by: Jason Vaughn

“It is a time of magic and monsters, a time when the civilized world has been reduced to a few scattered points of light glowing with stubborn determination amid a rising tide of shadows. It is a time when only the bravest dared to tread the wilds of the unknown…”

Welcome back, D&D!  Thanks to IDW Publishing, under license from Hasbro, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast, an all-new comic book series based on the crazy popular game launches next week.  For those who don’t know anything about “Dungeons & Dragons” (although you literally would had to have been living under a huge, all-consuming rock), it’s the biggest fantasy role-playing game ever.  It defined the genre, the industry and provided the social backdrop for countless number of fans for decades.   IDW’s “Dungeons & Dragons #1” is the inaugural issue of the first ongoing “Dungeons & Dragons” series in more than 20 years.

Ok, firstly, let me admit (much to the great relief of my internal teenage jock) that I didn’t play “Dungeons and Dragons” as a kid.  I missed out on the days of sitting in a dank basement in someone’s mother’s house with cardboard cutout swords, twelve-sided die and Led Zepplin playing in the background under a black light poster.  Fine, maybe not the Led Zep part – what?  Don’t look at me like that, it was college!  Now before you go and blow your helm and say that I’m just a role-player bashing troll, I’ll confess that much like Christine O’Donnell, “I too, am just like you.”  I may not have been into fantasy games as a kid, but as an adult, I‘ve completely embraced my inner nerd rage.  With the advent of MMORPGs, we now have the opportunity to pawn someone from half a world away… silly, silly newb.  Games like “World of Warcraft,” “Everquest,” and “Final Fantasy” owe their very existence to the grandfather of all role-playing games, D&D.  Jumping on to the bandwagon of RPG resurgence, the elven horde over at IDW is about to catapult a new ongoing “Dungeons & Dragons” title on to the shelves of Meltdown next week.  So until you’re able to loot a copy for your very own, let’s take a peek at the GM’s story page and see what’s in store for our not-so-merry band of adventurers.

Speaking of adventurers, no D&D campaign is complete without a diverse group of strangers from across the land coming together to fight for a common goal… or for common gold as often is the case .  (It’s a lot like the United Nations in that way, but I digress.)   The series artist Andrea Di Vito from Marvel’s “Thor” and “Nova,” renders such sharp characters that they look as if they just jumped out of a “Lord of the Rings” flick.  Adric Fell, a pirate like soldier-of-arms, leads a group consisting of a dwarven paladin named Kahl, the elven hunter Varis, the roguish halfling Bree, and the tiefling warlock Tisha (who resembles an unnatural breeding between a ram and elf.)   Having slayed the young black dragon and freed the human slaves in the Underdark (issue #0), we join our heroes as they enjoy a moment of relaxation in celebration of their recent victory.  The revelry doesn’t last long, however, as the group suddenly find themselves besieged upon by the walking dead.   (No, not the TV show, but yes they’re zombies).  In the course of defending himself, Adric slays several of the zombies only to find out a little too late they’re not the undead at all, but local villagers under a spell.  Now on the run for murder, Adric and his band of reluctant heroes must find out who’s behind a spell that’s turning normal folks into George A. Romero rejects all the while keeping their own skin intact in the process.

Writer John Rogers, “Transformers” screenwriter and co-creator of the television series “Leverage,” crafts an excellent introductory issue.  For those of us who might have missed the actual first issue “Dungeons and Dragons #0,” what I dig most about how this issue unfolds is Rogers’ avoidance of the overdone origin element.  Instead, he opts to throw us right into the middle of the story of Adric’s small band of adventurers.  This allows for a wide range of potential back story for future issues which is part and parcel for the D&D cannon.  And let’s face it, we’re all tired of the constant carbon copy “Avengers Assemble” feeling that most new team oriented books have.  The pacing was quick and the story moved along from page one.

I hope everyone has on their +5 dexterity cloaks when the “Dungeons & Dragons – Dark Sun” limited series releases right on the heels of this title in January because it’s going to be one wild ride full of gold, goblins, and gear.  And for all of you actual D&D players out there, don’t forget to check out the last two pages of the issue for a cool treat.

If anyone can guess where the title of this column originated from, then congratulations, you just won yourself Meltdown’s very own version of a “no-prize!”  Stephen Lynch has to be the funniest person with a guitar and too much time on his hands since Adam Sandler’s days with SNL.  (Now there’s an idea for “Comics on Comics.”)  Check out his album “Superhero” which includes the aforementioned “D&D,” then follow Stephen on twitter @TheStephenLynch and myself @GoTodash.