Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder #1 - IDW Publishing

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER No. 1, November 2023

Despite bounding along at a ‘fair to middling’ pace, Jim Zub’s narrative for Issue One of “Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder” will probably only appeal to those bibliophiles who share his evident in-depth knowledge of the Concordant Domain of the Outlands, or at least recently purchased “the new adventure book, sourcebook and monster manual themed around Planescape” by “Wizards Of The Coast”. Indeed, by the time Nottia Never-Lost, “the sharpest tout in all of Sigil”, has briefed this comic’s central protagonist as to the dangers of even looking at the Lady of Pain, everyone else’s head will arguably be spinning around in a confused mess of mortals, demi-gods, and deities as badly as the “amnesiac hero” is himself.

Such a deluge of different divinities, denizens, devils, and numerous locations, all of which can apparently be reached simply by walking through an unguarded gateway, is genuinely suffocating, and disappointingly drowns out what had been a rather promising start set inside the decidedly dangerous tavern, the Hooded Lantern. This ‘opening’ is most assuredly the highlight of the book, as “Finder” is intriguingly depicted being held at the mercy of several seriously mean marauders, who want to know his business before they slit the pointy-eared adventurer’s throat. However, just as soon as the young Elf narrowly escapes his incarceration, little excitement follows, besides a literal killer of a cliff-hanger where Maddyknack's murderous goblin minion decides to pluck some mysterious shard off of the witless wanderer's corpse.

In fact, the vast majority of this comic appears to have been penned just to introduce its audience to “the strange city and how it connects to outer planes like The Abyss, The Nine Hells and Mechanica”, as well as perhaps a little cynically, encourage the odd customer to buy into the role-playing game upon which its based. Of course, this isn’t a new sales ploy by any means. But perhaps on this occasion the “fan favourite” author’s story might have been better served by him providing some background to the City of Sigil in a more piece-meal fashion as the plot progresses, rather than off-loading a twenty-five-panel flurry of gobbledegook proficiently pencilled by artist Jose Jaro; “It’s at the centre of the ring on top of the ring inside the ring, separate yet central, hence all the doors. Don’t overthink it.”

The regular cover art to "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER" #1 by Max Dunbar