(Based on the BioWare game Dragon Age)

Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Script: GREG RUCKA
Pencils: CARMEN CARNERO
Inks: TERRY PALLOT
Colors: MICHAEL ATIYEH
Lettering: MICHAEL HEISLER
Front Cover Art: SACHIN TENG

If you like fantasy and comic books, then this graphic novel is a sure-fire win. Even better, if you’re a fan of the BioWare game Dragon Age or the expansion Inquisition. This book is a collection of the “Magekiller” 5 issue miniseries.

I will confess that I’m familiar with the game’s title but I’ve never played and didn’t make the connection to the game when I first picked up the book, so I can’t tell you if the main characters Tessa and Marius are in the game or not. What I can tell you…

Marius, former slave from Tevinter, and Tessa, a noble from Nevarra on the outs with her family, kill mages for money. How they get hooked up is left to the imagination of the reader and it’s completely okay. (Enter late and leave early is a mantra that is recited among creative writers.) There are several scenes that you feel like you’ve missed something but it does not take away from the overall telling of the tale. The writer uses feeling we have as a time lapse, which is great or there would have been 5 more issues and could have classified as a full blown run.

Marius is the driving force behind this pair but he lacks some skills, which Tessa makes up for. It’s obvious that they need each other but we don’t know the capacity. They are tricked into working for a mage, who they double-cross by not finishing the job. They run for their lives and that brings them to the attention of the Inquisitor.

No spoilers for you!

The art was good; the only thing that bugged me was two of the female characters had spots all over their faces. I guess it was supposed to be freckles. The story was intriguing and I liked it a lot. I sat down and read it in a matter of a few short hours.

I give this a 4 out of 5.