Dungeons and Dragons (comics)
Hasbro and IDW Publishing seem to work well together. Their professional relationship started with the highly successful Transformers comics, which have varied in quality from the mediocre All Hail Megatron to the critically praised Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers, and continued with G.I. Joe comics. So naturally, the next step was for Hasbro to choose another popular franchise that could translate well into the comics medium. The obvious choice was Dungeons & Dragons.
Written by John Rogers of Blue Beetle fame, Dungeons & Dragons tells the story of Fell's Five, a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits consisting of:
- Adric Fell -- Adric is a human fighter who uses a sword and shield. More of a Guile Hero than anything, he's a master of the Indy Ploy. He's rugged and tough, and seems to have a slightly shady past.
- Varis - Varis is your typical Wood Elf ranger. He's handsome, dashing, loves nature, and skilled with a bow. He also uses two Handaxes for close range combat. Constantly snarks about everything, including other elves (specifically, Eladrin).
- Khal Khalundurrin - Khal is a Dwarf Paladin. He favors a hammer, and is quick to comment on the superiority of dwarven crafting. As usual, he doesn't get along with Varis. Is a surprisingly good poet.
- Bree Three-Hands - Bree is a Halfling rogue. She's always out for number one, and provides the comic relief. She's usually the one who gets Fell's Five out of any sticky situations, namely traps - she has an uncanny knack for sensing them. Not to mention sensing any gold or loot that is not nailed down and/or on fire.
- Tisha Swornheart - The resident mage, Tisha is a Tiefling Warlock. She joins the team about halfway through the first issue, and generally is the nuker. If you can't tell by the way she's dressed, she's also the resident Ms. Fanservice, as is the standard with female warlocks.
The series generally runs on Rule of Fun and Rule of Cool, and often reads like as a bunch of creative players playing their characters as it does an actual story - it's another success story in IDW's creative partnership with Hasbro.
Not to be confused with the DC Comics D&D comic books of the 1980s and 1990s, the D&D-inspired comic book Knights of the Dinner Table, the Iron Hammer Graphics one-shot comic "Vecna: Hand of the Revenent", or any of the web comics based on fantasy tabletop roleplaying games.
- Badass Adorable: Bree
- The Chessmaster: Copernicus Jinx is either a brilliant mastermind who plays a long game, or one very lucky and cheeky gnome.
- Cute Bruiser: Bree, again.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Tisha was motivated to become an adventurer to avenge her parents' murder, and Adric is hinted to have something of a checkered history as well, having to do with a war before the events of the comic.
- Deadpan Snarker: Everyone at some point.
- Elves Versus Dwarves: Although there are a few instances where they actually agree on something.
- Five-Man Band
- The Hero: Adric
- The Lancer: Varis
- The Big Guy: Khal
- The Smart Guy: Bree (in the Weak but Skilled sense)
- The Chick: Tisha
- Ms. Fanservice: Tisha
- Never Split the Party: Stated word-for-word in one issue.
- Although Bree insists that it's just a "delayed flank."
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same and Our Elves Are Better: Played with. Khal is what you would expect a Gimli Expy to be, except he was actually kicked out of his dwarven home because he actively spoke against the rigid clannishness of his culture through love poems. Varis is also much like a stereotypical elf, but also is stated to enjoy cities more than the forests, and never hesitates to slip in zingers against other (high) elves that look down their noses at everything else.
- Our Orcs Are Different: The typical Dungeons & Dragons Proud Warrior Race version.
- Running Gag: Bad days, bad ideas, terrible rescues, and there is never any good news.
- Also, Dwarven work.
- "Take That!" Kiss: Adric does this to an orc!
- World of Badass: Well, It IS Dungeons & Dragons...
- World of Snark