Dungeons and Dragons: Legends of Baldur’s Gate #4 (IDW Publishing)
Written By: Jim Zub
Art By: Max Dunbar
Colors By: John-Paul Bove
Everyone goes through the same ordeal and motions while playing a dungeons and dragons campaign that thus far has been captured in the tales of Minsc and his allies in IDW’s Dungeons and Dragons: Legends of Baldur’s Gate #4. We first had the characters initial meeting (issue one), and then the group actually coming together for a common cause (issue two). Next came the first attempts to complete the quest of finding Delina’s brother (issue three). By now in a Dungeons and Dragons game you are thinking “This game has Dragons in the title, where are they all!”. Well, this issue tells you that and so much more. Zub has a way of capturing my fantasy realms eye by telling us a story about revenge and one’s thirst for power that has had time to stew and grow deeper.
The pages that illustrate the story are very well done. The creative team isn’t just telling us a story and leaving it at, they are beautifully and completely describing and coloring the details of Baldur’s Gate for us to explore with our eyes. Because lets face it, no one wants the bland “you enter a room.” We want the full description with how many scrolls are on a desk and what type of stone floor the thug’s face is being curb stomped against. The complete environment makes this feel like I am right there in the streets with Minsc and Boo.
Aside from my joy of seeing a detailed world coming together and a lot of back story being told, along with the big bad guy’s motives (who is someone that creates a major tension in the plot), we get to see what we came here for, Dragons! The script is something that feels natural, though each personality is a little overplayed, they own that persona and make it something to fanboy over. This issue ends with one of the greatest teasers of all time (for me at least), a red dragon spouting fire over a city with our hero clinging on for dear life.