REVIEW
DRAGON AGE: THE SILENT GROVE #1 (DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE)
DRAGON AGE: THE SILENT GROVE #1 (DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE)
CREATORS
Writer: Alexander Freed, David Gaider
Artist: Chad Hardin
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist: Anthony Palumbo
It's the first issue of the digital exclusive series, Dragon Age: The Silent Grove. And yes, it's canon and matters with the series lead writer David Gaider working on the story. And yes, I've already reviewed issues 3 and 4 before this issue and 2. Could be like Todd McFarlane way back in the early days of Spawn, I can't count... OR could just be I read 3 and 4 first. Regardless of which, we're looking at ish 1 now.
I have something of a gripe with this issue, and it's not so much that something is bad or wrong as there seems to be a missed opportunity. Now it could be that I blinked in the middle of a scene of Dragon Age II, missed a DLC, or something... but I don't recall Alistair meeting Isabella and Varric before. Much less getting on well enough with them that they would go to Antiva with him on a possible suicide run. Sure, he's a king and they like money. Sure, not all stories need be told. And sure, there is a gap between this and the first game, to the tune of almost a decade. And while that might be nonessential to this story, the gathering of the company in a fantasy quest is part of the story. Maybe a lost chapter for the upcoming hardcover collected edition?
Alistair skulks around Antiva on his quest, runs afoul of some guards who must be put down. Then we find Varric and Isabella are in Antiva with him and put down the stragglers. Alistair even refers to Isabella as an old acquaintance... of sorts. There's a story in there somewhere. Nice tease.
Our intrepid heroes are plotting a raid on the archives of the Crows. And Alistair ends up being the butt of jokes from Isabella and Varric. Continuing the tradition of ribbing that he gets.
Alistair's narrative monologue is spot on characterizing him and giving info to newcomers in broadstrokes. He introduces his companions and then himself. "As for me? I'm the king that shouldn't be. And I've missed walking into death with the wrong people at my side."
Isabella and Varric dismantle a plethora of traps with names that sound like some of Iron Fist's moves. Thief's Folly. Wheel of Liquid Pain. Fire Fountain. Tooth of the Serpent. Falling Mountain. Poison Wind. Seems the building is what is called a Dragon's Creche... building designed to kill loaded with traps built by dwarves and taking decades to construct.
Alistair gets to peek at the records of the Crows. Then Prince Claudio Valisti and several guards show up. And let them go. Things get complicated. Isabella's past gets brought up. Zevran is referenced. And nothing is as it seems in Antiva.
And we find out Alistair is in Antiva to break into a Crow prison... Velabanchel.
Grey Wardens and long odds, huh?
All in all, a well balanced issue. Right mix of drama, action, and suspense. But what's the story of how they all met up? 4 out 5.