DUNGEONS & DRAGONS #1 / Script by JACKSON LANZING & COLLIN KELLY / Pencils by IBRAIM ROBERSON / Inks by ARABSON OLIVEIRA / Colors by DANIEL BROWN / Letters by HALEY ROSE-LYON / Covers by ESAD RIBIC, TYLER JACOBSON, ANTONIO JOSE MANZANEDO, MATEUS MANHANINI, ERIC CANETE, & KAREN DARBOE / Published by DARK HORSE COMICS

Once, Mordenkainen was the most powerful wizard on multiple worlds. Leader of the Circle of Eight, he stood as a champion of Balance, intervening when Good or Evil, Law or Chaos threatened to gain an upper hand in the cosmic battle between extremes. Reality was his to rewrite at will and only the gods themselves could hope to oppose him.

Unfortunately for Mordenkainen, one of them – the good dragon god Bahamut – just did.

With his powers stripped away to avert some coming crisis he is destined to start, Mordenkainen is desperate. Desperate enough to seek out those wizards that others would call his peers. Desperate enough to ask for their help. And desperate enough to fight those heroes of the Forgotten Realms who stand in his way.

I am generally not a fan of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and Dungeons & Dragons #1 has done nothing to change that. The best thing I can say about their script for this issue is that they clearly did their research into the lore of the Forgotten Realms and the associated characters. However, that is, in many ways, a major problem. And yet, it has given me the clarity to articulate why I don’t enjoy their writing in a way I could not when they derailed the Green Arrow Rebirth series.

I think now that Kelly and Lanzing are serviceable writers, but I dislike what they chose to write about when handed the keys to an established setting. Faced with the whole of the Realms and all manner of heroes and villains to write about, they build a story around several powerful magicians. Wizards so powerful they work for gods, against gods or (in the case of Tasha) have to create an avatar to join the quest because otherwise they’d throw the party balance way out of whack! That would make it difficult to care about the stakes, even if Mordenkainen weren’t an ass and entirely unsympathetic.

The artwork, at least, is agreeable. Star Wars’ Ibraim Roberson has a good grasp of the characters’ classic descriptions from the Dungeons and Dragons novels and can draw a daring action sequence. The inks by Arabson Oliveria are deeply detailed, offering the perfect level of outline and shading throughout. The color palettes of Dan Brown are never less than perfect. And Haley Rose-Lyon manages some subtle tricks, like the flowery way in which Volo says his name.

While it captures the essence of the Forgotten Realms, this first issue of Dungeons and Dragons will hold little appeal outside of the established fanbase of players who are also comic readers. Even then, the audience will be limited to those who already know the setting and can work past name drops being used in place of exposition and the characters being unlikeable and unrelatable. It is a shame, however, because the artwork is excellent. However, there are far too many fantasy comics on the market right now that do a better job of being friendly to newcomers to make this worth the effort.

Dungeons & Dragons #1 arrives in comic shops on November 4, 2026.