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Enter to win World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn
Patch days full of new content to play are always good, but why don't we make this patch day just a little bit better? We've got not one, but two copies of World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn to give away, and today seems like the best day to do it! This brand-new graphic novel from DC Comics follows the adventures of a motley group of individuals brought together under the banner of the Horde. Written by Doug Wagner and featuring artwork by Jheremy Raapack, the book clocks in at a solid 152 pages jammed full of action. Thanks to Blizzard Entertainment, we've got a couple of these graphic novels to give away. Take a look at our spoiler-free review if you'd like more information on the graphic novel -- while the events in the story take place shortly after Cataclysm, the book is very much worth the read and an even better addition to your bookshelf. Interested? To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. ET, Tuesday, September 17, 2013. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. Two winners will be chosen at random and we will contact you via whatever method you've used to comment. Official rules here.
Bloodsworn graphic novel now available
Lore fans will likely be happy to hear that Bloodsworn, the companion graphic novel to Dark Riders, is now available. While Dark Riders, released earlier this year, told the story of the eponymous Dark Riders we met through quests in Darkshire, Bloodsworn is the tale of a small band of disparate Horde warriors determined to prove their worth to their new warchief: Garrosh Hellscream. Yes, the graphic novel requires going back in time just a tad; it's set shortly after the start of Cataclysm, and as our own Anne Stickney pointed out in her review it invites a bit of wistful nostalgia as a result. Depending on your perspective you may or may not enjoy that aspect of it. Nonetheless, if you're a fan of Blizzard's ancillary products, it's certainly worth checking out. You can grab it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Blizzard Store.
Review of World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn
Much like its counterpart Dark Riders, World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn is long, long overdue. Luckily, those that have been waiting for the new graphic novel from writer Doug Wagner don't have long to wait -- Bloodsworn will be released next Tuesday, August 27. While Dark Riders tackled some of the Alliance characters introduced in the 2009 special issue of the Warcraft comic series, Bloodsworn tackles the Horde characters introduced in the final edition. Although Dark Riders dove headfirst into familiar waters for those that follow Warcraft lore, Bloodsworn takes a different road entirely, giving us a behind the scenes glimpse of Garrosh's Horde. Taking place shortly after Cataclysm, Bloodsworn follows the tale of several different Horde characters, brought together and united to investigate and uncover the motives and actions of a seemingly new breed of centaur that are intent on wiping the Horde from the face of Azeroth.
Review of World of Warcraft: Dark Riders
Before I even begin, I'm going to state the one thing that's been on my mind, and likely the mind of anyone else waiting for this particular title: It's about time. World of Warcraft: Dark Riders is the offshoot of the World of Warcraft comic series, specifically, the characters introduced in the 2009 special issue of the series written by Mike Costa. Yes, we have been waiting for this graphic novel for four years now. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Costa continues the tale started in that special issue and takes the reins of Dark Riders, skillfully weaving together one of those stories that isn't so much dependent on current game lore. In fact, it really doesn't address current game events at all. Instead, it takes the bold step of filling the gap between events that played out in WoW itself -- the disappearance of the Scythe of Elune from Duskwood and its sudden reappearance in Gilneas. And if that weren't enough, there's a wild trip through Karazhan and the questionable origin of the Dark Riders themselves, explained for the first time. But that's really just the tip of the iceberg here.
New World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn teaser images
Once upon a time, World of Warcraft had its very own comic series. The series ended in 2009 with a special one-shot issue that shared a tantalizing glimpse of more comics to come. Since then, the world of WoW comics has been by and large silent, except for rumors of two graphic novel projects. The first, Dark Riders, is slated for release this May. And now we have some new information and images to share from the other project that has until now been under wraps -- World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn. Along with some exclusive images from the graphic novel, Blizzard has shared with us a summary of the story. As the Cataclysm rips through Azeroth, Warchief Garrosh Hellscream orders the best warriors of the Horde to come forward and serve in a new army, lest their foes in the Alliance sense weakness and attack. We meet these warriors as they come forward - from very different lands, backgrounds, traditions...Will they be able to overcome their deep differences and work together to serve the Horde, especially when challenged by a powerful, unfamiliar race claiming to be the real rulers of Azeroth? From both the summary and the amount of time its been in development, it looks as though Bloodsworn takes place prior to Mists of Pandaria. While we likely won't see any of our pandaren pals, getting a closer look at the Horde and Hellscream's war machine during the tumultuous events of Cataclysm is apt to be fascinating. And what's up with that powerful, unfamiliar race? Ordinarily I'd say mogu, but I doubt we're dealing with Mists content. World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn is now available for pre-order on Amazon for the low price of $14.28. Although Amazon currently has the release date for the graphic novel listed as August 13, 2013, please note that release dates may change. And if you'd like a further glimpse of what's in store, take a look at our gallery for an exclusive sneak-peek of the graphic novel. %Gallery-181316%
World of Warcraft: Dark Riders now available for preorder
Once upon a time, there was a Warcraft comic series. It ended in 2009 with a special issue that featured an entirely new cast of characters, both Alliance and Horde. The premise was that the series would continue on with two individual comics, one Alliance-themed, and one Horde. This shifted over the years into two graphic novels -- World of Warcraft: Blood Sworn for the Horde and World of Warcraft: Dark Riders for the Alliance. While we've heard nothing more about Blood Sworn other than it's in development, Blizzplanet has some new news for those waiting eagerly for Dark Riders. You can now preorder Dark Riders on Amazon.com for $21.04, and it has a release date set for May 7, 2013. This 144-page hardcover graphic novel from DC Comics features an all-new story by Michael Costa, better known for his work on Transformers, and artwork by the talented Neil Googe. Dark Riders revolves around the story of the Scythe of Elune and, more importantly, the mysterious Dark Riders of Deadwind Pass, who have been mentioned more than once in quests but never really delved into. The title characters for the book are not your usual Warcraft heroes. They're adventurers like us -- ordinary Azeroth folk who have been plunged into extraordinary situations. It's been a long time coming, but I'm looking forward to finally having this one in my hands.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Testing
Sunday Morning Funnies is your weekly list of WoW-related web comics. What's on the list this week? A birth, a pretty powerful telescope, some unusual daycare inmates, some very creative roleplay, a zealous quest giver and ... well, you'll just have to read for yourselves. LFG #545 and #546 NPC Comic Wittle Kiddies Trigonometry Comics Red in Morning, Page 25 Kuo Fox Rain 36 Sara & Kleeyo Art Test 2 - Kleeyo What's Shakin' Page 72
Sunday Morning Funnies: Rock!
Sunday Morning Funnies is your weekly list of WoW-related web comics. Daily Quests finally updated! Thanks for pointing it out in the comments, all. It's Almost Like Waiting for a Comic. I love it. Last week's comments section also leads me to believe that SMF is best read either once caffeinated or while becoming caffeinated. You've been warned. From Draenor With Love To the Ground. This totally needs a part two. The Daily Blink Chris Metzen's Personal Hell and World of Warcraft Is Saving the World! and Waiter, This Isn't What I Crafted and The Dark Side of Battle.net Lo'meath & Huilii Chapter 2, Page Nineteen and 20 and 21
Chuck Norris plays a melee hunter in latest WoW commercial
Blizzard has just posted an official copy of the newest Warcraft commercial, in which Chuck Norris plays a human melee hunter with a cat pet. The commercial shows Chuck punching and kicking his way across Azeroth in a particularly monk-like style, fighting orcs and kodos in The Barrens and Westfall, and beating up gnomes in seedy bars. Chuck Norris jokes have been a fixture of Warcraft Barrens and trade chat lore for years, so it was probably inevitable that we'd get something like this eventually. Personally, I'm still a bigger fan of Vin Diesel jokes (and Vin Diesel the human being, for that matter), but it's hard to deny that Chuck doesn't have his place in pop culture and in the WoW community. Now, with this commercial, it's official. And I won't lie, I'd probably give my humans that hairstyle and beard if they showed up in game.
Know Your Lore: Med'an, Cho'gall and the Prophecy
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for World of Warcraft: The Comic. Players who are currently reading through the comics or simply wish to avoid spoilers from the series should avoid this post. We're taking a step back from Alliance politics this week in light of some new information from the 3.3.5 PTR. The servers have been laggy and somewhat unstable, but I've still been able to log on and play through a few things. One of those things is an interesting new quest chain available in Orgrimmar involving Doomsday Cultists who are suddenly making appearances in the Drag and talking about the end of the world as we know it. The biggest thing that sparked my interest was mention of Cho'gall. Matthew Rossi did an excellent write-up of the Twilight's Hammer and their leader Cho'gall, but what struck my interest was that Cho'gall's presence in game may lead to more interplay between story lines from the Warcraft comic series and World of Warcraft itself. However, while I made the connection readily enough, there are plenty out there who haven't read the comics and have no idea who Cho'gall, Med'an or any of the other characters I've referenced in previous posts actually are. In light of this, today we're going to be talking about the last half of the Warcraft comics series -- what happened in them, who was introduced, who died, what happened with Cho'gall, why Silithus was suddenly relevant again, and most of all, who the heck that Med'an kid is that I've been going on about. As I will be talking about these things in detail, this post is absolutely brim full of spoilers for the comics series; readers who are interested in picking up the comics and reading through them may want to veer away from this post.
Breakfast Topic: Reading rainbow
While World of Warcraft has one heck of an audience, the story involving it doesn't limit itself to just playing the game. There's a ton of books, comics, manga and RPG source guides out there with yet another ton of information. Some of this we see reflected in game, some of it is merely implied, and some of it we just don't see at all. I'm currently working my way through Stormrage, but I've read pretty much everything out there in the Warcraft universe -- and trust me, it's a lot of material. It got me thinking, though, particularly with what's contained in Stormrage and in other books as well: Just how many people actually read the books and other assorted reading material? Do you go out and buy a novel when it's released? Or do you prefer to just wait for the story to show up in game? So it's time for a Breakfast Topic poll! %Poll-42473%
Know Your Lore: Lore 101, part 1
One of the most frequent questions I'm asked as someone that's entirely too interested in Warcraft story and lore, is where to go to get story information. How, exactly, do you find all of these story elements when they are literally scattered across several different games, comics, manga and novels? How do you know what should be taken as official lore, and what to throw away as mere speculation? Where, exactly, does someone just starting out with World of Warcraft find story information when they've got no idea where that story actually starts? It's a difficult question to answer, and you'll see why later in the article. The Warcraft storyline is made up of several different parts, spanning several different games, and the time line is continually changing and developing as these games are released. Here's a brief list of places you can go to get started:
Warcraft Legends are a fun ride for all
Although Free Comic Book Day is supposed to be on the first Saturday of May each year, our local book store chain Fully Booked held it last May 23 with a 20% discount off graphic novels and select manga. I thought it was a good opportunity to pick up Tokyopop's Warcraft Legends series, a manga-style take on the Warcraft universe. I'd had my eye on these books for a while, so last weekend was a good opportunity to get them.Each book contains three self-contained stories and one ongoing tale featuring the Tauren Trag Highmountain from the Sunwell Trilogy manga written by Richard Knaak and drawn by Kim Jae-Hwan. Trag's story in Warcraft Legends picks up where the Sunwell Trilogy left off, and although the story is rather interesting, the best thing about the manga are the short stories which breathe a little more life into the Warcraft world. These stories are what make the books truly shine. My take on the first three books in the series after the jump.
Why Varian Wrynn is a fool (and why it may not matter)
For a while now I've been mulling over points raised by Daniel in his much-discussed article, "Why Varian Wrynn Is Right," and we've received a number of requests to address the issue from the Horde's point of view. Well...this article isn't going to do that. It started off that way, and then I realized that Varian's personal issues and the Horde's approach to the problem are really two entirely separate matters. At some point in the future, I'd like to examine the Horde's take on the newly-resurgent antagonism between the factions, because it's not something I can adequately address here without turning this into a 10,000-word tract. Today, we're going to deal almost exclusively with Varian and his share of responsibility for the current mess. I'm a little ambivalent over Blizzard's decision to include most of the backstory and explanations for Varian's behavior in a comic series, because I think it's one of the factors that's resulted the character's being poorly received by most players. Choosing to include so much of his characterization out of the game in a product most players will never read necessarily impacts how Varian's motives are going to be evaluated. If all you've got to go on is what you see of the king from ingame events...he doesn't look so great. This isn't a defense of Varian so much as a commentary on the somewhat inconsistent approach to his character that's resulted. I haven't read each of the comics, but I'm familiar with the storyline, and this article doesn't assume that you need to have read the out-of-game books or comics in order to follow the argument.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Sheep are like bricks
We're nearing the end of May, and I'm trusting that all of you US players have been having a wonderful long weekend! For those of you who didn't get to go on vacation, or who snuck a laptop into your bags, here are the latest WoW-related comics. Check out the latest from Cru the Dwarf. Dark Legacy Comics: Evade. Experience Points: Perhaps you have recently considered spending some more time outdoors? If not, you can always fake a disconnect. Flintlocke vs the Horde: The guys are on a quest chain. Check out the latest from LFG. NoObz: My Big Brother. NPC: Warcrack Game Thingy? Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators. The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: The Monday Dregs. World of Warcraft, eh?: Lions and Paladins and Bears - Oh My!
Sunday Morning Funnies: They did it with a shirt
This week's set of comics is actually quite topical, from a recent scandal, to world news to proper feline nutrition. There also aren't as many Noblegarden-themed comics as I expected. Cru the Dwarf is making fire. Nifty things are afoot! Experience Points examines the latest content patch. Flintlocke vs the Horde: War Party part 11. GU Comics: It Figures. This is related to a recent story that we covered involving hacked accounts, a GM item, and some very naughty players. Read all about the Martin Fury Scandal, and then tell us what you thought in our polls. GU Comics also hosted a guest strip by Stormhaven, called Inconsistent Know-How. Don't forget to read the explanation underneath! Before I did, I thought it was about the fact that Mustard Dogs seems to never come up. I have stacks and stacks of the Rhino Dogs, but no dice. GU Comics also posted a comic about last week's Noblegarden festivities, Rabbits Everywhere. This is the second-latest LFG comic, but I thought that it stood better on its own than #248. NoObz: Useless. NPC: For the Taurine! I love this one. If you don't know what Taurine is, you don't love your cats enough. Yep, I said it. Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators. The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf has updated, and I have to agree, I Love the Smell of Bacon in the Morning. Here is another from It's a 2v2 Life. Here's a newbie: KUO, with Eyebeam Irony. I couldn't decide which one to list, so check out a few of them, and I'll go with the latest next week.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Look at all the femurs
This week, we have a couple of comics that haven't updated because the authors are otherwise occupied. Namely, these are The Adventures of Disgraph T Dwarf and World of Warcraft, eh?. Enjoy your hiatus, Cadychan, and good luck with your story D (I can call you that, y'see, we're tight or something. Plus, you won't know if I'm really calling you Dan, Disgraph, or "Dwarf", which is slightly better than "You" but not quite as polite as "You there!", and I do like to antagonize Dwarves!). Awkward Zombie: Horse Remorse. I love the comment underneath! Cru the Dwarf is back up and running! Experience Points: Vincent gets a Mammoth, and reminisces about the old days. Check out the latest from Flintlocke vs. the Horde. GU Comics: A Touch Obvious. I highly recommend reading the story underneath it (as I always do, really). Check out the latest from LFG. My only complaint is the absence of the bunny. Usually he can be seen idling in the background, at least! Manic Graffiti: My Money's on an EU Guild. Massive Pwnage: Level Requirements. NoObz: Overcheatage. I think everyone knows how this feels. NPC: Diversion Tactics. My cats do something like this too, although I think they might just be gunning for my chair. Teh Gladiators: The Man's a Manimal.
The Daily Quest: Of Ulduar, the arena, and lame comics
We here at WoW Insider are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Leafshine tracked the first hour of their patch 3.1 experience, and managed to get incredibly lucky with the Fishing daily quest. I Like Bubbles has a strategy up for the very first boss of Patch 3.1: The servers themselves. Now that raiding is back in style, raid leaders might actually start to care if people have good DPS or not. World of Snarkcraft is here to help you learn to read combat logs with WWS. Critical QQ thinks Season 6 will be a much more newbie friendly season, and has some tips for those newbies who want to get started! Lorecrafted brings us a short review of the latest issue of the World of Warcraft comic. To sum up: It's still lame. Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Sunday Morning Funnies: Innovative posterior
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend! I have a nice list to help you kick-start your day. Unfortunately, it seems that Cru the Dwarf will not be updating this week, due to technical difficulties. The featured photo is not of his computer, but it seems he will need a new one before the comic can resume. In the meantime, you can donate, or express your overwhelming sorrow! Dark Legacy Comics: Common Descent. Experience Points: Murlocs vs. Fries. Extra Life: It's all made of ones and zeros. Flintlocke vs the Horde: War Party part 2. Shakes and Fidget: Practice Makes Perfect. Check out the latest from LFG. Wolfslatoxx from NoObz. I love that little robotic dude. NPC: Purple Death Puddles. Teh Gladiators: Double Trouble. The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: Standing Out. World of Warcraft, eh? It's like, totally In the Nick of Time.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Panda Attack!
NoObz is still on holiday, but Ding! has been updated. In other news, Disgraph has a new new site, because the new one liked to take a lot of naps. While everyone loves naps, they are not for websites. I have to say, I am loving the new design, although the text is a bit more difficult to read. Cru the Dwarf celebrates its first year! Dark Legacy Comics: Luck? Experience Points has two new WoW-related comics, and while one involves Twitter, the other is another Dear Diary. On Flintlocke vs the Horde, the battle over the owl and the bunny continues to rage. GU Comics: Burning a Hole and Sorn Motors. LFG: Richard has left for awhile, and his absence is being felt. Haxxed! Noobcow is a Stranger in a Strange Land. Kissybear is feeling a little out of his element too. Good thing he's starting the all new Panda Attack! Massive Pwnage: Achievement. NPC: Motivation. I completely agree with the sentiment expressed here. Alas. Teh Glads: They Are Finally United. The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: Plots are Over Rated. As a bonus, mouseover the image and read the alternative text. World of Warcraft, eh? 'Bulls'-Eye.
