Seems expansion packs and new quest are not the only way to extend the World of Warcraft. Tokyopop has proven this time and again with their line of comic meets manga books in the World of Warcraft. The latest stand alone class book is World of Warcraft: Mage, written by Richard A. Knaak with art by Ryo Kawakami. What new does this book offer, why should fans care, let’s take a look …
The Story – Aodhan was born to a lineage of prestige, one which excelled in the art of physical war as warriors. Unfortunate Aodhan has neither the physical gifts nor desire to become warriors. He’d rather be a mage, similar to his ignored uncle Crevan. In order to accomplish his goals Aodhan must abandon his family, be cast out by his father and move to the floating magical city of Dalaran and begin his training. As Aodhan chooses his path he is presented with challenges in training which cause him to make some unwise choices and at the most inopportune time. The city is under attack from blue dragons and Aodhan’s actions will help decide if the city stands or falls.
For a one-shot story Mage does an excellent job of setting the stage, developing characters and getting right into the action. This is done because of the excellent writing Richard A. Knaak brings to the table writing in the fantasy realm. For Knaak fans it’s yet another example of how he can craft a story and characters with limited pages and what Knaak also accomplishes is adding to the mythos that is World of Warcraft without detracting from the source material.
The Design & Art – Kawakami brings a style closer to mawha (Korean manga) than traditional manga. There character design, body style seems more western and has an old school comic feel to it. Color the pages and split this one volume into a larger format, three issue comic series and the art will feel right at home. It’s a true marriage of traditional manga and western concepts.
Why Gamers Should Care – The first class volume manga, Death Knight, offered up a nice story with great art that looks into the life of one level, one specific character in WoW. Mage does the same and gives a different visual style to what is WoW. Fans should enjoy the distraction from gaming and as a one-shot the price point works well. True fans will embrace multiple forms of media and this story, backed with great art and the writing of Knaak should not be missed.
Overall, this one-shot story can be enjoyed by WoW fans or just fantasy manga fans. Great writing and art create a solid package that will leave the reader wanting more class based books.
