Writer: Keith Baker
Artists: Chris Lie, Rob Ruffolo (colours)
Publisher: Devil's Due
Greykell Ir'ryc, a down-and-out veteran of a recent brutal war, tells a stranger of her experiences during the conflict, at the same time discovering that she does have something to live for after all. Ostensibly exciting high fantasy adventure ensues.
The main problem I've had with Devil's Due licensed Dungeons and Dragons titles thus far is their lack of flair and innovation, made all the more frustrating by their high fantasy settings; after all, there are few genres that provide so many possibilities for striking visuals as fantasy. This comic has two potential ways to escape that trap. Firstly, it isn't directly adapted from a novel (as far as I know, anyway), so it has more room to breathe than, say, the Legend of Drizzt series; and secondly, it is based on the Eberron setting, which was originally designed to bring a fun pulpy feel to D&D, as the game has a reputation for humourless, overly serious storytelling. The Eberron rulebook even dispenses with the painted pin-up art usual for that kind of book, and replaces it with what can only be described as comic pages, drawn by a host of comic talents. It all bodes very well for a proper Eberron comic.
So it's rather disappointing that Eye of the Wolf turns out to be nothing more than yet another generic fantasy story, with some superficial trappings from the Eberron setting. What's most surprising is that the writer is the chief architect of said setting; if Keith Baker can't properly evoke the unique feel of his own scenario, something's gone wrong somewhere. To be fair, it's a solid story with some good characterisation, and the opening sequence has an effective pulp detective feel, complete with urban decay and gritty "voiceover," but once the main character launches into her flashback, things descend into stock fantasy dungeon-crawling.
The artwork is an improvement over other Devil's Due D&D comics, however, not least because Chris Lie doesn't shy away from detail and diversity in his character and location designs. There's a level of detail here which has been lacking in other titles in this line; characters wear clothes, not costumes, and they move through locations full of bits and pieces that are irrelevant to the plot, but serve to make the world seem lived in and real. Lie's rough, almost sketchy linework is also a success, properly evoking the savage wildernesses and post-war recovery of the setting, as well as going some way to distracting from the slightly uninspired feel of his figure and facial work. Also worth mentioning is Rob Ruffolo's colouring, a well-judged use of a limited palette of dirty browns, yellows and greens that matches the general colour scheme of the Eberron setting and also captures a grimy, dusty feel appropriate to the pulpy adventure.
Again, Devil's Due haven't made the best use of the potential of their licence, but they're getting closer, and strangely enough, it's the writing that holds things back a little here. I'd still love to see a comic that really grabs the possibilities of the D&D settings and runs with them, but this isn't a bad interim step.
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