This new DDP title is one that makes me really excited. Taken from the Forgotten Realms books based off the world of Dungeons and Dragons, Homelands tells the story of Drizzt Do’Urden. Drizzt is one of the Drow Elves, or Dark Elves that live in the great caves beneath the surface worlds known as the Underark. This land of perpetual night is controlled by the Drow who scrape out their lives in deceit, murder, and treachery in the slavery of their great Spider Queen Goddess, Lolth. So yeah, it isn’t a lot of fun. Their entire society lives by the rules do what you can get away with, anything for power, an obey Lolth. So any crime is applauded if you don’t get caught, but if you do get caught, your life is generally forfeit. The females are larger, stronger, more magically adept, and a lot hotter and so are the leaders of the society. Males are much more common and are generally used to kill other males and sometimes, if they are lucky, a female.

Into this world of sunshine and lollypops is born Drizzt, on the very day that his family genocides another family, or so they thought. A single member remains in hiding by melting his own face to assume the role of the faceless one at Menzobarranzin’s (that is their capital city) academy.

The artwork by Tim Seeley is a newer style that, despite being a tiny bit cartoony, is very expressive and contains distinct characters and faces. The writing is done by R.A. Salvatore, who wrote the books that this comic was based off. The story is great, the dialogue is fun to read, and the whole comic just feels well rounded (as do its female characters).

If you’re not into Sci-Fi stuff, you still might give this comic a look. It is never too technical, and it focuses more on its characters and their strange society than on all the strange things, magic, and creatures that some guy cooked up into his laudanum addled brain. And the diehard fans will be happy to know that this comic follows the original story almost exactly.

-Fumanchu