A review of the World of Warcraft monthly comic, Issue #24. This review may contain issue spoilers.

Overview

I skipped the review of last issue, #23, because I had picked it up a week late and didn't get around until reading it a week after that. In addition, there was very little I had to say about that issue that I hadn't already said in previous articles. My opinion of this comic series is still the same: writing and art both still need work.

But lets take a look at the details.

Writing

Of all the issues I've read, this one wasn't the worst. It was far from the best, for certain, but at least there were no "ensorcellments" nor "diets of steel." We still have a lot of thought bubbles and exposition within them, and this makes for a very obsolete method of conveying the story. Whereas other comics have made good use of actually having a narrator tell the tale, Simonson chooses instead to employ a storytelling method that's been obsolete for years.

The problem is that, even in issue format, it feels as though the entire story is being beaten over our heads repeatedly because of the thought-bubble plot recap done on almost every page. This is exceedingly worse when collected into trade paperback or hardcover editions, as the entire story is present. Thus, we get a plot recap every few pages.

It makes for redundant, and sometimes maddening, reading.

The reading gets redundant and maddening, because it repeats itself in recap every few pages.

Upon almost every page is some plot point recap, and it can drive one craz--

...okay, I'll stop...

Truthfully, were it not for my desire to keep up on current lore, I would have dropped this comic from my weekly pull list. There are much better comics out there written by people who understand how to use modern conventions of the medium.

Art

I can say this about the art: at least they've stuck with Bowden for a good solid run, which means they've found a measure of consistency. I'm not a fan of the art in these recent issues, however. Proportions are still horrendously off, even when allowing for some leeway due to Blizzard's "heroic" sized characters. In addition to to this, the loose nature of the art mixed with Washington's coloring makes each page feel like a muddied mess of malformed shapes and off-kilter expressions.

Also, why doesn't anyone have pupils in their eyes? Seriously. Did they all become night elves of a sudden?

Warcraft art needs to be bold. It needs to have a presence. It needs to have a dynamic style and a very specific flair. This comic has none of that. The colors are muddy, the pencils are so loose that you can barely tell what's happening in some panels, and the style is far from dynamic. If anything, it's blurred.

On the up side, I do quite like this comic's rendering of Medivh, especially on the cover. Most of us know Medivh's appearance largely from the Warcraft III cinematics, but in this issue we see a younger and stronger version of the Guardian. He definitely has a presence in some of the panels, which is good. The Guardian of Tirisfal needs to be treated with a measure of respect.

On the further downside, however, the spirit of Sargeras is represented by nothing more than a blob of spilled purple ink with eyes. Okay, so it's not that bad, but ... oh wait, who am I kidding? It is that bad.

Seriously, that's not a fallen titan. That's what comes out of a fallen paint bucket.

Plot Summary

Returning from Outland to obtain one of the final new members of the reborn "Council of Theramore," Med'an answers his father's call and teleports himself to Karazhan where he meets not Medivh, but merely an avatar of Medivh--a pre-recorded message, if you will.

Think of it like a magical Post-It note.

This Medivh-echo reveals to Med'an his past, including a quick recap of the events within The Last Guardian. For those who have never been exposed to this story, it's here. Although a part of me wants to believe that it's been retconned slightly from Grubb's novel, I cannot say that for certain until I reread that book (it's good, I actually look forward to doing so).

After showing him his past, the echo Medivh then charges his son with the last bit of power and knowledge remaining, "graduating" Med'an's power once again. It should be noted here that this comic explicitly states that Medivh is gone (twice, in fact). So, apparently after Warcraft III, Medivh did move on.

Meanwhile, back at Theramore, the bulk of the new Council battles back the elemental minions of C'thun that were summoned forth last issue. As can be expected they get their butts kicked. Seriously. Hamuul Runetotem gets hurt, and there's a gnome and a machine and an explosion.

No, I'm not joking. A gnomish invention blew up. It's so awkward and predictable that it goes beyond being pointless to the story and is neither humorous nor charming. It's a waste of panel space. And, hey, I like gnomes!

Just as the battle starts to get worse, Med'an teleports back in and gets a bunch of different magics channeled into him by all the Council members present. He uses this magic to drive back the elemental spirits, and then Broll Bearmantle returns to help with cleanup. Med'an, having had an overload from all that magical infusion without preparation, collapses unconscious.

Don't worry, he's safe. In fact, he wakes up later, reveals his heritage to the Council, and agrees to be the new Guardian.

Yay.

And Cho'gall hears Med'an's challenge all the way back in Silithus (no joke), and accepts it.

Boo.

Oh! And Garona crawled into the stomach of dead C'thun to retrieve the base of Atiesh.

Ya--... ewwww...

Finally, according to Broll, Staghelm claims that Teldrassil is "recovering rapidly." I'm uncertain if this is a mistake and they meant Nordrassil, or if this means that they're just writing off the whole Teldrassil corruption subplot.

Closing

As I understand it, we're one issue away from this arc concluding, after which the comic splits into a Horde and Alliance version. It is here we get new writers and new artists, and I can only hope that the new guard will learn from the mistakes of the old.

I want to like this comic, Blizzard and Wildstorm, but I just can't. It's too horrendous, especially in light of everything else that's out there right now (Green Lantern, Blackest Night, the Superman books, Batman and Robin, Flash, Incredible Hercules, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Invincible, and many others).

*crosses fingers for the future*