Reviews

Published on September 18th, 2024 | by Jules-Pierre Malartre

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Review: Dungeons & Dragons Saturday Morning Adventures II Trade Paperback

This series finds the party of adventurers (Hank the Ranger, Presto the Magician, Sheila
the Thief, Bobby the Barbarian, Diana the Acrobat, Eric the Cavalier and Uni the
Unicorn) exploring the Spine of the World (pretty much the coldest part of Faerun) as
they look for a herb to heal Dungeon Master. That’s right! Seemingly immortal Dungeon
Master is dying, and the party is his only chance at being saved.


As a fan of the Dungeons & Dragons animated series from the ’80s, it’s great to see the
characters make a return in comic books. They’ve been popping up, here and there,
over the years in other media, which is a testimonial to their lasting appeal. Recently,
we’ve seen a lot more of them; from their appearance in the art for the Dragons of
Stormwreck Isle adventure for the D&D Starter Set released in 2022 to their live action
cameo in the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie released in
2023—and let’s not forget the very nice Icons of the Realms miniature set released by
Wizkids in 2022, or their starring role in the very popular, live-action Renault car
commercials from Brazil that made fans clamour for a full-length feature film version.
Even though their animated nature made them a natural for a foray into comic books,
we had to wait nearly 11 years following the show’s cancellation in 1985 for their first
appearance in a comic book. In 1996, DC Comics released The Grand Tour, an
anthology of D&D short stories in comic book format. One of the stories featured older
versions of the characters. The story centered around Presto, the magician of the
group, as he tried to apprentice with Elminster, the great wizard of Shadowdale in the
Forgotten Realms.


We had to wait even longer before the next comic book appearance of the group. In
2023, IDW published the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday Morning Adventures limited
series. It was the first full-length story featuring the characters since the publication of
The Grand Tour, and it was well received by the fans. This series was followed up by
the Endless Summer one-shot comic book in 2023, which brings us to the latest limited
series.
This new limited series, simply titled Dungeons & Dragons Saturday Morning
Adventures II, included four issues and was published between January 2024 and April

The trade paperback was released on June 4, 2024.


One of the things I like about trade paperbacks is that they (often) include all the
alternate covers for the series. If your comic book budget is limited, it is often difficult to
decide which cover to purchase at a time when alternate covers have become the norm.
It may be a gimmick to sell more comics, but I often find myself wanting to buy several
different covers because the art is simply too good. Trade paperbacks make this choice
much simpler (and less expensive), even though you have to wait a few months before
they are published.

    This trade paperback was worth the wait, and it’s a great option for catching up with the
    party’s latest adventure. This series finds the party of adventurers (Hank the Ranger,
    Presto the Magician, Sheila the Thief, Bobby the Barbarian, Diana the Acrobat, Eric the
    Cavalier and Uni the Unicorn) exploring the Spine of the World (pretty much the coldest
    part of Faerun) as they look for a herb to heal Dungeon Master. That’s right! Seemingly
    immortal Dungeon Master is dying, and the party is his only chance at being saved.
    The adventure quickly turns into immediate action when the party is beset by an ice
    troll. One of the things I like about these D&D comic books is their faithfulness to the
    source material. If you are a long-time D&D player whose characters have been
    adventuring across the various lands of Faerun for years, that world has by now
    become as well known to you as your real-life world. The Forgotten Realms (Faerun is
    but a continent of that expensive world) are so rich in lore, staple D& D monsters and
    memorable characters that you can spend years discovering new things about them at
    the gaming table. It is great when a comic book brings those staple elements to life in its
    pages.


    (BIG SPOILER AHEAD!) The party is saved from the ice troll by one of the greatest
    heroes of the Forgotten Realms: Drizzt Do’Urden himself. The Drow Ranger and
    outcast who left the Underdark to escape the evil ways of his home city of
    Menzoberranzan. Drizzt is the hero of over 30 (I lost track) novels by author R. A.
    Salvatore. His popularity has been going strong since the publication of his first
    adventure, The Crystal Shard, in 1988. Since then, he’s appeared in everything from
    comic books to video games. He’s a legendary figure of the Forgotten Realms and a
    staple D&D character. It was awesome to see him sprint into action in the pages of this
    book and share an adventure with the animated characters. I quite enjoyed how he was
    depicted in to blend in with the animated style of the other characters.
    I don’t want to spoil the book any further, but let me just add that Drizzt is not the only
    D&D luminary to make an appearance. Each special appearance brings a thrill all of its
    own. I really enjoy such “crossovers” featuring different beloved characters teaming up
    to fight the good fight, and this book certainly does not disappoint in that regard.
    In the same vein as the original animated TV show, this book also sends a strong
    message about the value of family. While the adventurers still have loved ones back
    home (on Earth), they have survived in the Forgotten Realms and learned to rely on
    each other for so long now that they’ve become a new family–one that includes
    Dungeon Master, which is the big reveal of this story. It’s as emotional as a cartoon can
    get.


    The art by George Kambadais manages to cast the essence of the characters and their
    animated origins. Writer David M. Booher did a great job making the characters sound
    like they always did in the original TV series. Booher’s writing reflects that it’s been
    years, and that the characters have grown and evolved, which is very refreshing in a
    media where characters can often feel static and unchanging.

    The book is a bit light on additional content. There is the cover gallery I mentioned
    earlier. There are also a couple pages of character sketches. I would have loved to see
    more. Given the popularity of the characters, I’m hoping we’ll get to read more of their
    adventures in the near future.


    Title: Dungeons & Dragons Saturday Morning Adventures II (Trade Paperback)
    Publisher: IDW
    Writer: David M. Booher
    Artists: George Kambadais
    Format: Trade paperback

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    About the Author

    Jules-Pierre Malartre currently lives in L’Île-Perrot, a small island west of Montreal (Quebec), which is as close to the Great White North that he will ever dare go, but still cold enough to save him from big-ass spiders, alien abductions, undead dinosaurs and tourists who find his French accent charming. In 2005, he quit a promising aerospace engineering career to go into freelance writing, which was a very, very bad idea according to his mother. Since then, he has become considerably poorer, but he has grown much happier. Along the way, he adopted cats—lots of cats! When he is not writing technical manuals, newspaper articles, press releases or blogs on anything from comic books to yoga, he is busy working on his first novel, a semi-autobiographical fictional account of his life that dares to ask the question, “where did God go wrong with me anyway?” His first short story, “The Rest Was Easy,” was published by the online literary magazine Amarillo Bay in 2013. The five people who read it liked it. He’s well aware that it took him over a decade to publish another one, so he’d really appreciate it if you'd cut him some slack about it! He loves coffee, cats and reading, mostly because those three things go very well together.



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