A review by tiamatq
Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur's Gate by Max Dunbar, Jim Zub

3.0

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Okay, I will say I honestly picked this up because it had Minsc on the cover. I played both Baldur's Gate games when they first came out and adored Minsc. So the idea of a comic starring him was exciting. Unfortunately, this mostly seemed like a rehash of some of Minsc's best lines from the games. There was no character development for any of the main characters. I had trouble understanding why they even came together beyond mutual need to avoid the city guard and the Flaming Fist. The story moves along far too quickly - I remember the city of Baldur's Gate taking such a long time to explore, and you never get a good sense of the size or scope of it in this book. And for as serious as it takes itself, this book seems to miss some basic D&D aspects. I'll pick on Minsc, since I love him so. He is a ranger. He's referred to throughout the story as the Beloved Ranger. But he's treated as a fighter in this, and drawn as some sort of hulking giant. Okay, I remember him being a lousy ranger in the game. He was terrible at sneaking. I regularly threw him into the fighter role. But it wasn't what he was built for. And he certain,y isn't playing the ranger role in this book. And I guess that leads me to my last point... I don't know who this book is intended for. Is it for those of us who've played the game and want to see more of characters we loved? Or to introduce newbies to the characters and hope they pick up the re released game? Or just fans of D&D and Forgotten Realms? There were far too many in-jokes for me to think it will appeal to those who aren't familiar with the series. And the majority of it seems like we've heard it before if we have played the games. I will say the artwork is decent, with several funny panels, particularly when they feature Boo.