World of Warcraft: Mage cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Action/Fantasy; Rated “T” for “Teen-Age 13+”

For the last several years, TOKYOPOP has been producing “Global Manga” based upon the online game, World of Warcraft.  Some of the manga are class-based titles, meaning the manga focuses on a particular Warcraft character class.  Earlier this year, the publisher released World of Warcraft: Death Knight, which was based upon the “Hero” class known as the “death knight.”

The latest character class title is World of Warcraft: Mage.  The protagonist of Mage is Aodhan of the House of Falamar.  Although he comes from a line of warriors, Aodhan wants to be a mage, but his father, Brogan, despises magi as cowards, including his own brother, Aodhan’s uncle, the late Crevan.  Now, Aodhan lives in Dalaran, the flying city that is the realm of the magi.  He chafes under the hard lessons he must learn to become a powerful spellcaster.  When the city’s mortal enemies, the Blue Dragons, attack, Aodhan finds comfort in a beloved relative who has his own dark motivations for helping the boy.

[This manga has a number of extras, including previews of upcoming Warcraft manga, World of Warcraft: Shaman and World of Warcraft: Shadow Wing.]

THE LOWDOWN:  Like the other manga he has written, novelist Richard A. Knaak has spun another riveting yarn in World of Warcraft: Mage, with an emphasis on action more so than characterization.  That’s not a bad thing, because once Knaak gets the ball rolling on an action sequence it roars downhill gathering individual scenes filled with pitched battles and riveting one-on-one conflicts.  And you’ll be happy to chase it.

The slight problem here is artist Ryo Kawakami (Orange Crows).  He is good at storytelling, but neither his drawing style nor his compositional style completely fits Knaak’s storytelling.  There are a lot of panels, mostly featuring dragons and other creatures and monsters, in which Kawakami captures neither the majesty nor fear these creatures should evoke.  This is not a criticism of Kawakami as a comic book and manga artist or even as the artist on other Warcraft projects.  I’m just saying that he is not right for Knaak’s masculine and meaty brand of high fantasy.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of Warcraft manga will want to take a look at World of Warcraft: Mage.

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