Image courtesy of Dark Horse Comics and Wizards of the Coast

Dark Horse Comics, the famous American comic publisher known for series such as Hellboy, The Mask, and Aeon Flux, among many others, released its newest series on Wednesday, September 17th. This new series, a collaboration with Wizards of the Coast to bring the lesser-known tales of Magic characters to life, is called Magic: The Gathering - Untold Stories.

Its first issue tells the first part of the story of Elspeth TirelElspeth Tirel during her time in the Theroan Underworld. I obtained a copy on the day of release, so here are my thoughts about Untold Stories: Elspeth #1!

Please note that there will be spoilers for the comic in this review. However, this is a comic telling a story that was essentially told half a decade ago. Please keep all of this in mind as you read further!

Reviewing Untold Stories: Elspeth

This story is shown in an interesting light. I like that the conflict between Heliod, Theroan God of the Sun, and his other deified comrades is so nuanced and political. Writer Dan Watters did very well with respect to the politics of the Theroan pantheon here. Also, I appreciated the flashback approach of the comic's plotlines.

However, I wonder if this will be the norm for every character we get an Untold Stories series on. We got this with Dack Fayden for The Spell Thief, and to me, a dedicated and enfranchised Magic fan, it may get old kind of fast.

However, I can probably give it a pass at this early stage of things, since it's the first issue of the first series of this kind.

The Art is... Not Perfect

Furthermore, I'll be frank about this: I'm not a huge fan of the series' illustrator, Owen Gieni's, portrayal of Elspeth in this comic. I find his illustrations over-expressive and almost rushed. Various scenes show Elspeth with a huge, almost trout-like open mouth when she's shouting.

The only other three femme characters in this comic are Theroan goddesses: Klothys, Goddess of Fate, Thassa, Goddess of the Sea, and Nylea, Goddess of the Hunt. Klothys has a lot of dialogue - more than Elspeth herself does in this issue. As it were, Thassa has one piece of dialogue, and Elspeth and Nylea have no dialogue in the issue whatsoever.

I'm unsure how to feel about the art, which depicts Klothys as overly menacing, and Elspeth as big-mouthed and overreactive gesturally (note that I am referring specifically to the depiction of these characters by the artist). The other characters in this comic with any dialogue - Heliod, Daxos, Erebos, and Purphoros - all seemed extremely self-serious in their agendas.

That's all fine and dandy, to be honest, but they were also illustrated in a way befitting that. The female characters felt like they were drawn as caricatures in many panels (any extreme close-ups of Elspeth's forehead notwithstanding).

Issues With the Cover of Issue #1

This brings me to the cover art. I didn't manage to secure a variant cover for Untold Stories: Elspeth #1. To a similar end, the cover I did get was more or less that same big-mouthed screaming style that I mentioned in my above criticisms.

Untold Stories: Elspeth #1 Variant Cover (Vincenzo Riccardi). Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Dark Horse Comics

Untold Stories: Elspeth #1 Variant Cover (Anna Steinbauer). Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Dark Horse Comics

Untold Stories: Elspeth #1 Main Cover (Owen Gieni). Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Dark Horse Comics

I got that last cover, wherein you can see what I'm talking about.

Before this further devolves into me snobbishly snubbing Gieni's work even more, I just want to say one last thing on the matter. I happen to really like his use of light and reflections in this comic. They're rather well illustrated. The depictions of the mysterious smoke atop Ashiok's horns and the depictions of Daxos' death mask all look splendid.

Verdict: Leave It in the Underworld (Unless You Like Theros)!

I'm not a huge fan of this comic overall. Like I mentioned above, the artwork by Owen Gieni isn't great. And unfortunately, Dan Watters' writing, while certainly intriguing (especially for a first issue of a full series) couldn't quite compensate for that. But I can see a world in which players who like Theros, Elspeth Tirel, or the Theros: Beyond Death storyline all buy this comic for their collections. It's not hard to see that working out for them.

In the future, however, I'll be getting the physical comics as well, if only to review them for my loyal readers.

Let me now open the floor to you all! Did you manage to snag a copy of Untold Stories: Elspeth #1 from your local comic shop? What did you think about it? Did you like its writing and/or its illustrations? What was your favorite aspect of this comic book? What did you like the least? Sound off in the comments below!