Dungeons & Dragons: A Darkened Wish #1 - IDW Publishing

Written by B. Dave Walters

Art by Tess Fowler

Colors by Jay Fotos

Letters by Tom B. Long

Would you rather have your destiny chosen for you or would you rather roll the dice? Maybe the answer depends on how many sides said dice have? One character is about to make that decision, and we are along for the ride. Let's head to Moonshae with IDW's latest Dungeons & Dragons story.

After getting a quick glimpse of an impending battle in the present, the story takes us back to follow a girl named Helen. Deciding to not accept the life that her family wants for her, Helen embarks on a journey to Mintarn to start seeing the world. We quickly find out that she won't be doing this alone, and she picks up a few friends along the way. Take a really good look at this group, because it will be important later on in the story. A good bulk of this story is about the friends bonding, establishing trust and even being a bit naive together. Think of it as a D&D study abroad program with the potential for much bigger consequences. We quickly realize that our young heroes have some strong powers, especially Helen. How they plan to harness that remains to be seen. When we do jump back to present day in the story, the battle is now on. The cliffhanger comes in the form of a familiar face that appears to be standing on the other side.

All in all, this is the beginning of a coming of age adventure where we also get an accelerated at the future. Helen is a determined, free spirit that I think a lot of readers will really like. We get to see her and her friends make some age appropriate mistakes, but also come together as a result. The flash forward to the present works well with this, as it made me more invested in where these characters were going. I will say that IDW seems to really love the fire elements in these stories so far. Hard to argue with that after seeing how Tess Fowler can bring those panels to life. There is also a great deal of detail in the non-human characters, which added great pop to the action sequences. While I enjoyed the story, and the hook, the jury is still out for me on this one. Much like Helen said, it doesn't call to me (yet.) I think I need a bigger sample size to form a proper opinion, but I am definitely leaning more optimistic on this one.

RATING: PICK UP