Artagan is standing trial, and the Unseelie Court wants to paint him as a villain. Find out if he can talk himself out of punishment in The Tales of Exandria: Artagan #2 by Dark Horse Comics!

THE TALES OF EXANDRIA: ARTAGAN #2

Writer: Sam Maggs
Artist: Aviv Or
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Editor: Rachel Roberts
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 21st, 2024 

Previously in Artagan: Artagan, sometimes known as the Traveler, is a fey who wanders the realm causing mayhem. However, his motives seem more about himself than the people he meets. Unfortunately, he cannot escape his bonds as he initially opted to run away instead of seeing this case through.

The Tales of Exandria: Artagan #2 begins with Artagan telling of his journey into Exandria and the first village he made. He helped them cultivate crops and taught them how to read and write. He also made friends with Gol. The Unseelie Court, however, decides to bring Gol in for questioning, who tells a very different story. Artagan would play tricks on the community, like adding truth serum to their meals and letting the crops run wild. Artagan tried to appeal to the Court, saying it was a matter of perspective. With that, the Court brings in a handful of people that Artagan interacted with to speak against him, including some well-known favorites from the series.

I wasn’t a fan of the start of this series, but I wanted to give it a second chance because we could use more fantasy comic books. The Tales of Exandria: Artagan #2 is a fun issue that struggles to know its audience. On the cover, I can see giving this comic to my kids and giving them a laugh with a superficial plot. But the people picking up Critical Role stuff are adults who watch the adult-themed web show. So, who do I recommend this book to? I think the plot is better-paced in this issue, and I’m interested in seeing the outcome, but it isn’t written with a target audience in mind. This sucks because I think the art in this issue is reasonably good, and it satisfies my desire for a fantasy comic book.

Critical Role has built a company off of a tabletop game. They have pushed successful content for years now. However, this iteration of the story doesn’t have a place, and I think this could have been a great series with a more robust vision. Considering that, The Tales of Exandria: Artagan #2 gets 3 out of 5 stars.

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