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Overwhelming Sword and Sorcery
Adventure Finders didn’t keep my interest as well as I hoped it would. I thought its appeal was going to be the plethora of characters. But perhaps, there were too many to keep track of. I could blame it on my lack of interest in medieval sword and sorcery – such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. But I like stories rich with lore that include a menu of species.
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Dynamic Adventurers
These Adventure Finders are a band of travelers. Even though this band featured several members, the title’s focus was mainly on a certain three. Or at least, that’s all my mind would allow. There was a blonde girl named Clariette. She seemed to be the main character or leader of the bunch. There was a mutant hyena named Asogog. And they meet a giant green girl named Bielsca – half Dryad – half Eldarii; assuming Eldarii is one of those races exclusive to the lore of Adventure Finders.
Most of the volume is further centered around Bielsca. In the first issue, they meet this strange woman. And through their journey, they learn each other’s ways. Her color set was quite aesthetic. There was a texture on that skin which I wasn’t sure if were tattoos or just different shades. Also, she wore colorful feathers in her hair that looked be from a macaw.
Yet, even though the focus were on those three, this issue tried to make me care about Jolfe. But the only interesting part of him was his fire wand.
The Adventure Finders rescue a group of prisoners from the orcs. The prominent ones were Lady Herminia and a couple of pygmy orcs named Bork and Nolber. I’m not sure if Herminia was a child or just a member of a smaller species. But there was quite the dynamic between her and Bielsca.
Forget the Drama, Gimme more Action!
They lead the prisoners from the dungeon, directly into a Kraken. But never mind the emotion, or apprehension, or whatever they felt about the chain of events. The most interesting elements of this title were the battles.
It really reminded me of Gauntlet. I spent hours mowing through cannon fodder on the arcade, Nintendo, and then PlayStation. The way these unique characters doing just that made me want to dust off the controllers for a level or two.
Aesthetic or Abysmal?
Both the writing and the pencils were done by Rod Espinosa. There was amazing detail in the background and wardrobe. But, all of the human faces looked the same. Their features were rather small, and they all had the same pointed noses. This could be another reason why I attached to the non-human characters easier.
If I read through these issues again, and perhaps the previous volumes, I might grow more involved with the plot. There seemed to be some deep lore that I was missing. But upon first read, Adventure Finders really just made me want to play some Gauntlet.
Adventure Finders #3 is available now through Action Lab Entertainment or on Comixology.
