Customer Reviews

Nodwick Chronicles III: Songs in the Key of "Aiiieeee!"

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

 

 

I get to read a lot of graphic novels...a lot of super hero stuff, lots of action and horror, a lot of drama, but you see much good humor in comics today. Humor is hard to do to and the best humor is generally found in strip art collections. Aaron Williams' Nodwick Chronicles is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. First, it involves a past-time very near and dear to my heart...role-playing! I began playing Dungeons & Dragons back in 1979 and always enjoyed the Dragon Mirth section of Dragon Magazine. That's where Nodwick and his companions first got their start in the 1980's and they've been going strong ever since.

The Nodwick Chronicles Vol. 3 collects issues #13 - 18 of the series featuring Artax the wizard, Yeagar the warrior, Piffany the cleric, and the ever put-upon henchman Nodwick. This is some of the funniest stuff to do with Dungeons & Dragons since TSR gave us "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" some 25 years ago. I'm sure that's a joke that about six people will actually get...

This book starts out with "Chains of Love" where Nodwick and the gang decide to hold a yard sale to get rid of some of the booty that's built up over the years of adventuring. Piffany, while running a lemonade stand, falls victim to a Micky Finn love potion and goes ga-ga for Nodwick.

In "Landlords of the Realm", the group is informed by their lending agent from "Century 13" real estate, that their dungeon---The Hollow of Hazardous Horror---has fallen below the required level of evil for the district and unless they can bring their evil quotient up, the dungeon will be foreclosed on and 75% the groups future treasure will have to be turned over. Seems Piffany made nice with the resident monsters and now they're making arts and crafts and growing gourmet mushrooms.

The next three stories is one long epic in which Yeagar competes in a jousting tournament riding in a Knightanic tank powered by Nodwick who has to do the pedaling. Yeagar's prize for winning is a powerful artifact called the Gauntlet of Supremacy. But the item is cursed and Artax, Piffany and Nodwick have to find a way to free Yeagar from the gauntlet which includes a hilarious romp through the fighter's somewhat simple mind.

"Once Upon a Time" is Aaron Williams' take on popular fairy tales such as Pinocchio, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and Hansel & Gretel, with his intrepid foursome in the various starring roles.

Aaron Williams has a very clean and polished cartooning style. His humor runs from the juvenile pranks and shortcomings of Yeagar, to the biting sarcasm of poor Nodwick who is always on the short end of the stick. The stories are all well paced and balanced with dungeon-crawling action and humor. Dungeon & Dragon fans will love Nodwick but I think it holds special appeal to long-time fans who remember the good ol' pre-D20 days. If you can find it...and Amazon doesn't have it for sale, pick up the Nodwick Adventure Log which is a collection of the earliest Nodwick strips from Dragon Magazine. You can pick it up from the Dork Storm Press website if you do a search. I highly recommend both books.

Reviewed by Tim Janson