There’s never been a better time to be a Dungeons & Dragons fan. Not only has the game made a resurgence in popular culture thanks to Stranger Things and The Legend of Vox Machina, but it also has a full-fledged movie dropping this week in the form of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. But long before Chris Pine ever picked up a lute, there was the Dungeons & Dragons animated series. Years after its conclusion, the series is receiving a continuation in the form of Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures #1.
Some background for those who didn’t follow the original series: A group of six friends – Hank, Eric, Sheila, Presto, Diana and Bobby – who were teleported to the Forgotten Realms era of D&D after boarding a roller coaster. (It’s amazing what you could get away with in animation during the ’80s.) Once in this new world, they were gifted magical weapons by the mysterious Dungeon Master and tasked with defeating the villainous Venger. It’s here that Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures decides to pick up.
Part one of “Prisoner of the Deep” begins like any other episode of D&D Animated: Our heroes are tasked with protecting the Forgotten Realms…but there’s a twist. Hank isn’t totally sold on this quest and floats forth the possibility of returning home. Little does he know that the two goals are about to collide in spectacular fashion.
Writers David M. Booher and Sam Maggs manage to capture the vibe of a D&D Animated episode, as well as a group of friends playing a D&D session. There’s moments where the group is sitting around, debating their next moves – all that’s missing is the roll of a dice. Booher and Maggs also deserve credit for delivering the backstory in a way that doesn’t feel like an information overload. How many other comics can say that they’ve managed to give the broad strokes of an animated series in a single page? The only downside is that it takes a while for the plot to kick off.
But what really makes the comic sing is George Kambadais’ artwork. Kambadais brings a truly animated style to his artwork, capturing the designs of D&D Animated while putting his own flair on things. I’ve seen his artwork on Twitter (namely his Spider-Man sketches, which more than live up to the “Amazing” adjective the web-slinger holds) and I can safely say that seeing him do full interiors on a comic is nothing short of breathtaking. Especially his splash pages: they feel less static and more like a fluid, moving image. Combined with a rich color palette, this makes for a great looking book.
Topping off the artistic side is Ed Dukeshire. Best known for his work on BOOM! Studios’ Power Rangers titles, Dukeshire delivers captions that look like scraps of wrinkled parchment for each character in the opening pages. Not only do these captions give out the broad strokes of each character, but they’re also set up like actual D&D character sheets. That extra touch makes all the difference.
Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures #1 lives up to its title and then some, diving back into the world of the show with a creative team that has a clear love for the source material. All that’s missing is a bowl of cereal and pajamas. Between this comic and Honor Among Thieves dropping in theaters this Friday, it’s never been a better time to be a D&D fan.
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