Review: Reunification (Body & Soul) by Jeff Grubb

 Jeff Grubb is known for many contributions to Dungeons & Dragons, among the plethora of products he wrote was the Forgotten Realms comic line of the late 80s and early 90s. Years after finishing the comic series he wrote a short story that ties into it, that is Reunification (Body & Soul) from Dragon Magazine issue 247 of May 1998. It can be found on pages 63-71. If you want a glimpse of the characters as they appear in the comic line I reviewed the first story arc here. 

There is another short story that also ties into Dragon Magazine 260 from June 1999. The story there, The Honor of Two Swords, was written by Grubb’s wife, and ofttimes writing companion, Kate Novak. I will be reviewing this later. 

Story art by Rags Morales

Vartan hai Sylvar, gold elf cleric of Labelas Enoreth, is in his god’s palace in Arvandor. He is acting like a sneak-thief to gain access a magical item so he can check on his old friends from the Halruaan caravel, Realms Master. Their old leader, the magic-user, Omen, is withering with disease brought in by a curse. He hopes to avoid his demise by magical means.

The party is on some unnamed island in the Sea of Fallen Stars, where an extravagant setup is being tested, to see if Omen can transfer his soul to a brass golem. He has tried every other option available to him. This goal takes them on a psychic journey. 

This is after Jeff Grubb left TSR, but he had been going contract work still, mostly on Jakandor. It was great seeing a story in classic First Edition style (released in late 2e times), where gods interact with the people of Toril. While not a super meaningful story to me, since I haven’t read all the comics, it does leave some possibilities open. I’ll see what the next story holds, but maybe some crew of the Realms Master will appear in my own Games. The story is Good.

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You can track my current progress here.

Comic Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood

 Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms is a series of comics with five issues written by Ed Greenwood. The story is described as political intrigue in the city of Waterdeep. The series was released from May to November 2012 by IDW Publishing, with the interior art being done by Lee Ferguson, while there are two cover options: A done by Tyler Walpole, or B done by Steve Ellis. 

Just like my previous comic-book review, I bought all of these issues from https://www.mycomicshop.com/ There is also a trade paperback omnibus, as well as a hardcover version.

B covers

Also like my previous comic review, this will contain spoilers so I will not be extremely limited on my thoughts, and I will also not be leaving a rating since I am mostly unfamiliar with comics.

Issue #1 starts with two roguish fellows, Torn Telmantle and Randral Daunter, in the Dock Ward of the City of Splendors. They are racing to meet with Skorlus, who they discover has been brutally murdered. They learn of a scheme to kidnap Talandra Roaringhorn, so when we switch to the Lord and lady Roaringhorn we discover that she has gone missing, presumably at the hand of the next people were are introduced to; Blaeyz Glasgerd and Imbrar Salkyn.

House Roaringhorn is a noble family with branches in both Waterdeep and Cormyr, some of the Cormyrean branch appear in the Cormyr Saga. These are likely distantly related, as these comics were released during the Fourth Edition era, and though it is not stated, the story is likely set in 1479 DR like most other 4e things (though nothing tips us off on a specific year beyond this).

A prank by the lady Talandra takes a dire turn, and the rogues Torn and Randral are implored to help when they are cursed by a dying cleric of Tempus, the war god. They then, somewhat aimlessly, attempt to find Talandra as they are pursued by the watch.

At the end of this issue, I was interested in how it would turn out. I was not a huge fan of the style, but Greenwood's stories are all over the place, and I felt this kind of worked here. The cover was a bit misleading, as Torn and Randral are the characters with the most attention at this point while Talandra is indisposed, but will likely get a larger role as a character once rescued.

Trade Paperback omnibus cover

Issue #2 starts off the chase once more, but our anti-heroes quickly unite with Talandra who joins in the escapade of running around the rooftops and streets of Waterdeep. The chance takes them into the sewers of the city, where eventually they find a secret escape, leading into unknown territory. 

Issue #3 the party is in some sort of ruin, as other groups attempt to rescue them, and others attempt to murder. There are a plethora of words (mostly curses) from the Common tongue used, which most authors in the Realms do not utilize, but Greenwood of course does since he invented most of them. There are trolls, a displacer beast, a rage drake, and some tentacled foe in this issue, plus more!

Having read Greenwood's work, he likes to jump to a different set of characters often. Since we have pictures, almost all the prose here is dialogue. This does not flow very well as it jumps scene very often, and seems sporadic.

Right near the end we discover the portal has brought everyone halfway across Faerûn to Battledale. With some of the twist, this issue increased my interest in the story.

Onto Issue #4 we have drow! Not too surprising, since there is one on the cover. This puts our trio in dire straits until a dwarf named Markell comes to the rescue (he can be seen on the A cover for this issue). They are then corralled by a direhelm to confront the King of Ghosts who wants to make a deal with them. We end with a confrontation with a yuan-ti mercenary.

Issue #5 continues and concludes the chase as our anti-heroes and the Lady Talandra arrive in the Border Kingdoms, which was not what I was expecting. 

Overall, I feel this would work better for me as a short story, or even expanded as a novella or full novel. I was not much of a fan of the art style, and the jumping around was too much. I also don't really like comics much, but I am glad I read this as I now know about the Ghost Holds, as well as have three NPCs to utilize if I ever run a session in the Border Kingdoms. These may be the comic books for you, and I will surely be reading more adventures, in comic format, in the Realms.

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You can track my current progress here.

Comic Review: The Hand of Vaprak! - Issues #1-4 of the Forgotten Realms Comic

 While I am on a quest to read all novels, anthologies, and separate short stories set in the Forgotten Realms, I am not much of a comic book person. The last time I read one I was in elementary school. I was interested in a few of the series set in the Forgotten Realms however, and I will review some of the story arcs here to go with my normal reviews. I will not be giving a rating for the whole arc, since I'm too unused to comics. This will be full of spoilers as I feel the continuity between each issue makes sense with more detail.

Issues one though four of the Forgotten Realms Comic were published by DC Comics from August to November 1989. These first four issues are the first story arc for the series: The Hand of Vaprak! The story is by Jeff Grubb and the illustrations by Rags Morales. I was mostly interested because Grubb was in charge of the Forgotten Realms at TSR at the time, and wrote (along with his wife) the books in The Finder's Stone trilogy, and some of those characters from the books actually appear in the comics.

The Ogre's Paw is the fist volume for the comic series, and the first issue for The Hand of Vaprak! We meet Priam Agrivar a paladin and recovering drunk on the Sword Coast. In an odd turn of a swimming session he finds a satchel with some money from Lantan and a giant hand with evil, magical properties.

Then to the Halruaan ship, the Realms Master, captained by Dwalimar Omen. On board is the golem Minder, the halfling Foxilon Cardluck, and Ishi Barasume of Kozakura.

There was a dialogue of Espruar (elvish), though looking at it was just a transliteration of an English phrase that was given as the translation. Though a few pages later we have a couple words for a magical incantation that do not have translations. If you put it into our alphabet you get "spiritual" and "hammer" which makes sense with the spell that is cast.

Vartan Hai Sylivar, gold elf cleric of Labelas Enoreth from Evereska is recused from some gnolls who were going to sacrifice him to Yeenoghu, the demon lord worshiped by gnolls. Aside, this "hai" seems to be followed by a racial designation; Sylvar almost certainly refers to his elven blood, just as Mistinarperadnacles Hai Draco is a dragon.

At the end we are introduced to a villain and his minion doppelgänger seeking the hand of the troll and ogre god, Vaprak.

Converging Lines is the second part of the arc. The story starts with Elminster's assitant getting a notification that the Hand of Vaprak is loose and we quickly cut to Priam and Vartan in Baldur's Gate where they meet the crew of the Realms Master. A game of keep-away, of sorts, takes place, with the hand eventually falling into enemy hands by trickery.

Meanwhile, Alias of Westgate and Dragonbait are summoned to Elminster in Shadowdale since other parties were otherwise preoccupied. If you recognize those two chracters, this is between Azure Bonds and Song of the Saurials. We end with these two as we learn an interesting bit of lore that contradicts the folkloric origin of the Hand of Vaprak explained earlier in the issue.

The Great Game is issue 3 and continues with the party in Baldur's Gate. They go to confront the enemy who is disguised as Gondal of Baldur's Gate. The dungeon/mansion is fun full of magic, undead, and magical creatures. I don't want to get into too much detail, but this is the low point before the baddies are defeated in the final issue for the arc. The setup for part 4 is done well.

Fools Rush In starts off beautifully, giving us the sad reality of the ensuing battle that started in part 3. In this explosive conclusion against the evil oni, we learn more about the origins of the Hand of Vaprak. This was a fun tale, and I'm interested in what direction the next arc, The Dragonreach Saga, will go for our heros.

At the end of The Hand of Vaprak! I still prefer novelizations, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the way comics tell stories. I don't feel very qualified to judge, but I did enjoy the art, though it does seem like it's from the 80s. Just as I enjoy movies, books, ttrpg's, I think each form gives us something different that we can all enjoy. I do not plan on reading any comic books outside of the Realms, but I do plan on reading more inside.