Dungeons & Dragons at the Spine of the World #1

Published by IDW comics

Written by Aimee Garcia & Aj Mendez

Art by Martin Coccolo

Colors by Katrina Mae Hao

The harsh conditions of Icewind Dale and Ten Towns make living hard. An increase in violence in the region is making things more difficult and miners are losing their minds over a material called Chardalyn. To make matters worse, food is becoming scarce and without some magical way to help with vegetation, Ten Towns may starve to death. The hero party of this book comes together with the purpose of finding a solution to this problem. A D&D setup if I ever read one. 

Full discloser, I am a huge fan of the Icewind Dale Trilogy by R.A Salvatore. Reading a story that involves Icewind dale and Ten Towns is just nostalgic for me. With that said, I really think the story is done very well in this comic. It does a great job of setting things up, developing the characters and environment, then foreshadowing the conflict that is to come. The pace is good, and the characters interact together well. The details you learn about them do not seem forced. I really enjoyed the writing in this issue.

The artwork is also very good. Everything has a great amount of detail and color. All panels flow together well, and it is easy to understand the action and direction of the story. There were just a few images that I really had to figure out. The problem is some of the colors blend in together and it caused me some confusion in just a couple of the panels. Outside of a couple complaint on some of the imaged, the artwork is great. The artwork of this book is a pleasing aesthetic and fits the setting very well.

Overall, I give Dungeons & Dragons at the Spine of the World #1 9 capes out of 10. A great story and art that I enjoy made for a great read and I hope to catch up with are adventuring party soon.