Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder #5 - IDW Publishing

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER No. 5, March 2024

Whilst some within this twenty-page-periodical’s audience might find Jim Zub’s ability to tie his mini-series’ central plot to a comic he penned way back in June 2018 quite clever. The revelation that Finder’s “true nature” actually stems from a momentary chance encounter with the mage Delina may well prove a bit too contrived for those readers anticipating an origin story much more enigmatic or precocious from the “Dungeons & Dragons fan favourite” author. In fact, the notion that all the gruesome deaths, hapless mind-swaps and head-scratching chaos contained within this mini-series are simply as a result of the Moon Elf’s fast-declining magical powers inadvertently leaking into a Modron and altering its basic programming is debatably underwhelming at best.

What does arguably work though, is the Canadian writer’s wonderfully enthralling flashback sequence of unit F1R’s “tour of the great wheel of the planes to refresh [the] information archives and take inventory of reality.” This lengthy quest genuinely appears capable of capturing many a bibliophile’s imagination, as the rotund walking sphere witnesses dragons fighting against one another in the sky, learns some basic spells, and encounters a giant, multi-tentacled plant monster – which disappointingly signifies the increasingly sentient automaton’s sad demise.

Indeed, it’s probably a pity that the Eisner Award-nominee didn’t use this approach to his storytelling straight from the start, rather than trying to confusingly combine the mystery surrounding Finder’s origin with a disconcerting headlong descent into the recently released “Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse” role-playing sourcebook instead. Such a stance may well have made far more sense to those who were bamboozled by this tale's persistent body-exchanging premise, and allowed them to supportively share the wide-eyed construct’s wonder at the much larger world it was journeying into; “I didn’t just record data like the others. I was actually curious. Curious and eager to see and do as many new things as possible."

Impressively managing to give the central Modron a life of its own though, has to be Jose Jaro, whose ability to transform one of many identical machines into so endearing a central character with just a few pencilled lines here and there is positively breath-taking. The frustration, excitement, fear, and pain of F1R’s escapades are so plain to see on the inquisitive adventurer's face, that few purchasing this publication will be able to stop themselves giving a little jump for joy when it concludes with the reassembled ‘immortal’ back in the city of Sigil, and once again teaming-up with Notitia Never-Lost.

The regular cover art to "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER" #5 by Max Dunbar

Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder #4 - IDW Publishing

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER No. 4, February 2024

For a brief while there’s probably plenty of fun to be had with Jim Zub’s storyline for “Lawful Uph-Evil”, regardless of whether the reader be a devoted disciple of Dave Arneson’s tabletop role-playing game or not. Indeed, Finder’s journey through the chaotic cogs, winding wheels, and spiralling sprockets of Mechanus should still ensnare even the most uninformed of bibliophiles, courtesy of the pink-hued succubus’ desperate attempt to escape the diabolical clutches of Missy Maddyknack, and her subsequent heartwarming meeting with the well-mannered, tinker orc Crundlespike.

Frustratingly however, these intriguing exploits are soon replaced with a tremendously tiresome court room trial, which sees the colourfully-costumed ‘crystal shard’ attempt to reason with the mechanical logic of the Modrons. Admittedly, the computer-like behaviour of this particular race of robotic immortals is arguably quite endearing at first, especially when they march about their kingdom like human-sized, wind-up soldiers. But by the time the aforementioned Maddyknack has inexplicably returned as the titular character’s dubiously-qualified defence counsel, it debatably appears that even this mini-series’ Canadian author has somewhat lost the will to pen anything moderately understandable; “Council, your insipid, incoherent, and insulting display is a mockery of our esteemed judicial process!”

In fact, what follows Finder’s predictable capture appears to have been written simply so the lead protagonist can once again demonstrate their propensity for both dying quite horribly, and then being reborn in a completely different physical guise. This sequence sadly smacks of the author badly needing to find something long-winded to help pad out the twenty-page-periodical’s plot, and simultaneously cause the creation of a cliff-hanger conclusion which sees the “agent of chaos” sensationally transformed into a winged Modron.

Nobly assisting Zub in his endeavour to pack Mechanus with all manner of gearwheels and bone-grinding machinery are Jose Jaro’s layouts. The “Filipino American” designer appears particularly adept at greatly expanding upon any modicum of action found within this book’s script, such as when Finder takes a seriously long tumble through numerous giant gears, or Maddyknack does her best to keep the two trespassers out of the ultimate law’s sight. Furthermore, the illustrator is evidently a ‘dab hand’ when elongating a reasonably straightforward conversation, as seen when the “plane hopping” adventurer just asks the fortress of disciplined enlightenment’s guardians for help and spends an unnecessarily long ten-panelled piece to do so.

The regular cover art to "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER" #4 by Max Dunbar

Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder #3 - IDW Publishing

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER No. 3, January 2024

Despite debatably still befuddling many within this mini-series’ audience with yet another ‘deep-dive’ into the “new Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse”, Jim Zub’s narrative for “Dead To Rights” probably still pleased a fair few fans of Gary Gygax’s fantasy tabletop role-playing game on account of the beguiling duo of Bran and Gris. In fact, the unstoppable investigators are by far the most entertaining element of this twenty-page periodical’s plot, and doubtless caused many a reader to wonder why the Canadian author hadn’t simply focused his storytelling around their tongue-in-cheek exploits to track down a mystic murderer, rather than rely upon something seemingly straight out of an episode or two of the 1989 science fiction television programme “Quantum Leap”.

Furthermore, the two hunters provide the Animex Honorary Award-winner with plenty of opportunities to tell a genuinely intriguing tale packed full of murder, mystery, and humorous altercations without him having to resort to the persistent amnesiac, Finder, once again aimlessly pottering around the “floating city in the centre of the Outlands” in a desperate effort to regain their lost memory once more. This penmanship should genuinely draw in even the most disinterested of bibliophiles, as the amateur detectives bribe, barter and utilise every lucky break in the book, to track down the magical energy which they fear will soon tear “the fabric of reality itself”, and become inadvertently embroiled in Maddyknack the Hag’s desperate desire to own an enigmatic shard of power.

Helping to add plenty of exasperation to Bran’s face whenever he's dealing with the political red tape of Sigil and its corrupt officials, as well as imbue the mortician with all the ponderous, sloth-like movement one might expect of a creature inhabiting the partially-shelled body of a Tortle, is Jose Jaro. The artist appears equally as adapt at portraying emotion as he is at sketching the action-packed antics of this comic’s quite considerable cast once they all simultaneously realise just who the latest physical incarnation of the living crystal is. Whilst, alongside colorist Adam Guzowski, they also do a good job in depicting all the previously slain shard personalities, as the blue-hued spirits run as one towards the next hapless being selected to be their host; “Wait a sec, I’m juggling? That must mean I’m a … Juggler. Trying to keep it all in the air so nothing bad will happen.”

The regular cover art to "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER" #3 by Max Dunbar

Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder #2 - IDW Publishing

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER No. 2, December 2023

In many ways something of a hard reboot of this mini-series, Jim Zub’s storyline for Issue Two of “Dungeons & Dragons: Fortune Finder” will probably still baffle and bewilder many a bibliophile with its early soup-based shenanigans and tongue-in-cheek theatrics. True, the overall adventure does start to make a little progress once the central character suddenly teleports to Dungeonland. But any excitement garnered from the comic’s revelation that the gnome girl is actually the highly sought after Shard is sadly soon dispelled, courtesy of the short-statured server's horrific death upon the horns of a stampeding bull; “Watch out for… the Cow.”

What the “Dungeons & Dragons fan favourite” author does do well though, is imbue this latest incarnation of Finder with plenty of brazen bravado, which leads to a few genuine loud-out-loud moments. Perhaps the best of these is Maddyknack’s green-skinned seeker spitting out his wine when he spots the small humanoid spying upon his business meeting from an overhead chandelier. Although the goblin magic user’s stoicism at being blasted to pieces by some explosive glyphs during the one time he’s not surrounded by healing clerics is perhaps just as waggishly penned.

The Canadian writer is also rather good at introducing the audience to “Sigil’s most famous casino” without delving too deeply into the “new Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook” which apparently “inspired” this comic. Rather than just wax lyrical about all the different deities and denizens who frequent the gambling den, as if the twenty-page periodical was a mere textbook, the reader is instead introduced to the frantic, almost chaotic gaming house via its army of catering staff – who buzz about the place’s patrons carrying all sorts of exotic dishes and drinks.

Helping to add the odd guffaw to this publication’s proceedings is Jose Jaro, who for the large part does a solid job of pencilling the fast-paced antics of young Finder. However, the illustrator does arguably appear to somewhat struggle with some of the larger panels he’s asked to populate, such as a double-splash page welcoming the audience to Fortune’s Wheel, which contains large areas of blank walls, ceilings, and floor space – despite supposedly being an incredibly popular saloon.

The regular cover art to "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: FORTUNE FINDER" #2 by Max Dunbar

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