.Welcome to Baldur’s Gate! A place where adventurers of all sorts come together. With demons in the city, Minsc and his pet hamster must gather heroes to meet the threat! Come check out Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides #1 by IDW Publishing!
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: INFERNAL TIDES #1 (OF 5)
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Max Dunbar
Colorist: Sebastian Cheng
Letterer: Neil Uyetake
Editor: David Hedgecock
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 11th, 2019
Previously on Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast teams up once again with IDW Publishing to bring another Dungeons and Dragons adventure! This book follows Minsc, a well loved character in the Forgotten Realms Mythos, as he gets caught in the middle of a war. A war between demons and devils that threatens the entire Sword Coast!
MINSC AND HIS SPACE HAMSTER
In Avernus, the first plane of hell, there is a great war being waged between devils and demons and the war has bled over to the Mortal Realm. Meanwhile, Minsc is shopping in Baldur’s Gate when a paladin of Torm is being chased by a devil knight riding a nightmare horse. Minsc runs in to save them but when a spell goes wrong, the knight kidnaps the paladin. Minsc takes his party to a tavern and the cast is introduced. Aubree Lucent’s father was the paladin who was kidnapped and she reveals she has a box that the devil wanted.
Minsc and his team searches for Fremin Greer to help identify the mysterious box. Fremin Greer is a warlock that deals with the thieves guild and recognizes the box, Before he can explain its importance demons attack his hideout. A fight begins and Greer falls in battle but not before sending the party to Candlekeep to find a scholar known as Sylvira. As they leave, Greer’s familiar Beatrice follows them and reveals that her loyalties lie elsewhere.
YOU MEET IN A TAVERN
This issue has a classic large cast D&D game feel. Each character gets a small moment to excel in their own expertise and we even get to meet in a tavern for a brief moment! The problem here is that there are so many characters that it is difficult to keep track of who is who. In team up books, characters are often coming from their own solo titles and there isn’t a need for a prolonged introduction. I do not think that it is the case here and if they are mentioned in the mythos, it is likely in one of the Dungeons and Dragons books. Trying to keep track of everything made me lost. Luckily, I’m familiar with D&D lore and I understood some of the context clues.
Despite this fault, I have found that the book sets up a very interesting arc. We know what the plot is and who the antagonist is. There is intrigue and mystery and I love the goofy protagonist. Minsc has always been a little crazy and he is slightly delusional. In this comic, he is depicted as naive and fearless which should guarantee him getting into a funny and suspenseful situation.
The artwork excelled at the monsters that were drawn. They were scary and very rigid. However the characters felt very similar to each other and I could only tell the difference due to the colors used. A huge part of this had to do with not getting a huge grasp of the supporting characters. The art has beautiful moments but only the title character’s appearance could be distinguished from the rest. Plus the monsters. The monsters were scary.
BOTTOM LINE: FAN SERVICE
I think the story is trying to do too much. If we focused on Minsc and the plot a little more it would have been a stronger story. The book featured two rogues for some reason when the plot could have been pushed forward with one. I am hoping that these characters would be fleshed out in future issues but it doesn’t appear that will happen. I love the ideas but it does feel like they are just pushing their new module Descent into Avernus rather than creating a good story. 3 out of 5 stars for Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides #1.
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Dungeons and Dragons: Infernal Tides #1 (of 5)
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Writing6
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Christopher Rondeau is a storyteller based in Tulsa, OK. Finding himself with little work, he ended up creating a job as a Game Master full time on the internet. Chris spends most of his days reading everything he can, writing bad fiction, and watching old Digimon cartoons with his daughter. Sometimes you can find him Dungeon Mastering a podcast or streaming on twitch. Recently, he has completed his Master's degree with a focus on collaborative storytelling. Find out more at https://rondeaucreator.com