The online world of World of Warcraft has made a transition that few video games have achieved, as in January the World of Warcraft monthly comic book was introduced. It is published by Wildstorm, which is part of the DC Comics line. To date, 5 issues have been released, and as a player of the game myself, I am very pleased with all aspects of the comic so far.

Naturally, artwork is the first thing that draws people to any comic, and so far cover artists Samwise Didier and Jim Lee have given us fantastic images of the characters and action. Bright, eye-catching and compelling, these covers are not only expertly drawn and colored, they do something that sometimes other comic titles fail to do – give us a clear image of the story on the pages to come. While I understand that sometimes covers are completed either before the story is finished, or created with limited information on the story, it still irks me when I see something depicted on a cover that ends up having nothing to do with the inside action. The team creating World of Warcraft have so far managed to do a great job on that front.

The interior artwork is excellent as well. Penciller  Ludo Lullabi and inker Sandra Hope have a tough job, recreating the classes and races from the game, and I believe they are doing wonderfully. Similar to bringing a main Star Trek character to life, readers are expecting the characters in the comic to look like they do on the computer screen. Even though there is some leeway with the original characters seen in the comic, the overall look has to match that of the same race in the game. I believe the artists have accomplished this extremely well, not only with the main characters, but also with the variety of other creatures that appear in the world of Azeroth.  The artists have also been able to capture the look of the world itself very well. Considering the wonderful artwork that is part of the game, for the artists of the comic to be able to bring us the same look and feel is a great testament to their talent.

Walter Simonson has written a great story thus far. He is giving us everything we need in this situation – voicing the races and classes properly according to their roles in the game; referring to the rich history of Warcraft, back to the original game, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans; and bring us aspects of the game, from the storyline of the arena to the locations chosen to set the action, and the concept that the characters seem to be on a series of quests. Also, he brings us both Alliance and Horde characters, but has been careful not to portray an overwhelming sense of “good versus evil” which will make the story appeal to players on either side of the game. Not only is it excellent storytelling, it stays very true to the game, and when you are creating works based on any kind of licensed property that is very important.

I only have one criticism. When doing my background research for this article, I visited the Wildstorm website (www.wildstorm.com) and I was able to get a look at some upcoming covers and a little information about the future stories. In the issues so far, they have set up a bit of a mystery surrounding one of the main characters identity, but the website revealed who he is. That was a bit disappointing to say the least. If you are reading or plan to start reading the series, I strongly urge you to either not visit their site, or be careful when doing so.

If you play World of Warcraft, I definitely recommend this comic. Whether you prefer Alliance or Horde, I think you will find the comic worth the read (if you are taking time out from playing, that is).

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