A review Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the graphic novel

(Note to readers: Been away, but expect much more activity here. I have a lot of projects going and was unable to get to the blog. Thank you for continuing to look at my writing.)

Dragonlance is one of the more popular fantasy series around. Wizards of the Coast, noted for publishing the Magic card game and subsequent novels, owns the series.
It all began with the original trilogy Dragonlance Chronicles.
There had to have been doubts about adapting the work to a graphic novel. Many books just are not designed for pictures.
When the graphic novel version of Dragons of Autumn Twilight came out, there had to have been doubts.
Yet brought together to put the comic touch on Dragons of Autumn Twilight was a talented writer in Andrew Dubb (who also worked on the Devil’s Due book, Forgotten Realms: Legend of Drizzt) and artists Steve Kurth and Stefano Raffaele.
What differentiates this graphic novel from other books is the team brought on to bring it to life seemed to have an understanding of not only the original story, but of the tricks in converting it into a comic book.
Chapter one of Dragons of Autumn Twilight focuses on bringing a group of beings of all kinds together for their journey to save the lands of Solace.
All is not well in Solace; a theocrat has turned it into a base protected by goblins.
A human, Tanis meets with a dwarf called Flint Flint meet early, and they will form the core of the group for the journey to save Solace. The first chapter of the graphic novel doesn’t really do anything extraordinary. There are plenty of close ups of the characters, but no major epic images.
Early It is a conservative approach, as though the artists were feeling through the story at first. Later, when great battles occur and cities are explored, the true weight of the images is due respect.
As many fans know, in The Lord of the Rings there was the journey set around the ring. In Dragons of Autumn Twilight, it is a blue crystal staff, which has a healing power.
The story progresses well and though the characters don’t always come alive, the story does. As the characters travel through the lands of Krynn, destiny takes hold. As the character Goldmoon says in the third chapter, “Our quest was never about a staff or a long forgotten treasure. We must defeat the Queen of Darkness and bring the true gods back to Krynn. We have been chosen to save the world.”
The deep responsibility thrust upon the characters is evident from this speech.
The small band begins to go deeper into the lands of Krynn, which shows the artists talent for creating darkness with all the tints and shadows.
The band travels to a fortress to free the slaves, where they battle the evil lord Verminaard who serves the Queen of Darkness. There is also a dragon named Ember who has gone mad and considers the slaves his children.
The pacing and drawing increase in detail as the graphic novel progresses.
In later chapters, the artists talent are utilized more, with huge dragons and detailed cities. The characters are both well written and well drawn. Take the evil Verminaard, with his horned helmet and black/gold armor he jumps off the page.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight is the sort of slow moving book where the reader isn’t anticipating the end as much as enjoying the present scene. Fantasy and comic fans should take note of not only this graphic novel but the sequels to it.