Elspeth is dead. But her story is not yet over. The sun god Heliod, having grown envious of his champion, struck her down to the underworld. There, she is forced to relive the worst moments of her life for all eternity. But Elspeth does not submit to despair—she emerges from each conflict a greater hero than before. And for a great hero like Elspeth, what is death but another challenge to overcome? Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Elspeth #1 is an interesting debut but unless you’re completely into Magic: The Gathering‘s lore, it’s one that that might go over your head.

I played Magic: The Gathering for many years. From the early days of Revised to… not sure when, I ripped packs, tapped cards, and spun my life counter up and down. You pieced together the world and its characters through snippets of text on the cards which weaved the grander narrative. The lore existed then but never felt the main focus, more the basic concept and ideas drove the gameplay and card mechanics. With each subsequent set came a theme and more of a focus on the world and battles between Planeswalkers. At this point, I could tell you the story or characters, just general concepts. Reading the recent comics was “spot the reference” for me as opposed to being completely in on what happened to the characters or what gaps those comics filled. And lets face it, the original comic releases were all about getting the cards that came with them.

So, I dove into Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Elspeth #1 expecting it to be much more focused on the lore, characters and a setting I knew nothing about, and I came out of it confused, bewildered, and most of it over my head. Unlike the most recent BOOM! Studios comic run, this Dark Horse debut written by Dan Watters feels like it dives into the deep end, with a story already in progress and for new readers like they missed the previous seasons with vital information. I got the general idea of gods and their champions and one god wanting a bit too much as far as worship, but the specific characters, who they are, why they’re dead, it never quite felt explained. Watters introduces Elspeth with her death and a “this is your life” tour for us to get to know her. It’s an interesting introduction but it misses a connection where I should care about the character.

Owen Gieni‘s art is good. The layouts, especially the “this is your life” pages are intriguing and visually engaging. The depiction of the gods gives us a feel of their grand scale as they look upon as to what’s going on. Hilary Jenkins‘ color gives the comic a look that makes it feel like it takes inspiration more from Wonder Woman than Magic: The Gathering and Clayton Cowles‘ lettering adds personality to the characters. The comic overall feels like it’d fit more in the world of Wonder Woman and Greek influence than what I’d expect for the classic card game. I’m not familiar with this release so that might have been what it went with to start.

Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories – Elspeth #1 isn’t a bad debut and there’s a lot of interesting aspects but the real interest and connection will be from those already bought into the characters and storyline. For those new, there might not be enough to really hook the reader. Unlike the previous series at that other publisher, this one feels like it dives deep into the lore instead of going for a general reader interest that anyone can pick up and really enjoy. It’s one for the diehard Magic: The Gathering fans who will get much more out of it than the average comic reader.

Story: Dan Watters Art: Owen Gieni
Color: Hilary Jenkins Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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