When the comic first came out...and the first book was about 5 weeks late (roughly) and the second book was also a week or two late, I was concerned that it'd be difficult to get new readers with a non-cyclic book (in other words...you don't know for sure when the next one will be out). But, after seeing the last two books come out on time...and the methods apparently employed to get said books out on time...I vastly prefer the late book to the lower quality books of #3 and #4.
If the trend continues...I seriously doubt I will be purchasing the next set. (#7 - 12) Which is probably false...because I don't not buy Dragonlance products...but if I had any will power at all, I wouldn't. That's how bad it's gotten.
Anyway...on with the review.
The Beautiful:
I absolutely must applaud the choice of dragon design. When looking at the dragons...one can easily pick out which dragons are supposed to be copper, bronze, or brass (ram horns! :D). Also...I'm glad to see the silver has the frost breath and not the lightning from #3 cover.
The Good:
Well...for one, the story, of course. But also, the writing for the comic is again top notch. There was just one spot where I was a bit confused...but other than that, the story and the panels flow semelessly.
Also, the art again is beautiful. There is a caveat to this. For the first and last section artists...taken as seperate entities, the art is excellent (I really wish Rael would be the full time artist). And for the middle section, if one takes each panel as it's own piece of art, then the art is excellent and high quality.
The Bad:
Again...more than one artist has been detrimental to the flow of the book. This time even more so than last. Now...not only are the different artist having different styles (which actually don't seem as drastically different this time) but...
The Ugly:
...The actual art design is different! How the heck did this slip by? Kaz's horns...they have all along been swept back like a water buffalo's. All of a sudden, they are now a forward swpet horn...much mor elike what one is used to seeing on a minotaur. But that doens't excuse an already in place design. Then the last section of has Magius...who has all along been depicted with long flowing hair...with short cropped hair. These may sound petty...but they're blaringly obvious, and rediculous to have so many changes in design in the same book. But the worst is the dread wolves. On one page it is hairless and white...the following panel on the next page, it is hair and red. Seriously...these are unacceptable mistakes (at least as far as I'm concerned as a fan).
The Hideous:
The worst thing in the whole book though for me was the good dragons. You have such a beautiful design (imo) that is completely destroyed by the dragons being painted different colors on different pages. The brass switches between brass and silver about three times. The bronze only appears in one panel, even though the dragon is in three pictures. Seriously...the colorist for the middle section really needs to get his act together. I mean...he only had to do 6 pages! The least he can do is look from panel to panel and make sure he's painting the dragons the same color from time to time. I mean, if you're going to take the time to use 5 seperate designs for the good dragons...then the colorist should take the time (or maybe be informed) make sure that each design keeps the same color. To switch between colors makes having seperate designs pointless.
In closing:
So anyway...as you can see...I'm really disappointed in this book. I've been so looking forward to this comic...and to have it fall flat like it is on such simple (but I beleive extremely important) issues is really upsetting.
Hopefully this trend will not continue...but I guess we'll see next month.
I absolutely must applaud the choice of dragon design. When looking at the dragons...one can easily pick out which dragons are supposed to be copper, bronze, or brass (ram horns! ). Also...I'm glad to see the silver has the frost breath and not the lightning from #3 cover.
I’m trying my best to utilize all the dragon types, and not just silver and gold. I’ve also been working very hard to keep the breath weapons accurate as well.
Again...more than one artist has been detrimental to the flow of the book. This time even more so than last. Now...not only are the different artist having different styles (which actually don't seem as drastically different this time) but...
My understanding is that Rael was ill for a while, so that’s why some of these other artists were used. I’m not sure if the schedule came into play on this or not.
Hopefully this trend will not continue...but I guess we'll see next month.
Next month, I believe we have one guest artist, and then Rael returns with issue #6. From that point on, it’ll all be Rael.
Originally posted by Dragonhelm
I’m trying my best to utilize all the dragon types, and not just silver and gold. I’ve also been working very hard to keep the breath weapons accurate as well.
Cool.
Like I said, the write is excellent. It flows really well (except for that one spot where I got confused...but that's probably a combination of a few things). I've been impressed.
Originally posted by Dragonhelm
Next month, I believe we have one guest artist, and then Rael returns with issue #6. From that point on, it’ll all be Rael.
That is extremely good news!
I like Rael...he's definately my favorite. But I think the more important issue is that each book be done by one person. (really, I think most people would prefer each volume to be done by just one person...but right now, I'll take each book) ;)