Genre Fantasy
Age Rating 13+
Price $9.99
Publisher's summary of volume from the back cover: It's an epic quest to save the world of Azeroth from the forces of the Undead Scourge! Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy chronicles the adventures of Kalec, a blue dragon who has taken human form to investigate a mysterious power, and Anveena, a beautiful young maiden with an enchanting secret...
Warcraft: Dragon Hunt is arguably one of Tokyopop’s more popular OEL lines back in the day, especially considering the franchise it’s based on. It’s staff is also impressive, Knaak being a prominent author of fantasy author of fantasy novels, and Kim a talented artist himself. But despite having all the right formulas, does Warcraft: Dragon Hunt make for good reading?
The first thing that stands out is the art. It’s gorgeous and Kim captures exactly right the fantasy feel of the series. There are a few background-less panels but I overlooked them on my first pass. Instead, I find myself admiring the characters and most of the panels that do have backgrounds are quite detailed.
As for the story, well, that’s where I have some problems. The first nine pages of the book is prose—explaining the history of the series. One doesn’t need to read it to enjoy and understand the manga but it helps. After which it dives into the action. The plot isn’t anything original but Knaak does skillfully weave it so that by the end of the first volume, we have your stereotypical adventuring party. My complaints lie in the characterization of the female protagonist Anveena, who at this point seems too convenient for the plot and seems motivation-less. This of course is a stark contrast to the various characters and even the villain in this volume—Knaak devotes some scenes for flashbacks to flesh out their story.
Overall this is a decent title and Knaak does make it so that it stands well on its own. Not really the best fantasy title out there and Knaak does get some things right but there are also some flaws in the storytelling. The art as I said is superb and no complaints on my end with regards to that. It’s a decent title but considering all the resources put into this manga, from the franchise and the staff, one hopes that it could have been better.
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