleplaying game that epitomized fantasy, the series continues to push the fantasy to the max. It has badly named characters, over-the-top stories, and (in true fashion of roleplaying games) random creatures just popping up so the characters can fight them. The serialized stories arcs help this because it feels like it is a mission for each of the characters…and Grubb and Mishkin are the Dungeon Masters.
The art is also very classic comic book art. The late ’80s and early ’90s were on the verge of the art explosion in comic books. The art in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons isn’t very flashy but it does do a good job telling the stories. The panel layouts and everything is very traditional to go with the traditional style of comic book story.
Dungeons & Dragons Classics—Volume 2 is a must if you were a fan of the series because it is a great transfer of the comic. The stories are pretty heavy handed and overblown (you usually see the twists and betrayals becoming long before the characters), but it still maintains a rather cheesy fun read. Enter the Dungeon again!
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