Dragon Age Vol. 1

Dragon Age #1-6

by Orson Scott Card

Hailed as "the RPG of the Decade" by PC Gamer magazine, Dragon Age: Origins has redefined the modern fantasy roleplaying game. Now, the innovative game from BioWare becomes the latest hit comic from EA Comics! In a time lost to history, a war ravaged the land. Mages, incredibly powerful wielders of magic, ruled the world through mastery of dark arts and forbidden spells. Their lust for power almost destroyed all existence, and unleashed an unholy pestilence, the Darkspawn, to plague mankind, trolls, faeries, and all the inhabitants of the realm. Now magic is carefully controlled, taught behind the sacred walls of the Circle of Magi, and monitored by the ever-vigilant Templars. It is in this arena that a new generation of Mages in training will arise, warriors of sorcery who will defy the rules of the Templars and change the course of the world forever. Written by multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, Ultimate Iron Man) and Aaron Johnston (Ender's Game: Mazer in Prison) with art by breakout artist Mark Robinson (Skrull Kill Krew) and covers by superstar artist Humberto Ramos, DRAGON AGE will take you to a world beyond imagination!

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Video Games, Fiction, Comic Book, Games

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2010

About the author

Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.

Reviews

[wildmary · Rating 1 out of 5]

This comic has little to do with Dragon Age, and I am sorry for anyone whose first introduction it is to this wonderful, robust fantasy series. "Dragon Age" by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston is a lazily researched, generic misrepresentation of the world and lore built by other, more talented writers.

Here are some reasons why I didn't enjoy it:

1) The story is generic and it is told poorly.

A woman falls in love with a guy from an opposing faction. He abandons her, but they have a baby. She flees.

We don't care for any of the characters because we aren't given any time to grow to like them. This comic would rather waste pages upon pages showing how comically badly mages are being treated by its card-carryingly evil villains than let us know its main characters. The guy is stoic. The girl is brave. Everybody else is evil, except that one best friend who is desperately in love with her. Gleam cries a lot.

The girl grows up. Stuff happens to her. None of it matters. There's an ominous Man of Light, but it is never explored.

This comic is a testament to how bad Gleam is at hiding the fact she is an apostate. How hasn't she been arrested by the templars long ago? Somehow the Carta seems to want her, a random bunch of thugs murders her peasant adoptive parents (for fun), and she runs into a group of Fereldan bloodmages who worship the Old Gods with a straight face. All the while being hunted (unbeknownst to them) by templars. But still it feels like nothing happens in this series because all of it leads to anywhere interesting.

2) It doesn't understand the world it is supposed to take place in.

Characters act and talk in ways that don't feel consistent with the Thedas we know from other (better) media. Templars kill mages for whatever reasons. There is at least one Circle Mage who battles in sexy lingerie. Human characters have ridiculous, made-up names.

Actual examples of Fereldan names: Alistair (Scottish), Theagan (English), Connor (Irish & English), Eamon (Irish), Loghain (English & Scottish)...
Human names in this comic: Veness (once misspelt as Vaness), Sadatt, Gleam (once misspelt as Gleem), Lomo, Datlin, Ormo, Agmo, Trogdor the Burninator...

These are not Thedosian names.

3) The only canon character is out-of-character.

In the games, Greagoir (misspelt here as Gregoir) is actually a decent guy despite the shitstorm that is going in the Circle Tower, but this comic decides to make him into a clerical fascist and a complete villain. He, for example, slaps a pregnant woman, threatens to kill mages for escaping, and spouts dialogue not fitting his moderate, even mage-sympathetic in-game persona.

My personal favorites of his ridiculous villain speech include:
- "Inform the Circle that two of their kind have been breeding."
- "If it were up to me, you both would be executed. The Chantry, however, believes that a child of dual mage heritage could be of great service to Ferelden."
- "Magic is a sin of pride. That's why we Templars exist, to keep mages from offending the Maker again."

4) "Magic is a sin of pride." and all other generic religion-sounding bullshittery.

Another example of how no research went into this. The Chantry recognizes only two sins: The Original Sin is the worship of spirits, and the Second Sin is the corruption of the Golden City. This comic book, however, justifies Greagoir's poor treatment of his charges not only by completely shitting on his personal character, but also by spouting vague, religious-sounding nonsense that doesn't fit the actual religion.

5) The laughably evil treatment of mages in this comic.

Fereldan Templars do not execute mages for having relationships. Templars don't execute mages for escaping. Only if someone was whipping out blood magic, then would killing them become an option.

6) The overall lack of research and care that went into this comic.

The cover features three minor side characters that appear on 2 pages and one of which is, supposedly, a Circle Mage wearing Morrigan's outfit. Later that same mage is seen in sexy lingerie.

There are countless other inconsistencies and questionable moments:
- Dwarves walking in and out of Orzammar. Random humans walking in and out of Orzammar's slums.
- Gleam healing Datlin in front of commoners and nobody running to get a templar or a guard.
- Some Fereldan bloodmages worshipping the Old Gods.
- Gleam healing someone's arm back.
- A dwarf teaching Gleam how to heal venom through magic.
- Templars not investigating a sword forged by magic when seeing one next to a forge.
- Templars bragging about all the apostates they've killed.
- This random bunch of lowlifes that kills Gleam's adoptive parents JUST casually happen to be camping where Gleam and Agmo end up in.
- People constantly referring common things as dwarf gold, dwarf nature, dwarf metal, etc. ...

So many people were involved, and none of them gave a dwarf shit.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've heard bad things about this but read it anyway because. Dragon Age. The bad things were true. Orson Scott Card apparently took the basic notes he received from Bioware and, well, wrote a basic story filled with two-dimensional characters doing two-dimensional things. It starts with a templar and a mage falling in love and making whoopee. This is not a good thing at the chantry. Not good for the mage, that is, who is hunted down and killed when she tries to escape with her child. She manages to get the child to safety, but in a shocking twist of events, the child grows up to be a mage that is forced into situations that cause her to use her magic and attract the attention of her templar dad who has to hunt her down. The most entertaining and unpredictable part of this book are the awkward poses the cover artist draws the main character in.

www.bibliosanctum.com

[Laureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting story, and it gave a different view of Ferelden. I would have loved to see some of the more recognisable characters from the games, but as a side story, this was interesting.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the art style, but the story was okay. Always happy to read more from Dragon Age world.

[Rachael C Marek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to learn of this new tale in the DA franchise, but was sadly disappointed by the lack of actual story and the strange artwork. The story itself was rather uninspired - forbidden love between a mage and a Templar in the Circle that leads to a tragic end is one any fan of the series is familiar with (Wynne's storyline to name one), and yet, without any recognizable characters to tether the reader, and without any plot twists to keep the reader engaged, this story fell flat and could have been part of any series and not one so beloved as Dragon Age.

Then there was the artwork. Reviews mentioned that the original artist had been replaced part way through, and while that was evident, the characters were often times given strange expressions that resembled the band Gorillaz.

This was the first in the series, but given the introduction, I don't think it's one I'll continue. A sad fact to admit given my completely rational affection for this fictional world.

[Jenny McD. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it. Any Dragon Age fan who doesn't mind comics should have no problem enjoying this too. While there are no familiar characters that we are used to, all aspects of game with the Mages versus the Templars are present. The story was a real page turner as we follow Gleam a young mage who is being hunted by the Templars. Gleam has a secret of course that can cause trouble for more than just her. The first Volume has just left me hungry to get Volume 2 as soon as it's out. The only complaint my daughter has was that she wished the story was a book actually so she could read even more details of the characters.

[archdandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a little bit to get in to the story but once I did I enjoyed it! I really liked the story line and it played out well. The only complaint I have about it is the ending. I didn't like how Gleam ended up in the tower and how she accepted Duty/Saddatt as her father. I felt like she should have fought harder against that considering he killed her mother, cousin and countless other mages. I found it hard to believe he would just change his tune so quickly. The art wasn't my favorite but the colors really popped out, especially the fire! I will say that this felt like an authentic Dragon Age story. The author clearly knew all about the Dragon Age world.

[Sara Portela · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

It was really interesting, for a short comic story. I really hated the cousin, but I was kinda sad with what happens to him. It's nice to see stories of other characters in the dragon age world from time to time, and also the impact of the society on other characters.

Would recommend.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cool side-story set in the Dragon Age universe. My one complaint is that the cover has nothing to do with the story in the book. Both are cool, but usually you expect the cover to have at least something to do with the book.

[Václav · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3,2 of 5 for a nice introduction to DA world, which is sadly quite a mediocre comics)
I love the DA games. The vivid fantasy world with a rich history, for me one of the most excellent fantasy worldbuilding. So I'm willing to be kind on DA related comics because I linger for every visit into that realm. I postponed it for a long time and now I headed into it with this first book. I didn't expect much and with that, the comic met my expectation. The story is a simple trope, the ascent of a powerful outsider. It's not complicated and pretty straightforward. But it was fun and I enjoyed the reading at least on the basic level. But I wouldn't recommend following my example, especially in two cases:
1) you despise the underperforming art. The art is quite "fine", but when it comes to action (or some dynamic scene), it turns into a terrible mess.
2) you hate fucking dumb teenagers, especially with attitude. Using this, especially in an excessive manner to move/orchestrate the plot is a shitty lazy writer's job. The teenagers here do dumb/spiteful decisions all the time even if it means harm to everyone involved except the fucking lazy writer.
And that's it. But I'm looking forward to next DA comics, improved not only in art but hopefully in writing.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much to do with the Dragon Age world at all, and the art is just... bad. I read the whole thing because I hoped it would redeem itself but nope.

[Alex Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun enjoyable tale which is definitely set in the Dragon Age universe as the plot follows a young apostate trying to escape the Templars. There are two ways to view this, as a tie-in novel for the excellent games or as a stand-alone work. I believe it actually works better as a stand-alone graphic novel.

As a stand-alone work we get to see some fun action as a young mage has her adventure with some family members as she tries to escape the Templars; a group who hunt down magic users and either force them to join and never leave the Chantry or kill them. It has a fair few twists and turns and the characters are all entertaining with their own unique personalities. A few cliched moments, but definitely enjoyable. Four stars :).

As a tie-in graphic novel it is more of the same we have seen in the games. Someone is on the run from the Templars because she knows how to use magic. The story goes from having a few cliched moments to being a pretty much re-telling of some of the quests in the game, with the main points of focus being ones I have seen before. It is done well, but with a world as large as Dragon Age's with so much lore it is a shame to focus on this one thing so much. Two stars.

As for everything else, the art is an interesting style and starts off exceptionally cartoon-y. As it goes on the facial expressions become a little more human and by the end it is much more realistic (and personally preferable). I haven't got many criticisms, it is a solid story and told well, just far too familiar for those who already love Dragon Age. This also is called 'Volume 1' but I believe no future volumes are planned, meaning the references to something bigger going on and all the foreshadowing goes to waste. Definitely worth reading for the amount I paid (£1.70ish) but nothing too special.

[Silas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a troubling volume. The basic story was alright, if a bit uninspired. Unfortunately, the art was kind of awful, and the writing was fraught with issues. There are a number of words and phrases used here that were fastidiously avoided by the writers of the game (to their credit), that are used casually here, which I personally found off-putting. Similarly, none of the characters speak in a way that suits the way they speak in the game. Similarly, aside from having characters with the three main classes from the game appear in the book, magic and combat don't seem to work the way they do in the game, to enough of a level that it seems like a story that was forced to work in this setting, with a few issues that were not ironed out in the transition. Between the deformed art, the lackluster story, and the setting issues, this just isn't a particularly enjoyable volume.

[Em-nat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh boy, this was not good. I was warned, and yall weren't kidding.

Luckily, I believe BioWare has stated that this comic is completely non-canon, and thank the Maker for that. It's ridiculous that they got Orson Scott Card (known malignant homophobe) to write for a Dragon Age story, but in addition to that...it's just so badly done.

From the generic plot that could take place in any ol' sword and sorcery setting, the silly made up "fantasy names", the trite characters and the massive world-lore faux pas, to the weird rubber-faced style of the art, and the fact that half the female characters seem to be wearing hip-huggers and tank tops, this comic is a mess.

Do yourselves a favor: skip this schlock and read the Dragon Age comic trilogy "The Silent Grove", "Those Who Speak" and "Until We Sleep". THOSE are Dragon Age comics done to perfection.

[aphrodite · Rating 3 out of 5]

it’s a basic side story, not much to say. I probably won’t continue with this series but I’m not mad I read it.

[Marlene Bentsen (Boggrippen) · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5**
Da jeg så at selveste Orson Scott Card (Enders Game serien) havde skrevet historien til en Dragon Age tegneserie, blev jeg med det samme begejstret og glædede mig meget til at læse den.

Men, ak. Den her Dragon Age historie skulle jeg have ladet være!

Tegneserien startede i 2010, hvor der kom 6 bind, der så udkom i en samlet udgave i 2011 med titlen Dragon Age Vol. 1. Der er så aldrig kommet en Vol. 2 og det siger sig selv, for historien er altså alt for ensporet til Dragon Age universet og tegnestilen var slet ikke noget for mig.

Historien handler om en mage og en templar, der i forbudt kærlighed, får barnet Gleam. Templaren forlader kvinden, som giver pigebarnet til en smed og hans familie, for at beskytte hende mod de onde Templars, der ikke behandler folk med magi godt.

Vi følger så pigen Gleam og hvordan hun lever som apostate mage, som det hedder når en magiker lever uden for The Circle’s lov og orden.

Man kan måske sige, at historien er en slags introduktion til Dragon Age universet, hvor vi oplever en typisk situation fra universet.

Men jeg kommer altså ikke til at anbefale den her historie. Den er enormt overfladisk skrevet og jeg kan hverken finde passionen eller begejstringen for universet.

Heldigvis har jeg stadig en del andre Dragon Age historier til gode, så jeg hurtigt kan få rystet det her makværk ud af hovedet igen!

[Patricia Willenborg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A templar/mage romance or fling is fertile ground for a story; what is forbidden is enticing, after all. I was interested in seeing that. The story starts out okay with the secret but the art gets rough quickly (particularly in scenes with motion) and the ambiance of Thedas never takes hold. The comic shows some DA staples, like the Fade and the Deep Roads, but there's no effort to give them a sense of mystery; they're just unusual backdrops. The simplistic name of the main character, Gleam, grates when you know what it could/should have been. Surely there could have been more done to make sure the author knew the world better. The story itself is a setup for a chase-the-kids arc in which all adults are looking to hurt, control, and/or use them, without variation. They're hunted like rabbits and make stupid choices because they're kids (sometimes more than once). There aren't many surprises and it felt like more like a setup for the next book than anything of its own. There is little to no nuance or depth to any of the characters or their motivations, which can make sense for a kid-centered story - but is a bit of a letdown for a DA story. I'm glad I got this digitally at a significant discount.

[KalishnaKat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally got around to rereading this after ten or so years, as Tevinter Nights got me in the mood to reread all the old material. It’s about as generic as I remember. Orson Scott Card took no care to writing a story that could fit within the Dragon Age universe, as there are a lot of things that happen which do not match the cannon.

Honestly, outside of a few basic elements, this comic could be any run of the mill bottom barrel fantasy adventure. I’m pretty sure it’s the only Dragon Age comic BioWare doesn’t consider cannon anymore, which says something to its quality. I was not a fan of the art either.

[Billy Fuss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 - Generic, boring, not dragon age
Hey! Let's get a big name author to write this
Does he write comics?
Nope!
Does he know Dragon Age?
Nope!

That's how that went and that's what we got. Card must have read enough to see the words templar, mage, and dwarf and just filled in the blanks with generic fantasy. Not only was it generic fantasy, it was bad generic fantasy. You killed my family! Revenge. I'm a blacksmith's kid, but apparently I know so little about the world I'll get injured and killed at every turn. Ugh, this was so bad.

[mii · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess not all things Dragon Age are good... This felt very disjointed from the established world and rules of DA. In addition, because the story was about some random characters, who we never meet in the games and probably will not encounter in any other DA thing, then to be honest I didn't really care for any of it.
(Also, don't you just love when a 17 year old teenager is heavily sexualized and drawn almost like a sex doll. Yay.)

[Blake Billings · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dragon Age games, especially "Origins", are some of my favorite games of all time. I love the world, the lore, and the people. Something was missing for me in this six issue comic series. There was the whole Mage v. Templar thing, but it just didn't really feel like a Dragon Age story. I can't really put my finger on what exactly, but it's noticeable.

My only hope is to see Gleam again, I guess.

[jack · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugly art, boring story, characters impossible to care about. unsurprising from mr card. hardly any connection to the dragon age series yet somehow turns into pro-templar propaganda. would not recommend to fans, non-fans, or anyone with taste.

[Cimerians · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art absolutely does not fit Dragon Age, in fact it's more in the lines of Sunday newspaper comic strips and tack on the horrific writing which borders on TV sitcoms at times. The reason I didn't give it a one star is because it's Dragon Age. That's about it.

[Tania · Rating 1 out of 5]

who approved having the 17-year old protagonist dressed in skimpy clothing? who drew the world's ugliest art? who wrote this damn script and were they even a little bit aware of dragon age lore?

0 stars

[Amirhoseyn Hz · Rating 1 out of 5]

As if Dragon Age 2&3 werent enough of a disgrace to the orignal masterpiece , to put it bluntly this has nothing to do with da:o go read the lore and play another playthorugh instead.

[Steffi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many cliches, even for a Mage/Templar love story. Though I liked the artstyle, after a while, it annoyed me how arrogant and smug everyone looked all the time.

[Joshua Tipton · Rating 2 out of 5]

An alright read. Feels far removed from the rest of the Dragon Age books that I've read so far. The art style is hit or miss but not horrible. I don't think I will revisit this.

[Knižný (Valéria Scholtzová) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non-canon, a little bit boring. Adds nothing special to the story. How can the dwarves casually walk in and out of Orzammar?

[Savi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is Dragon Age only in name and a few concepts. Not enjoyable and a very cliche fantasy story. Definitely not recommended for fans of the game.

[Ekşili · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful art, story is worse. Avoid if you can, definitely not worth your time.