DIABLO: DAWN OF HATRED #1 / Script by CULLEN BUNN / Pencils by DANIELE SERRA / Inks by GIUSI LO PICCOLO / Colors by JOVANNA PLATA / Letters by ANDWORLD DESIGN’S JAME / Published by TITAN COMICS

Despite a love of sword-and-sorcery and CRPGs, I’ve never played any of the Diablo games. As such, I went into Diablo: Dawn of Hatred #1 completely blind beyond being a fan of Cullen Bunn’s work on Conan. I can’t vouch for how well it captures the spirit of the games, but it is an interesting opening chapter.

The story centers around the Fox Tribe – a nomadic clan of warriors. Living among them is the prophet Akarat, who is recently resurrected after inspiring the Zakarum religion of ancient times. The Fox Tribe are slow to trust outsiders, yet most swore themselves to Akarat’s faith after he healed their leader. One of the few hold-outs is Derris; a young warrior who is skeptical of Akarat’s talk of peace, love, and light offering a better way of life than the constant combat that makes his heart sing.

Despite this, Derris is willing to go where the rest of the tribe wishes. Though he does find his cynicism shared by Vrexia; a mysterious woman who has joined their caravan. Yet when assassins attack seeking to put Akarat back in the grave, it will fall to Derris to insure a future for his people and their prophet.

Bunn is a master at writing this type of story, but the characters are strictly shallow. Derris is somehow the most well-developed character despite being the standard stock barbarian. Despite this, the action is engaging and well-detailed by Daniele Serra and Giusi Lo Poccolo. The colors by Jovanna Plata are somewhat more erratic, with different tints dominating different scenes and little sense of contrast between the characters and the background. Depending on the page, everything may be red, brown or purple hued. The letters by Jame of Andworld Design, thankfully, present some impressively varied sound effects.

I can’t say that I disliked Diablo: Dawn of Hatred #1, but neither do I feel inspired to read more of it. Perhaps fans of the games will get more out of it than I did. As a fantasy fan, however, I found it simply servicable, despite a well-crafted opening.