Elf Liberation And Qunari Invasion Awaits In Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Ventus has fallen to the Qunari and a caravan has fled the city with important cargo. Vaea, Marius, Ser Aaron, Calix, and Francesca are protecting that caravan from the Qunari. However, Francesca tires of the rest of this motley crew and leaves. Vaea follows Francesca in the hopes that she can be convinced to stay with the others. Francesca’s father was a lord of Ventus and he owned Elf slaves. The Blue Wraith has been liberating elves and Francesca’s father was a target of the Blue Wraith.
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1 further expands on the Dragon Age universe, this time bringing the Blue Wraith into the comic fold.
As is often the case, this is as good a time as any to disclose that I’ve not played a full Dragon Age game. I played some of Inquisition, but it just wasn’t really my thing. To make it worse, this spins out of Dragon Age II apparently. As such, I’m not familiar with the grander narrative of the series nor the politics of what’s happening in this game. I had to remind myself what a “Qunari” was.
All that is a bit unfortunate, as there are a lot of moving parts in Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1. Elf-slavery, Qunari invasions, and magocracies aren’t the most approachable things for a Dragon Age neophyte such as myself and I could not figure out which of these characters is the Dovahkiin. Despite that, there is something to be said for the colorful cast of characters in this book. Ser Aaron, Calix, Vaea, and Franchesca are an engaging bunch (Marius doesn’t have a lot to say or do in this issue). Franchesca is the most interesting, as she is suffering a mental breakdown which may turn her into someone with sociopathic tendencies.
Despite the Blue Wraith title, the Blue Wraith himself isn’t in this issue for very long. We don’t learn much about him besides that he is a liberator of slaves, but I would like to know more about this guy–which is a credit to the comic.
Fernando Heinz Furukawa is the artist for Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1 and he knows how to craft a compelling fight scene. The scenery can get a bit crowded, but actions are given a sense of flow and impact. The characters look good and each has a distinct design and appearance. Each character is also quite expressive and dynamic and that serves the comic well. Michael Atiyeh provides the color art and it’s effectively vibrant and lively.
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1 may not be the most inviting comic to those uninitiated in the ways of Dragon Age, but it is an enjoyable fantasy romp that tries to focus more on the characters to keep the book legible for dragonic neophytes. It’s a decent read and earns a recommendation. Feel free to pick it up.
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1 comes to us from writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, artist Fernando Heinz Furukawa, color artist Michael Atiyeh, letterer Nate Piekos of Blambot, and cover artist Sachin Teng.
Final Score: 6.5/10