Dragon Age: Blue Wraith

Last updated
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith
BlueWraith.png
Variant cover art of the first issue by Matt Taylor
Publication information
Publisher Dark Horse Comics
Format Limited series
Publication dateJanuary – March 2020
No. of issues3
Creative team
Written by Christina Weir
Nunzio DeFilippis
Artist(s)Fernando Heinz Furukawa
Sachin Teng (cover)
Matt Taylor (variant cover)
Colorist(s) Michael Atiyeh

Dragon Age: Blue Wraith is a three-issue heroic fantasy comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics and released between January and March 2020. The series was co-written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with artwork by Fernando Heinz Furukawa. A limited edition of the first issue with alternate cover art was released concurrently with the regular version. The series takes place after the events of Dragon Age: Deception , and follows the protagonists of both Dragon Age: Magekiller and Dragon Age: Knight Errant as they attempt to recruit the notorious elven warrior Fenris.

Contents

The series has received a generally positive reception from critics, who praised the overall quality of the artwork, character writing, and narrative, while criticism focused on the lack of accessibility for newcomers and the inclusion of an excessive amount of characters.

Plot

The story follows a group of Inquisition operatives, which consist of Vaea, Ser Aaron Hawthorne, Marius, and Tessa Forsythia, as they attempt to follow a caravan led by a Tevinter magister, in order to seize powerful Tevinter artifact before it can be used to unleash chaos across the land. They are accompanied in their journey by Calix, Francesca Invidus, and the mabari hound Autumn, all of whom were first introduced in Deception. The group eventually encounters Fenris, who has become a notorious mage hunter by the events of Blue Wraith, garnering the eponymous nickname due to his lyrium infused skin and his ability to attack with deadly, quiet precision as he possesses a "phasing" ability that allows him to become intangible. The group later discovers that the artifact is an ornate sarcophagus-shaped device, designed to infuse elven subjects with lyrium, similar to the one that imbued Fenris his unusual abilities and potentially imbue them with the same abilities. Concerned about the magister's goal of weaponizing the device and that a former associate of his covets power offered by the device, Fenris agrees to ally with the group of Inquisition operatives and their associates in an attempt to stop the magister before he reaches his intended destination.

Publication

Blue Wraith is the third Dragon Age comic book series by the same creative team as Knight Errant and Deception, which consists of husband and wife writing team Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, artist by Fernando Heinz Furukawa, colorist Michael Atiyeh, and cover artist Sachin Teng. [1] DeFilippis is the Chair of the New York Film Academy (NYFA) Los Angeles Screenwriting Department and Dean of Faculty, while Weir is an instructor at NYFA. [1] Matt Taylor provided the cover art for the limited edition of the first issue.

The series features Fenris as a co-lead character; the character's last appearance was 2011's Dragon Age II, but nevertheless is described by various sources as a fan favorite. [2] [3] [4] According to Weir, "there is a lot of backstory to catch up on" for Fenris, and "a lot of in-story choices he’s going to make". The creative team followed a story canon where Fenris was recruited by Hawke in Dragon Age II and stayed with their group until the end, where they all went their separate ways. DeFilippis and Weir wanted to explore a version of Fenris who has been left alone by his friends, and even a potential lover in Hawke, and his reaction to living in solitude. [2] The writers worked closely with BioWare to ensure the comics do not conflict or contradict the video game setting; the developer provided notes along the way, and the writers would conduct story conferences with the developers before starting a miniseries. The writers claimed that their vision are always on the same page as the developer's notes on issues such as story quality and character development. On what set writing Blue Wraith apart from writing previous Dragon Age series, DeFilippis said they intended to paint on a bigger canvas than just the individual miniseries issue count, noting that while Knight Errant was a new concept, it picked up characters from Magekiller, which was then picked up by Deception and so on, describing the story continuity as "one long quest”. [1]

On the redesign process, Furukawa said he took what he liked the most of the original design as well as alternate designs depicted in concept art, and added visual cues like a scarf to give the character something that he could use to depict movement. [2] Furukawa recalled using a lot of references from existing games and comics of the series, and then he did further research for more realistic reference for castles, armors, and weapons to match the established tone of the series. [2]

In February 2020, original Fenris voice actor Gideon Emery uploaded an audio recording on his twitter account reading specific dialogue from the comic on a fan's request. [3]

Release

The Blue Wraith mini-series consist of three issues, all of which have been released digitally on Dark Horse's official website. Issue #1 featured the first ever variant comic for the Dragon Age series, which is bundled with a 11x14 giclée fine art print of the variant cover art, saw a limited edition physical release. [5] The series will be collected and released as a trade paperback graphic novel, pending release on July 8, 2020. [6]

IssueDatePagesCreators
115 January 202032Writers: Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir
Artist: Fernando Heinz Furukawa
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist: Sachin Teng [7]
219 February 202032Writers: Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir
Artist: Fernando Heinz Furukawa
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist: Sachin Teng [8]
318 March 202032Writers: Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir
Artist: Fernando Heinz Furukawa
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist: Sachin Teng [9]

Reception

The series as a whole holds a score of 7.8 out of 10 on comics review aggregator Comic Book Roundup, indicating generally favorable reviews, based on 14 reviews by critics of individual issues. [10]

The first issue received mixed or average reviews, with an aggregate score of 7.3 out of 10. Reviewing the first issue for Multiversity Comics, Gregory Ellner praised the coloring work, but commented that while longtime fans of Dragon Age may find it intriguing, "the narrative is better for returning fans than it is inviting for anyone coming into the world of BioWare's dark fantasy franchise fresh", scoring the issue 6.5 out of 10. [11] Matthew Aguilar was more positive about the first issue and scoring it 4 out of 5, and commented that "Dragon Age fans will enjoy Fenris' appearance. He was hopeful that Fenris will have a more prominent role in the series. [12]

Reviewing the second issue, Aguilar from Comicbook.com complimented the writers for their thorough and in-depth knowledge of the series, particularly in how events from Dragon Age II were organically woven into the story. [13] In his assessment of the third and final issue, Aguilar also scored it 4 out of 5, noting that "it is a bummer that the book feels as if it's about to take off in an awesome direction by the book's last page", though he is hopeful for the future of the Dragon Age comic series. [14] Christa Harada from Multiversity Comics felt that the second issue struggled to balance a huge cast and dense story, saying that while it "slows down a bit to give us some more time with Fenris", it was insufficient to offset the overly hectic pace of the first issue. [4]

Charles Hartford from But Why Tho? scored the second issue 9 out of 10, drawing attention to the satisfying cliffhanger moments staged by the creative team. [15] He commented that the team, who have previously worked on Knight Errant and Deception, have put their stamp on this corner of the world and expressed hope the creative team could keep this energy going so they could finish the story with an explosive final act. [15] He scored the final issue 8 out of 10, and concluded that Blue Wraith treats its characters wonderfully and that it "lands some truly emotional moments splendidly", noting that he would have considered the series perfect if it felt more like a complete story. [16]

Sequel

Blue Wraith is followed by Dragon Age: Dark Fortress, another three-issue miniseries published and released between March 2021 to May 2021. [17]

Related Research Articles

Grant Morrison Scottish comic book writer, and playwright

Grant Morrison, MBE is a Scottish comic book writer and playwright. They are known for their nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings in their runs on titles including DC Comics's Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Batman, JLA, All-Star Superman, The Invisibles, Flex Mentallo, The Filth and We3, Marvel's New X-Men and 2000 AD's Zenith.

Dire Wraith Fictional species appearing in Rom the Spaceknight comics

The Dire Wraiths are a fictional extraterrestrial species appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and IDW Publishing. The Dire Wraiths are the main opponents of Rom the Spaceknight.

Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications) American comic book superhero

Daredevil is a fictional superhero that starred in comics from Lev Gleason Publications during the 1930s–1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books, before being retroactively established into the Image Universe by Image Comics in the 1990s as its first character. The character is unrelated to Marvel Comics' Daredevil.

John Jackson Miller is an American science-fiction author, comic book writer, and commentator, known for his work on the Star Wars franchise and his research into comic book circulation history, as presented in the Standard Catalog of Comic Books series and the Comichron website.

Nunzio DeFilippis is an American writer of comic books and television. He writes with his wife, Christina Weir, whom he met while they were both students at Vassar College. The two have written for two seasons on HBO's Arli$$, and have sold story ideas to the Disney Channel's Kim Possible. In comics, they have written several graphic novels and miniseries for independent publisher Oni Press, including Skinwalker, Three Strikes, Maria's Wedding, The Tomb, Once In A Blue Moon the Amy Devlin Mysteries, Frenemy Of The State, and Bad Medicine. Their work at Oni led to work at Marvel Comics, relaunching the teen mutant book New Mutants. This book was renamed New X-Men: Academy X. Their run on these books spanned three years and created almost two dozen new super-powered mutant characters for Marvel's X-Men franchise, including Surge, Hellion, Wind Dancer, Prodigy, Wallflower, Elixir, Tag, Rockslide, Mercury, Anole, and Wither. They have also written for DC Comics, with stories appearing in Wonder Woman, Adventures of Superman and Batman Confidential and Dark Horse with "Dragon Age: Knight Errant." The duo also work in the expanding field of Japanese manga, providing English adaptations for the Del Rey titles Guru-Guru Pon-Chan, Sugar Sugar Rune and Kagetora. They also write original English language manga for Seven Seas Entertainment, writing one of the company's launch titles, Amazing Agent Luna and the pirate manga, Destiny's Hand. DeFilippis also wrote, without his wife, an issue of DC Comics' Detective Comics. He taught comic writing at UCLA Extension before teaching screenwriting and comic book writing at the Los Angeles branch of the New York Film Academy, where he is now Chair of the Screenwriting Department and Dean of Faculty.

<i>Star Wars</i> comics Various comic books based on the Star Wars franchise

Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for 107 issues, including an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel also released an adaptation of Return of the Jedi and spin-offs based on Droids and Ewoks. A self-titled comic strip ran in American newspapers between 1979 and 1984. Blackthorne Publishing released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988.

<i>Conan</i> (Dark Horse Comics) Comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics

Conan, the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, is the protagonist of seven major comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. The first series, titled simply Conan, ran for 50 issues from 2004 to 2008; the second, titled Conan the Cimmerian, began publication in 2008 and lasted 25 issues until 2010; the third series, titled Conan: Road of Kings, started publishing in December 2010 and ended in January 2012 after 12 issues; a fourth series, titled Conan the Barbarian, continuing from Road of Kings, lasted 25 issues from February 2012 to March 2014; a fifth series, titled Conan the Avenger, started publishing in April 2014 and ended in April 2016 after 25 issues; a sixth and final series, titled Conan the Slayer lasted 12 issues from July 2016 to August 2017.

Dragon Age is a Canadian media franchise centered on a series of fantasy role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The franchise takes place on the fictional continent Thedas, and follows the experiences of its various inhabitants.

The Hellboy Universe is the fictional universe of the Hellboy comic and its various spinoffs, created by Mike Mignola. Its first appearance was in a black-and-white, four-page promotional comic by Mike Mignola with a script by John Byrne published by Dark Horse Comics in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, distributed at the San Diego Comic-Con. The Hellboy Universe currently spans over eighty trade paperbacks. It is also sometimes informally called the "Mignolaverse".

<i>MIND MGMT</i> American comic book series

MIND MGMT is an American comic book series created by Matt Kindt and published through Dark Horse Comics. The first issue was released on May 23, 2012 to positive reviews and received a second printing in April 2013. The series continued to receive positive coverage during its run, but Kindt's art style was a common point of criticism. The series concluded with issue 36 in August 2015. The story has been collected into six hardcover and three omnibuses.

<i>Invisible Republic</i> (comics)

Invisible Republic is an American comic book series created by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman and published through Image Comics. The first issue was released on March 18, 2015 to good reviews. Although the creators expected the story to run 30-50 issues, it has been on hiatus since the fifteenth issue was released in March 2017.

<i>Head Lopper</i> Comic book series by Andrew MacLean

Head Lopper is a comic book series created by writer and artist Andrew MacLean, currently published by Image Comics. The story follows the exploits of the Viking warrior Norgal and the severed head of Agatha the Blue Witch.

<i>Resident Alien</i> (comics) Comic book series

Resident Alien is an American comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The series has been published by Dark Horse Comics in installments of four-issue miniseries since 2012. Five miniseries have been completed, and a concluding sixth miniseries is in progress. A television adaptation for Syfy starring Alan Tudyk premiered on January 27, 2021.

<i>Mass Effect: Foundation</i> Comic book series

Mass Effect: Foundation is a Canadian science fiction comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics featuring several secondary characters from the original Mass Effect trilogy. The fifth Mass Effect comic series to be produced, Foundation is a tie-in to 2013's Mass Effect 3: Citadel downloadable content, the story of Foundation explores the characters' backstories prior to their meeting with Commander Shepard. Much of its narrative is framed as reconnaissance by the antagonist of Citadel, Maya Brooks, as the point-of-view character, with the first issue exploring her childhood and origin story.

<i>Dragon Age: Magekiller</i>

Dragon Age: Magekiller is a five-issue dark fantasy comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics set in the Dragon Age universe, and released between December 2015 and April 2016. The series was written by Greg Rucka, with artwork by Carmen Carnero and Terry Pallot. The timeline of the series run concurrently with the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition and tells the story, in several arcs, of the "mage-killer" Marius and his loquacious handler Tessa Forsythia. The series also tells the origin story and rise of the Venatori faction, and features appearances by several secondary characters from the Dragon Age series.

<i>Dragon Age: Knight Errant</i>

Dragon Age: Knight Errant is a five-issue heroic fantasy comic book series set in the Dragon Age universe, published by Dark Horse Comics and released between May and September 2017. The series was co-written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with artwork by Fernando Heinz Furukawa. The series takes place after the events of Dragon Age: Magekiller and serves as its sequel. The protagonists of Knight Errant are the elven thief Vaea and Ser Aaron Hawthorne, a drunken washed up Fereldan knight. The series features appearances from secondary characters in the Dragon Age series, such as Varric Tethras and Sebastian Vael.

<i>Dragon Age: Deception</i>

Dragon Age: Deception is a three-issue heroic fantasy comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics and released between January and March 2020. The series was co-written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with artwork by Fernando Heinz Furukawa. The series takes place after the events of the 2017 miniseries Dragon Age: Knight Errant and features appearances from its protagonists, Ser Aaron Hawthorne and Vaea, as well as Dorian Pavus, a major character from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Deception follows a con artist named Olivia Pryde, who crosses paths with another con artist in the Tevinter city of Ventus, which is on the brink of war.

<i>Dragon Age: The Silent Grove</i> Comics based on video games

Dragon Age: The Silent Grove is a six-issue heroic fantasy comic book limited series set in the Dragon Age universe. The first in a series of Dragon Age visual media to be published by Dark Horse Comics, it was originally a exclusive digital release between February to May 2012. The series was primarily written by David Gaider, with Alexander Freed as scriptwriter and artwork by Chad Hardin.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jack Picone (October 28, 2019). "New York Film Academy (NYFA) Screenwriting Chair and Instructor Team Up for 'Dragon Age' Comic". New York Film Academy Blog. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kristina Manente (January 14, 2020). "Dragon Age: Blue Wraith Continues a Fan-Favorite Character's Story". Fanbyte. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Matthew Aguilar (February 21, 2020). "Dragon Age 2's Fenris Voice Actor Performs Comic Dialogue". Comicbook.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Christa Harader (February 20, 2020). ""Dragon Age: Blue Wraith" #2". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Dragon Age Blue Wraith 1 Dark Horse Direct Exclusive + Giclee Fine Art Print Bundle". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Dragon Age: Blue Wraith HC". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #1". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #2". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Dragon Age: Blue Wraith #3". Dark Horse Comics. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Dragon Age: Blue Wraith". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  11. ↑ Gregory Ellner (January 16, 2020). ""Dragon Age: Blue Wraith" #1 Review". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  12. ↑ Matthew Aguilar (January 15, 2020). "Comic Book Reviews for This Week: 1/15/2020". Comicbook.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  13. ↑ Matthew Aguilar (February 19, 2020). "Comic Book Reviews for This Week: 2/19/2020". Comicbook.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  14. ↑ Matthew Aguilar (March 18, 2020). "Comic Book Reviews for This Week: 3/18/2020". Comicbook.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  15. 1 2 Charles Hartford (February 18, 2020). "ADVANCED REVIEW: 'Dragon Age: Blue Wraith,' Issue #2". But Why Tho?. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  16. ↑ Charles Hartford (March 21, 2020). "REVIEW: 'Dragon Age: Blue Wraith,' Issue #3". But Why Tho?. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  17. ↑ Liana Ruppert (March 25, 2021). "Dragon Age: Dark Fortress #1 Exclusive Preview - Fenris Reflects On Danarius And Teams Up With The Inquisition". Game Informer. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.