Come for the lore, stay for the moorbounders.
Creative Staff
Story: The Cast of Critical Role
Script: Darcy Van Poelgeest
Artist: CoupleofKooks
Colorist: Cris Peter
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artist: Helen Mask
What They Say
CRITICAL ROLE: THE TALES OF EXANDRIA–THE BRIGHT QUEEN (SERIES I) #1
Leylas Kryn, the Bright Queen of the Kryn Dynasty, has spent multiple lives in pursuit of assembling the Luxon. With her eternal lover Quana at her side, she will stop at nothing to use its otherworldly power to bring a Golden Age to the peoples under her rule. So, when what might be another piece of the Luxon appears nearby, Leylas sends Quana to collect it…with consequences that may threaten the entire Dynasty!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
For a story that takes place with an eye toward the future, the story begins by going way, way back. It’s not often a comic series decides it’s just going to drop its creation myth at the start and expect the reader to be up-to-date on current events, but that’s how The Bright Queen begins.
For those unaware of what this story actually is, or those who want to grab it off a comic book store shelf because of the gorgeous cover artwork, don’t worry if you feel lost. I’m a Critical Role veteran and even I felt a bit lost going into this comic mini-series. This comic leaves out more than a few key details that would have made the events easier to put into context. First, that this story takes place many years after the events of Campaign 2, in fact, it’s the furthest into the Exandria timeline that we’ve seen. No, it never tells you this. I only knew about it because I happened to catch a glimpse of the timeline on a recent promotional video. Yet there are surprisingly few nods to the events of Campaign 2, as we only see two, maybe three characters that are recognizable from that story by name.
It might have also behooved the storytellers to explain what sets the drow of the Kryn Dynasty apart from the classically evil, spider-god worshipping, underground dwelling dark elves of classic D&D. That part of the backstory is left out in favor of what this particular Queendom of elves actually believes in, a god of light and reincarnation.
At its heart, this is supposed to be a love story, I think. We have the queen and her consort, both still ciphers to the audience, Crit Role veteran or not. This might be a moment where tell might have worked better than show, as for a relationship that has withstood countless lifetimes has few places left to go, thus the story instead focuses on retrieving another holy dodecahedron. It’s a fetch quest that leads to an obvious trap, and one that the consort really should have seen coming. So our mission from god becomes a fraught rescue mission where the queen does something truly stupid in a fit of rage and concern, and the issue ends there.
The artwork and coloring are good, but not exceptional. Exandria drow tend toward purple hues to their skin rather than the inky black they were depicted as in classic D&D, which is a welcome change. The colorist has their skin reflect the deep purple hues which pervade a land of eternal twilight. My disappointment mostly comes from the fact that the armor the soldiers wear doesn’t reflect their alien culture or the vivid descriptions from the show. Sticking with the traditional standard comic book look just feels… lacking for such a strange setting. Perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by some of the luxurious trade graphic novels I’ve been consuming. The moorbounders don’t disappoint though, the giant frog-eyed murder kitties look great.
In Summary:
The Bright Queen issue 1 begins telling a new story set in the now official Critical Role D&D setting on Exandria. The Bright Queen is one of the more interesting characters from the campaign, a reincarnated ruler fronting a holy dynasty. Some of the confusion about time and place would have been alleviated with a dialog box or two telling us the year or if the events with the elder and youth were concurrent with the mission happening or post-mission consequences. This is inevitably going to be a mini-series that reads best as a complete whole. This issue ends just before everything is about to kick off. I love me some derpy murder kitties though, more moorbounders, please.
Grade: C +
Released By: Dark Horse
Release Date: October 20, 2021
MSRP: $3.99 US
