Dark Horse Reveals First Dungeons & Dragons Comic

Dark Horse has revealed its first Dungeons & Dragons comic, the result of a new licensing deal between the comics publisher and Wizards of the Coast. Today, The Gamer posted a preview for Dungeons and Dragons: The Fallbacks, a new comic book focused on an adventuring group of misfits. The team consists of elf ogue Tess, human fighter Anson, the tiefling bard Lark, dwarf cleric Baldric, and otyugh companion Uggie. The Fallbacks previously were featured in two novels published by Random House and also appeared in artwork in the new 2024 Core Rulebooks.

The new comics series will be written by Greg Pak, with pencils by Wilton Santos, inks by Edvan Alves, colors by Raul Angulo, and letters by Nate Piekos. The four issue miniseries will launch starting in October 2025.

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[Paul Farquhar]

Thread 'Cool Comics by Enworld Standards...'

Monday at 6:39 AM

Are you looking for some comics that are fit for consumption by Enworlders??? I got you covered. After all, people with such refined and well developed media taste as Enworlders can't expect to be satisfied with just any picture with text combination. So here are some recommendations from me to you.

Conan the Barbarian! Enworlders love Conan the Barbarian, so Conan comics are a natural choice! There's tons of it out there.

Ultimate Triumph (Trade Edition) | Conan The Barbarian

Frazetta’s strokes and Howard’s tales – it’s like stealing a treasure chest, only legal! Ever tried bartering with tales of barbarism and civilization? The

conan.com

200 dollars is a small price to pay for the ULTIMATE book! While that's a lot of cash, that...

• MichaelSomething
• Replies: 4
• Forum: *Geek Talk & Media

I made a thread where we can discuss comics that are more deserving of an Enworlder's time...

Not sure if intended as satire.

 

[GrimCo]

Bard looks cool, but not for d&d. He would fit in Shadowrun no problem. I know that d&d is anachronistic, but too much is too much. It's still classic fantasy, not modern/urban fantasy. Everyone on that cover looks too modern. Rogue just looks like old Batman rip off, warriors armor looks more like armor for american football, wizard (girl with staff) has tactical high heels.

In general, it's aesthetics just doesn't vibe with d&d, at least not for me.

Also, not fan of that art style. Just isn't for me. It draws heavily from modern superheroes mixed with Vox Machina.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

And they are wearing

pants!!!!

Anyone who wears pants is clearly not D&D.

 

[Parmandur]

Oooooh! I wasn’t referring to culture at all. Just appearance.

Shield dwarves look like your stereotypical Scottish-mixed-with-Viking fantasy dwarf, while the gold dwarves look African (or African-American, if you prefer).

@Parmandur had mistakenly referred to the gold dwarf among the Fallbacks as a shield dwarf, so I had assumed WotC had changed the lore to remove skin color distinctions among Faerûn’s dwarves or some such thing.

IIRC, the character in the book is even from the Great Rift. And his whole religous path is painted as culturally unusual, too, as well as being unusual for a Cleric.

 

[Laurefindel]

And they are wearing

pants!!!!

Anyone who wears pants is clearly not D&D.

Well, at least they’re not using guns…

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Well, at least they’re not using guns…

You mean weapons that were actually around in medieval times?

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

You mean weapons that were actually around in medieval times?

"It's days like these I curse the Chinese for inventing gunpowder"

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Thanks for the replies! I think part of my question is that I don't know African culture very well, so if the dwarves are taking from there, I would love some sources I could read and view.

The pictures are straight from 3E FRCS and the descriptions are from Races of Faerun.

The shield dwarf, at least the one from the 3E FRCS, almost makes them look ... frilly. I mean any aristocratic look from the 17th and 18th century. I guess that could be Scottish but I didn't put them specifically there. (Well, that's not true, as I make all dwarves Scottish along with a bad accent for it. I didn't think it was official.) From Races of Faerun, p 18, "Adults shield dwarves are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. While shield dwarves do not shy away from displays of wealth, they avoid ostentatious or decadent behavior."

Shield dwarves are described as more individualist, though, in bringing honor and glory to the clan. It says that clan life is nearly gone for shield dwarves.

The gold dwarf, from the 3E FRCS (Can you tell that's my reference point? Besides, seems like they reprinted that info in SCAG.) I didn't take the gold color to be gold but it could be. Okay, yes, I can see that.

Races of Faerun, p.12, "All adults are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. Ostentatious displays of wealth are important for maintaining one's prestige, so poorer gold dwarves often scrimp and save to keep up appearances." (emphasis mine)

ibid, p 13 "Gold dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwork, provide personal protection or comfort, guard against theft, or are adorned with fine metals and gems." (emphasis mine)

Gold dwarves still hold clan above individual achievements. They have clan elders who enforce traditional practices.

I am finding this fascinating. I didn't read those passages that way but I can see how they could be read that way and I appreciate hearing this and being able to look at it differently.

Thanks for the discussion!

When I think "dark skinned person associated with gold and showing off wealth" I think of Mansa Musa's famous pilgrimage to Mecca in the 14th century. As Mansa went from Mali to Arabia he spent so much of his immense wealth that he inflated and devalued gold across the known world for a few decades

 

[Laurefindel]

You mean weapons that were actually around in medieval times?

Exactly!

I said that tongue-in-cheek because it’s often an item of contention when it comes to what the D&D paradigm should (or shouldn’t) be.

But some people prefer when their D&D adheres to an anachronistic but mostly medieval/renaissence-inspired aesthetics, and there’s nothing wrong with that. D&D is not a history lesson, but when some elements (clothing, architecture, technology) emblematic of another, distinct era are introduced, it can become more distracting than immersive to some. I know it is for me.

There nothing wrong with mixing genres. There’s also nothing wrong with not liking the genre mixing…

 

[Hex08]

You mean weapons that were actually around in medieval times?

If you like guns in your D&D then fine, if you don't then fine but D&D is not, generally, medieval. Sure it has medieval influences but it also draws heavy influences from and fantasy literature like Tolkien and other sources. At least it did anyway, I get the impression that has become less and less the case over the years as D&D has evolved it's own aesthetic. Also, the middle ages (medieval times) lasted a looong time, the 5th - 15th century, and I believe guns weren't a thing until the 1200s or 1300s (I didn't look it up, just going from memory) so for most of the middle ages guns were not in use.

I read @Laurefindel response to your post after posting mine and I think he get's a lot of it right in his post