Customer Reviews

Dragonlance - Chronicles Volume 1: Dragons Of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance Novel: Dragonlance Chronicles) (v. 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I share the opinion with many others that the Chronicles Trilogy is the defining fantasy event of the 1980's, and as such, I set about to read Devil's Due Publishing's new comic adaptation with more than a little anxiety. Does it live up to Weis and Hickman's original? Could it possibly?

Thankfully, as I sat down to read it I was able to convince myself that it couldn't possibly live up to the novel, simply due to format. A 192 page graphic novel cannot possibly contain the depth of the 400-some-odd page book. It is an impossibility. There simply isn't enough space for the trade to cover everything adequately. This realization led me to understand that I needed to approach the comic as something else entirely, as an alternate presentation of the same story rather than the exact same story. This should be your mindset as you sit down to read the comic adaptation, as the story will be enriched because of it.

Does it live up to Weis and Hickman's novel? In depth of character, no. In depth of story, no. But (I think) most importantly, does it live up to it in spirit? Absolutely.

I was thrilled to see that the spirit of the novels, the heart of the tale and the characters, remained intact. While neither the story or the characters contain the depth of the original, the adventure is still there, as is the wit, the camaraderie, and most importantly, the excitement. Chronicles was the fantasy event of the 80's, not because of stellar penmanship (although it was good), but because it is one of the most engaging reads in modern fantasy. Chronicles is a blast to experience, and so is this comic. It was fun to see all of my old favorites on the page together. I smiled as Flint dives into the water while running from the goblin horde outside Solace, I laughed when Fizban blasts their cage open with a fireball, was touched when Riverwind was brought into the temple a charred and dying mess, and was exhilarated with every word that escaped Raistlin's lips. The spirit of the tale can be felt on each and every page, and that's why it's worthy of your money.

As for the art, my only complaint is lack of consistency. Some panels look beautiful while others look rushed. I was simultaneously in awe of Raistlin's haggard appearance, and equally disgusted by the fact that he looked 100 years old in some frames. Admittedly, this actually makes a little sense considering his character, as the characters in the novels are at the same time in awe of and disgusted by him, but the inconsistencies can be said about the other characters as well. Don't get me wrong, more often than not they are painted beautifully, but there are times when certain characters look a little off. A small complaint, at best.

All in all, the adaptation is about as good as one could expect. Novel-to-comic transfers usually never work as well as one would like, but DDP did an admirable job with this, much better than their Dark Elf Trilogy. If you were a fan of Chronicles, I highly recommend this trade. It's a quick read, one that will have you turning the pages as quickly as you did with the novel. I don't think it's a worthy substitute for the books, but as a supplement, it's wonderful.

In the comic book world it is mostly superpowered characters in tights fighting the forces of evil, but now DDP gives us a breath of fresh air with Dragonlance Chronicles being adapted to comic book form. I really felt attached to the characters, and found it hard to put down. If you like fantasy, you'll like this book.

The companions faced perilous challenges like Verminaard or Ember in this Dragons of Autumn Twilight, but this adaptation also faced several difficult challenges.

First, the art. There are thousands of paintings, illustrations, drawings in the hundreds of Dragonlance RPG products (this saga was written to accompany TSR Dragonlance Advanced Dungeons & Dragons setting) that cover every location, every character and every monument. The illustrators Kurth and Raffaelle managed to bring the Dragonlance world to life, in their own style, but respecting all previous material. Obviously the "concept art" on this product isn't their merit, but they managed to make a competent adaptation. The different style of the illustrators is noticeable but both are very talented.

Andrew dab got the biggest Dragon...his challenge was to adapt the story to a different format and he done it with flair. He chose the main dialogues, the important character defining events and all the action.
Santiko opted for dark colors for the entire series, and in my humble opinion got it right. The mood is despair! Everything you knew is collapsing, monsters are running loose, cities who resist are obliterated. Fear runs the land - with Santiko's coloring we can believe the drama.

Recommended, but first read the novel.

Dragonlance has always suffered from excessive cuteness and funny. The authors never really seemed able to render their story with the kind of dark and brooding ambiance that the story seemed to beg for.

This graphic novel gives people a chance to fall in love with the story as it was meant to be experienced. It's good, dark stuff, awesomely drawn and lovingly colored in the rich dark colors of well stained wood. It's lovely.

Being one who has never really much cared for Dragonlance, it means a lot for me to find a take on the story I can really get behind and enjoy. Congratulation to the creators, you've got a convert!

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman remain one of the most popular--and, among its fans, one of the most beloved--fantasy epics in recent decades. There are interesting characters, an exciting plot and an epic adventure.

The graphic novel adaptation of "Dragons of Autumn Twilight," the first volume in the trilogy, by the DDP team does nothing to undermine the plot and characters--though it is hard, of course, to jam the depth garnered hundreds of pages of a novel into a less than 200 page graphic novel. Some scenes are not surprisingly (though certainly understandably) rushed. Andrew Dabb, who handled the writing, knew well enough to leave most of what what Weis and Hickman created in place. In some ways, the graphic novel actually offers more depth to the world of Krynn, showing the results of a society that is still reeling from disasters of three centuries before. While the smaller characters--a kender and a dwarf here--were often used for comic relief in the novels, here they are a bit more serious. No problems to be sure on the writing end.

Where the graphic novel runs into problems is the art. Having been a Dragonlance fan for almost three decades, I have gotten used to the art by the likes of Larry Elmore released with the books back in the day. The penciling by Steve Kurth and Stefano Raffaele is solid but often inconsistent. I was left wondering if the two artists took turns in creating the art since characters often seem to change appearance with each passing page.

Still, if somewhat confusing, the penciling is competent. The same can not be said about the coloring which was handled by Djoko Santiko of Imaginary Friends Studios. It's a disaster with an overwhelming number of dark panels. Even worse, the colors are inconsistent.

For example, in one of the opening scenes, the Companions encounter a minor villain named Hederick. Hederick is shown with white hair and a beard. He then walks across an inn by the fire (and of course is barely recognizable as the picture is too dark). We see Hederick on the next page---with brown hair and a beard. He appears later on the same page, this time with a gray beard and hair. We then see him on the next page with white hair and a beard. Later on the same page, his hair and beard appear much darker, more like salt and pepper. Finally, still on the same page, he has a brown beard and hair. His hair and beard color changes six times in the space of three pages. This is absurd and unprofessional--and this type of coloring takes away from the book as a whole.

This is not a bad book by any means and certainly is a vast improvement over other comics of the saga offered in the 1980s. Still, the coloring really undermines the book more than it should. While this book does not add to the the novels, it does little--with the exception of the truly dreadful coloring-to hurt them either.

The Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are loved by huge numbers of fans, and the stories have basically formed a world of their own. The books are well written. The characters are memorable, and the action is nonstop. The books are great fun to read.

I'm sure the graphic novels of Dragonlance are less well known, but they are also extremely well done and great fun to read. As listed below, the saga starts with the three volumes of Chronicles and then moves on to Legends.

Chronicles, Book I: Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Chronicles, Book II: Dragons of Winter Night
Chronicles, Book III: Dragons of Spring Dawning (2 books)
Legends: Time of the Twins

The illustrations in the graphic novels are outstanding and seemed to fit fine with the pictures I had formed in my mind of the various characters. The action sequences stand up to scrutiny by the reader, and dragons are all over the place. However, reading these books cannot possibly be the same as reading the originals. The graphic format has its limitations, so the depth of the original stories is not here but the spirit certainly is. I recommend the books highly to all Dragonlance fans. Please keep in mind that you should read the novels first. Otherwise, keeping track of the action in the stories could be difficult.

One unfortunate note is that Time of the Twins may be the only volume published in graphic format from Legends. My understanding is that the publisher has no plans to put out succeeding books from Legends. That is too bad.

This comic is based on a fantasy novel which was originally published in 1984. It is about dragons, magic, love and war.
Since I knew the book, I was first surprised by the style of the drawings. Everybody has his or her own way to imagine characters and you have to get used to the way Kurth (drawings) does.
As I flipped the pages, I started to really appreciate his drawing-style. It's quite realistic, furthermore he has a talent incorporating light-effects in his pictures.
A further compliment goes to Dabb (adaption of the story). Though the story had to be shortened, everything is there. This makes this comic as well suitable for people who do not know the novel.
The pages do not have any frames, the pictures take up the whole page. Very nice to the eye.
Furthermore the comic is quite thick, so there is entertainment for quite some time.

For the first time we get a glimpse of what the world of Draglance looks like visually. My big fantasy is that one day they make the Chronicles series into a movie series which could be successful considering how well LOTR did. As for this graphic novel, it is a good condensed version of the actual book. It lacks a little bit of the emotion of the book because of this but i still enjoyed it. I didn't really care for how Caramon and a few of the other characters looked since i had a different vision of them, but part of this is due to the artwork lacking consistency at points. At any rate, i look forward to the completion of Dragons of Winter Night!

I read the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends as they came out many moons ago. Since then, I have reread them 3 or 4 times. Each time I read them I enjoy them more than the prior times. There is just something about them that makes you really understand and love the characters. I've never felt this attached to characters including the characters of The Fellowship of the Ring. While I do not think the writing is as good as Tolkien, it isn't as bad as some claim. I strongly recommend these books to any fantasy fan.

I'm beginning to think graphic novels just aren't for me. I've read a few now outside of the Tintin and Asterix reading of my youth and haven't really enjoyed them that much. I've read some part of the Sandman series and some of the Fables series.

On a recommendation from Penny Arcade, I decided to get hold the a Dragonlance book. I'd expected a novel, but the library gave me the graphic novel instead. The book tells the story of a rag tag group including various different fantasy characters - an elf, a dwarf, a kender, a sinister looking magic user, a cleric, a warrior - who end up traveling together to protect the wielder of a special staff sought by the evil ruler of their land.

The artwork evokes the different environments they travel through: woods, ruined cities, caves, and fortresses. The story line is the normal sort of fantasy action adventure fare - a group of companions who are not all happy to be together, comedy sidekicks, sprawling fights, daring escapes and treachery - all good stuff.

I found it hard to work out who was who in much of the action, and probably would have found it easier to follow what was going on if I was reading it in prose form, rather than following pictures. I'm going to look to see if I can find the prose form somewhere and give that a go instead.