#Fernando Heinz Furukawa

[superheroes-or-whatever]

X-O Manowar: Invictus (2024) #1 art by Fernando Heinz Furukawa

[readtilyoudie]

DRAGON AGE: WRAITHS OF TEVINTER

[graphicpolicy]

Alien Books and Valiant Comics Announce New-Reader Friendly ‘Valiant Beyond’ Universe Spinning Out of Resurgence: Finale

Alien Books and Valiant Comics Announce New-Reader Friendly ‘Valiant Beyond’ Universe Spinning Out of Resurgence: Finale #comics #comicbooks

[cultfaction]

Preview: Black, White & Bloodshot #3 (of 4)

[buckynats]

I love your profile icon. That is all.

Thank you anon!! Issue #2 of the Missing you will always be famous. Behold:

[invinciblerodent]

I made some of my favorite old man Varrics from "Dragon Age: The Missing" transparent so that he can just. hang out on your dash I guess

[Artwork by Álvaro Sarraseca (1-3, issue no.4) and Fernando Heinz Furukawa (4-7, issue no.2), colored by Michael Atiyeh!]

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Missing #2 exclusive preview [source]

Check out this exclusive for Dragon Age The Missing #2 by George Mann and Fernando Heinz Furukawa courtesy of Dark Horse.

[himluv]

DA Review Series: Blue Wraith

<<< Previous Review: Deception

I've been away for a hot minute while my spouse and I survived the flu. But, I've been reading some and watching Absolution on repeat, so I should have a few reviews out in rapid succession.

(Please do keep in mind I wrote some of these reviews whilst ill, so I apologize for any strangeness/errors lolol)

Title: Blue Wraith Author/Illustrator: Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir/ Fernando Heinz Furukawa Year Published: 2020 In-World Year: ~9:40-9:44 Dragon Verdict: While the narrative format isn't my favorite in this one (lots of jumping between groups AND time), there is A LOT that matters to the state of Thedas here. Plus, I mean... It's Fenris!

Blue Wraith picks up right after Deception, with all of our comic book friends finally together. Marius and Tessa have reconnected with Ser Aaron and Vaea, and they now have Calix Pryde, Francesca Invidus, and the Mabari, Autumn, in tow. (We also see flashes of what Fenris has been up to in the past few years, roaming Tevinter to kill blood mages/Venatori.)

This blissful union doesn't last long however. In the group's hunt for yet another insidious magical artifact, Francesca learns that her father may be in great danger from an infamous assassin — The Blue Wraith. So, Autumn and Vaea set off with her to see if they can rescue her father and just maybe recruit the assassin to their side.

Meanwhile, Ser Aaron tries to cheer up Calix, to no avail. The boy is increasingly aware that he's not built for the thrill of battle, as he freezes during a conflict with the Qunari. But, they survive the battle and find the caravan they were chasing. And there's a familiar foe traveling with it — the Orlesian Marquette that Vaea bested in Knight Errant.

Francesca and Vaea meet with Fenris, aka the Blue Wraith, on the road and things aren't quite friendly. Vaea has to lean on her association with Varric to get Fenris to team up with them, on the condition that he can't kill Francesca's father. Which... Doesn't go well.

Turns out her dad is a member of the Venatori and staunchly believes she is an embarrassment. That she should have died in Ventus, instead of her brother. And while Fenris upholds his end of the bargain, Magister Invidus cannot be made to see reason. Francesca ends up killing him to protect her friends, but not before he mentions the "sarcophagus".

This leads our two teams back together, because the Orlesian thief and the artifact our friends have been hunting is the restored sarcophagus that burned lyrium into Fenris's skin. We're shown that only elves can survive the sarcophagus's torture, and its head has a now very familiar crescent shape...

(This is the part where I wildly theorize that the sarcophagus was made by Ghilan'nain as one of her experiments.)

The artifact escapes, heading for Tenebris. Calix leaves the group, but offers to be a source of information in the future. He just can't handle the violence, which is fair. And then our remaining heroes set off to chase down this artifact and the Venatori.

While I'm always happy to spend time in Thedas (and see Fenris!) this volume of the comic series did suffer from trying to weave a few too many threads in too little space. The pacing felt off, and the jumps in time and focus were often jarring. Still, if you're reading the comics and prepping for Veilguard, this one's probably important.

[mrs-gauche]

Ok, I know I’m SUPER late to the party and I also seem to have completely missed the Varric hype train for his new look lol, but nonetheless, I wanted to write down some thoughts and ramblings on volume 2 of The Missing, which somehow ended up getting even longer than my post on volume 1. 💀 I’m sorry, but since we are so content starved these days and DA4 not coming out any time soon, you bet I’ll take my sweet time to read this and try to get as much out of these comics as I can. 😂

But first I want to quickly address the artstyle! So after a minute of looking at the first page in a bit of confusion and a quick research, I realized that each volume of this comic was apparently drawn by a different artist and will therefore of course feature a completely different artstyle. Which is an... odd but interesting choice? lol While I can understand why people might be a little thrown off by the lack of stylistic continuity, it didn’t really bother me and I’m actually curious to see what the next volumes are now gonna look like? :D And given that this volume was drawn by Fernando Heinz Furukawa, who already drew the Knight Errant and Blue Wraith comics, it was nice to see a familiar and imo great artstyle return to DA! 😊

Though I won’t lie, I was a bit baffled after seeing that first panel of Varric, who all of a sudden now looks like he aged another ten years since volume one (which was, like, a few weeks ago storywise?). 😂

If he keeps aging at this rate, he’s gonna look like this by the end of volume 4

(Plot twist, skeleton man from the DA4 concept art was actually Varric all along lmaoo)

But all jokes aside, even different artstyles don’t fully explain why Varric’s design looks so drastically different from volume 1? lol I almost feel like the artist of volume 1 didn’t get BioWare‘s memo on Varric’s new design for DA4 in time, so they just went with a slightly grey DAI Varric? lol

You know what would be funny though, if the artist of the next volume didn’t get that memo either and Varric will magically turn ten years younger again in the next one. lol Can you imagine the fandom outrage? 😂

All that being said though, I looove Varric’s new design! The hair, the scars, the COAT??? 😍 If that’s gonna be his look for DA4, I’m SO here for it!! <333 I also love how the moment silver fox Varric dropped, it seemed like the fandom collectively came out of hibernation for a second to quickly draw a gazillion amazing fanart! lmao Makes me so excited for them to reveal all the new companions or even older versions of returning characters (!!) and to see all the fandom artists go absolutely WILD! lol

Though we can’t forget about Harding, too, who looks just as good imo! <33 Also, no shade towards the artist of volume 1, but I appreciate that Furukawa doesn’t once forget about her freckles or facial scar! <3 :D

Loved that line. I just hope Solas didn’t wore that fancy new outfit from the 2020 teaser when he went though all that shit. lol Reminds me of that comment Solas makes when you bring him to the Fallow Mire and he suggests to burn the clothes after wading through all the muddy swamp. lol (Also, nice attention to detail here on Varric’s boots still soaked in excrements I guess. lol)

I read this line of panels like a commercial voice-over for DA4, like “Look at all these exciting things you can do in the upcoming game, including the food poisoning!” lol So I assume Varric got his new facial scars on this little journey, too? I wonder why they didn’t show us how he got them tho?

Joke all you want about Varric getting old, but you must admit this man has NOT missed workout for the past ten years. lmao That’s what I call IN SHAPE! 

So apparently, the Antaam’s invasion has already come as far as Vyrantium. That’s actually a pretty big deal, considering that Vyrantium (if I remember correctly) is like one of the biggest cities of Tevinter? The last we heard about the Antaam in Tevinter, they were occupying the city of Ventus, which sits at the far northeast of the Imperium.. How long until they start invading beyond the coastline then?

So I take it, the Antaam setting the siege apparently don’t know about people getting in and out of the city through the sewage? 😂 Is this like a Helm’s Deep type situation, where there’s this one “hole” in the city walls that’ll end up being the Antaam’s only way to take over the city? lol

I’m sorry Harding, but I just fail to understand the logic behind this plan. 😂 Ok so.. If it took them, let’s say, three weeks to get to Vyrantium.. and they‘re now under the assumption that Solas got there long before them, how does it make sense then to pretend like your responding to the letter on his behalf NOW?? lmao Like, what am I missing here?

I also love how the Inquisition’s best scout and (second) best spymaster’s first idea is to just casually walk up to the front door and ring the bell when, again, they still don’t know if this whole thing could actually be a friggin trap! 😂 (Oh, and for some reason, they also STILL don’t question the validity of the letter, even after the valet guy says that Lady Crysanthus hasn’t send out invitations for several months?? 😂)

So, in the first volume, Varric and Harding mention that Solas must’ve been in this hideout in the Deep Roads until “very recently” before leaving in a hurry. The letter said to “come at the earliest convenience”. Then Varric and Harding took a few weeks to get to Vyrantium. Now in this volume, it is revealed that Lady Crysanthus must’ve died several months ago. So.. if Solas is several months ahead of them, he could be literally anywhere at this point. lol So much for being “hot on his heels”. lmao

I also had to chuckle at Varric just casually introducing himself, I almost expected this valet dude to be like „No sorry, you look nothing like the Viscount of Kirkwall with all that grey hair and facial scars, clearly you’re not Varric Tethras, Sir.“ lmao

(Btw, maybe it’s just because it’s the same artist, but doesn’t Varric look SO much like Ser Aaron in some of these panels? lol)

So they end up doing what they should’ve been doing from the get go and try to sneak inside the house the “subtle” way. lol 

I must say, Varric and Harding being concerned over a valet with a kitchen knife, while going after a guy who can kill you with a mere thought, is pretty hilarious.

Also, come on Varric, this is literally about the fate of the flippin world, can you please stay focused for more than five minutes. lmao

GASP!! *pretends to be shocked* (Ok tbh, I kinda saw this coming the moment this valet guy said the Lady hadn‘t send letters for months. Also, what the heck is happening in those wall paintings in the background? Some sort of Tevinter orgy? lol)

I also love how, judging by how much dust this room had already collected, apparently Lord Crysanthus‘ reaction to the death of his beloved wife was to just throw a sheet over her petrified corpse and call it a day. lol

Well, I guess this confirms that they *are* actually on Solas‘ tracks then, which means that the room in the Deep Roads from the first volume must have legitimately been his hideout then, too (unless this is still all just a trap or a setup and it also still doesn’t outrule the possibility that the invitation letter was placed there on purpose). Or what if there’s now just another guy walking around turning people into stone? 😂 I was waiting for another Sherlock moment of Varric going “Yep, he was definitely here.. I can still smell his odour from walking through the sewage”. lmao Idk, but my gut still tells me there’s something fishy about this whole situation. lol

Which is also why I would probably shake my head in disbelief at Varric and Harding being so open about their mission in the next scene if it weren’t for the fact that we already know Teia and Viago well enough at this point (from Tevinter Nights/Deception/short stories) to know that they can be trusted? lol

Ngl, my first thought upon seeing this panel was “Wow, so I guess everybody’s hot now” lmao

Teia and Viago! <333 And with this, we can cross out another space on our speculation bingo card for this comic, next to “Grey Warden cameo” by Evka and Antoine in volume 1 and maybe also next to “Irelin and Strife cameo” if the “Veil Jumpers” mentioned in the blurb of volume 3 turn out to be them! lol So even if Teia and Viago’s appearance was anticipated and not much of a surprise to me, I was still super thrilled to see them again!

No Varric, but judging by the fandom’s reaction to this volume, it seems like you can make women (and men) at least faint by the way you look now. lol

So Teia and Viago were also ordered to assassinate this Lady. It would’ve been very interesting to know who their contractor was? Who else would want to see this Lady Crysanthus dead? The Lucerni maybe, trying to act against Venatori influence without directly getting involved? lol And with Solas now “taking their contract”, do the Crows have a reason to go after him now, too?

Though I admit, as much as I love seeing them again, I have to say it’s a bit odd to me how *two* of the Talons, the highest ranking Crows are walking around doing business in Tevinter, while Antiva is probably still heavely under attack by the Antaam…? *nervous laughter*

Well, that’s just rude, Varric. 😂 And thank you for introducing yourself Harding, but to me you’ll always be Borte <3 (that’s how they translated her name in the German version lol). And speaking of names, “Dangerous fugitive Nr 1″ is what I’m calling Solas from now on. lol

(Also, can I just say that every single panel of Teia in this volume made me pause and go “DAYUM” lmao ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

So Lady Crysanthus was apparently involved in the Venatori’s schemes, which again, begs the question if Solas is now trying to kill two birds with one stone again, much like he did in Trespasser and is now maybe intentionally leading Varric and Harding all this way/keeping the Inquisition distracted by having them take care of the Venatori? Maybe this is all part of a plan to get rid of the Venatori entirely? We know they were already meddling with red lyrium a lot and in Tevinter Nights, Solas had already prevented them from further using the idol.

So the Venatori are “planning a possible move against the Imperium”… What does that mean exactly? Are they trying to take over the Magisterium? What’s their end goal here? How does all this relate to their schemes in Tevinter Nights?

(Also, again, how is it that we are thoroughly investigating *this* wall full of data now but for some reason didn’t look more into these gazillion papers on the walls in Solas’ flippin hideout?? 😂) ANYWAY.

Aaaand there we finally have the link to the Arlathan Forest that was already mentioned in the blurb for volume 3! “Only a few Dalish clans living there”. Hmm.. “Magic has run wild for the last 1000 years”. Like all that really bizarre stuff that happened in the “Ruins of Reality” short story from 2020. 👀 I’m so curious to see how all this relates to the state of the Veil in this place and the ancient elves and what those “Veil Jumpers” are capable of. Once again, all this seems to neatly line up with the factions seen in the 2020 DA short stories/concept art/teaser trailer.

And there is our next MacGuffin I mean Crucious Stone, also mentioned in the blurb for volume 3, but at least it’s nice to have a picture now. lol So it’s an ancient elven artifact and its shape kinda reminds me of a sarcophagus? Which is interesting, since there was another ancient elven sarcophagus in the Blue Wraith comics!

“Could bring the Imperium to its knees”. Ok wow, alright. So this, along with the red lyrium idol, which could “threaten all creation”, seems like a very destructive pair of artifacts… Solas is really going around snatching the Venatori’s deadly toys out of their hands, like a parent scolding their naughty little clueless mage lords for playing with the atomic bombs. lol

Gosh, Harding looks so mischievous in this panel. 😂 Ever since I’ve seen people suspecting her to be a secret agent of Fen’Harel, I can’t help but chuckle every time she does something that could be interpreted as remotely suspicious. lol

LMAO Nothing to add here, that’s just a brilliant panel. 

I also love how these guys have met like five minutes ago and are already getting along so great, like they’ve been working together for years. lol

I told you Varric hasn’t missed workout day once. lmao That has to be the most unique finishing move I’ve ever seen. lol “Crushed by statue of petrified wife” is a cause of death you don’t hear about very often. lmao

I’m pretty sure this cat is POSSESSED.

Ok, but why would the Crows be so invested in the Venatori’s machinations against the Imperium, when again, they currently have the Antaam invading their own country? lol Shouldn’t they be more concerned about the Antaam attacking Antiva right now than to worry about whatever happens to Tevinter? 😂 Well, I guess it’s valuable information either way.

We’re then getting another poor attempt by the Venatori at stalking Varric and Harding, which they seem to get over pretty quickly though. lol

“Well, that just happened. Some assassin just ran away after probably watching you this entire time I guess but whatever, go off then, have a nice day <3″ 😂

And just like at the end of volume 1, we are now leaving our newly made friends for our next stop, Arlathan Forest, to hopefully make more new allies!

So I would assume that the Venatori already knew about what happened to Lady What’s-her-name-again for several months, which again, points to them being now after Varric and Harding to get closer to Solas maybe? Though I have to say, the Venatori are pretty bad at staying undetected lol (and I’m still so confused about them leaving the X pattern - their flippin *signature* - on that Deepstalker in the first volume.. like, do they want Varric and Harding to know that they’re after them? 😂)

Oh and lastly, we get this awesome cover preview of volume 3!

Tbh, I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at here, but that thing looks like an upside down.. mirror.. gate.. something? 😂 Which is especially intriguing to me, since only a few weeks ago, I posted this neat little theory. 👀 I’m definitely gonna reread the “Ruins of Reality” short story again in preparation for volume 3 and I’m so excited to see what those “Veil Jumpers” actually are/what the Arlathan Forest looks like and what this Crucious Stone does! Oh, and I’m also curious to see what the artstyle of volume 3 is gonna look like!

So yeah, a lot to look forward to, I’m still having a great time reading this (although I figured I probably shouldn’t question the logic/plot convenience of certain things too much lol), but that’s just me, what do you guys think? :D

[autopotion]

I saw the preview for the new DA comic and oh my god. The art style sucks so bad. I miss Fernando Heinz Furukawa

[goddamnwebcomics]

Ranking Every Spinnerette Artist From Worst to Best

Being an artist is hard, especially when you are paid to draw something. It's not your own passion project, it's something you're doing solely for the cash.

If there's one small, miniscule compliment I can give to Kraw, is that he is definitely responsible for making a lot of people richer. However, in the past decade or so we don't even know WHO he's made richer due to lack of credit he has given to people. There are some names we know. So be prepared for a ranking that might be inaccurate as soon as it comes out.

I will preface this by saying I am not a professional art critic, so I will be purely ranking these art styles based on how they treat the established character designs and how professional, for lack of a better term, they are to the eyes.

Also for this ranking I am only counting existing Issue artists, not artists for book exclusive issues, spinoffs or porn comics.

7. Catfish Rustler

I have to give big congrats to the most recent Spinny Arcs, Spinnerette has never looked more ass than this.

I know it is a bit mean, the colouring is still on point but also it's been established that sometimes different artists colour the work of other artists in order to create some illusion of consistency in Spinnerette, but Catfish Rustler did an absolutely horrible job. Literally the first two expressions we see them draw are these lobotomic faces. The artist kinda improves afterwards. Like the faces never get THIS bad again but also, I mean look at this shot of Catfish.

The Black Rustler chapter is better especially when it comes to the main villain, but them looking good is more kudos to the colourist than the artist. And then this comic suddenly gives you the most racist character design since the Redesigned Sahira (more on that later)

Yeah, the current Spinny chapter is drawn by someone else in this list, so it's easy to assume that this artist will likely never be brought back.

6. Franco Viglino

Speaking of someone who was never brought back, here is Franco Viglino who has only drawn ONE issue of Spinnerette, the one with Delta. And yeah I do legit wonder if this chapter is why Kraw is trying to stick to more consistent colourists, because the colours and pretty much everything was ass. What's with Spinnerette having lips out of nowhere and her having shorter hair than usual? I will give them credit for being better at drawing the Canadian Furries better than most non-Walter Gomez artists but that's about it. Rest of Franco's style is really unfitting and sloppy and I am not surprised that it was NEVER brought back. Yes, it might fit the dream sequence style of this comic, but this was after the most serious Spinny arc ever written, like what the fuck is their excuse???

5. Fernando Heinz Furukawa

Fernando was the first "Other" Spinnerette artist and holy fuck can you ever tell his artstyle does not fit this comic at ALL? Yes, it's easily the most detailed art style, and would be better in just about any other comic. But when this comic was still trying to stick to its parody roots, a super serious comic where the only "joke" is "guy grows boobs" is not what it needs. Not to mention this comic had zero effect on Heather and Espinn's later relationship so it might as well have never happened. But anyways back to Fernando's style, it fits the next chapter better where Universe tries to help a nazi and confederate general to make clone babies because of the dark humour of the story. But after that, Fernando was never brought back...for the main comic that is.

In actuality Fernando is the artist who associated with Spinnerette the longest, as they're also responsible for drawing the White Heron spinoff comic that only recently concluded. While their style is much more fitting for it, he still kinda sucks when it comes to drawing cartoony expressions, especially when it comes to that one fat guy.

4. "Grey"

"Grey" established themselves as the In-House Spinny Artist during "The Hostess Returns" arc. Best way I could describe "Grey"'s artstyle is...awkward. If I didn't know "Grey"'s name from their signature in some cover arts of Spinny Issues, I would nickname them the "Rival Redemption Artist" because all of their stories involve one of Spinny's former rivals redeeming themselves. Their art is passable in the Hostess Returns, but anytime they draw Espinn emoting, the end result is really stupid.

That being said, "Grey" is also responsible for returning Sahira back to her original design. So they helped one blog favourite return back to normal in exchange of fucking up another. However this same artist is also responsible for drawing the hottest Spinny character, Bloodcrow. So, uh, there's that I guess. Either way it seems Dewhoir is back to drawing Spinny as the current issue seems to be drawn by them. How do I know? If every page has lots of white spaces and every character looks more plastic than usual, then you know it's them.

3. "Dewhoir" / P.C. Dimbleby

Dewhoir was the third in-house artist and the first artist to not receive a proper credit. You know with all the worries about "Tumblr artists" being proven nonsensical reactionary bullshit, we didn't know just how good we had it with the artist formerly known as P.C. Dimbleby. Yes every character gained a shitton of freckles and red noses and most of their work is indistinguishable from Rocio Zucchi, but they were still PROFESSIONAL and CONSISTENT. The one issue I have with their work is the elephant in the room, the Redesigned Sahira.

To this day, Redesigned Sahira is the topic of heated discussion that sets coffee tables on fire, if anybody actually gave a shit. I personally still think it's the fault of Dewhoir themselves because no other artist would draw her like that. They also somehow nerfed Tiger's muscles, but I don't think anyone has actually drawn Tiger with massive muscles outside of Walter Gomez so, that one isn't as important. Honestly, I miss Dewhour but I do not miss their redesign of Sahira. Dimbleby's final issue for this comic was actually the Vacation issue, but I could not tell it was them because the colour was clearly done by someone else...for the other half of the comic anyway. And one of their final decisions was making Greta Gravity more tanned because unlike Kraw they remembered that Greta was supposed to be Brazilian, oh never change.

2. Rocio Zucchi

Now we're getting to the first Spinny artist whose art I actually consider great. But Rocio did have interesting case of her art being better when it was coloured. I mean, Colonel Glass was probably the most serious Spinnerette ever got, and combined with really good colouring they could produce some really good art, professional looking stellar work. When it came to their more greyscale arcs, it was more awkward and clearly not Walter Gomez. Not to mention their chibi faces were more ugly.

Yeah, comedy wasn't exactly Rocio's strong suite. But I still think that their art was better for serious arcs than Fernando's, because they did hit that right strife of being faithful to the original designs, being able to have characters emote naturally and also not take the setting of this comic that seriously. Rocio's biggest claim to fame is definitely not fucking up any character designs, something all the artists that would follow her failed at.

1. Walter Gomez / Chochi

Yes, is Spinnerette Spinnerette without Walter Gomez? In my opinion, Monochrome Walter Gomez is the definitive Spinnerette artstyle. Walter was the ORIGINAL In-House Artist. The reason Spinnerette characters look the way we expect them to look is because of him. Yes, it was clear that Kraw later only brought Walter back to draw the Canadian Furries, but Walter drew EVERYONE well. Walter's not one of those people who clearly know how to draw furries and suck at drawing humans. Walter is great at both!

There are definitely flaws in Walter's style too. He is the artist of the WereQuakko arc and at first I couldn't believe it because the colouring looks...off. And his version of Colonel Glass looks goofy as shit.

But still, can you really blame Walter for getting out while he did? And, he should definitely try buying the rights to Canadian Superfucks at this point. I didn't rank the artist for those comics because of "No Spinoffs" rule, but that artist absolutely fucking RUINED Miranda and London. I don't know what's wrong with the 2016 me for saying Miranda and London had bad designs.

But yes, Walter is the definition of "Sometimes the one who does it first does it best"

[superheroes-or-whatever]

X-O Manowar: Invictus (2024) #3 art by Fernando Heinz Furukawa & Pablo Rey

[readtilyoudie]

DRAGON AGE: WRAITHS OF TEVINTER

[graphicpolicy]

Preview: Black, White & Bloodshot #3 (of 4)

Black, White & Bloodshot #3 preview. Featuring THREE all-new stories told in stark black, white and red tones! #comics #comicbooks

[invinciblerodent]

have a couple transparent Dorians as pictured in "Dragon Age: Deception"- he's having a little drink on your dash❤️

[Artwork by Fernando Heinz Furukawa, colored by Michael Atiyeh]

Since I couldn't remove the speech bubble without redrawing a significant portion of the image, here's and alternate version with it blanked out:

[Transparent Varric]

[felassan]

Thoughts/wonderings on Dragon Age: The Missing #2, under a cut due to spoilers for The Missing (not just #2) and for the recent leaks:

Overall I think issue 2 was more interesting and more exciting than issue 1. I don't mean this in a bad way about issue 1; it's just that issue 1 had a lot of catching up to do ('here's what's happened since you were last in Thedas') and setup both for Varric&Harding (they should open a detective agency together)'s current quest and for future issues in this series. that was quite a lot of setup and the comic issues only have a few pages. now in Issue 2, the story is properly starting off and the plot thickens etc.

continuing the theme of issue 1 (which is: Varric Is Having A Very Bad And Terrible Time), this issue opens with Varric groaning and cursing. it really is like this huh.. "shit", he says, while.. stepping in shit.. it's eponymous. eponymous suffering.

change in art style and artist from issue 1. if memory serves, Fernando Heinz Furukawa is the artist who worked on some previous DA comics such as Dark Fortress and Blue Wraith. here's Varric portrayed by Fernando in Knight Errant:

and here's Varric now in The Missing #2

it's day and night! he looks Older and more tired, and also maybe redesigned (outfit, scar etc). if this comic is set around 9:52 or shortly beforehand, he's over 50 years old now since he was born in 9:1. according to this tweet of Fernando's, it wasn't Fernando who did a redesign, BioWare had sent along the reference for Varric for this comic. are we looking at Varric's DA:D Era (Dad Era..) Redesign? is this how he'll look in DA:D? if so why did he look the same as usual in issue 1 - was it a recent decision of BioWare's that happened after issue 1 had been illustrated but before 2 was drawn? or is it just differing art styles between issues - I notice that each of the 4 issues of this comic has a different artist. it will be someone else again in issue 3, so I'll guess we'll find out based on what he looks like in issue 3 :) also, a different artist for each issue is an interesting choice - is it to showcase as many different peoples' talents as possible?

We don't see much of Vyrantium in this issue but from what we do see I think it looks cool

Harding's hair is definitely red/orange here. in one leak the person wrote that there was a rogue lady dwarf party member. in another the person implied via emoji codes (hh) that one of the companions that they saw is a lady with red hair. with these in mind plus Harding's presence and appearance in this DA:D lead-in comic, I wanna speculate that Harding is a companion in DA:D. if Harding is and Varric isn't, I'd be down with that! I'd rather he isn't a companion again, and this setup would provide a lady dwarf companion, an ascended extra (see: Cole, Merrill etc), and the familiar returning face/Inquisition representative on the team without filling up a slot with someone who has already had a turn at being a companion. maybe, like Charter says in issue 1, Varric builds the team, but instead of joining it in person himself, it's Harding who joins the DA:D roster and he's around doing some stuff in the background like giving quests or advising or something. Varnick Fury...

last time we checked in on the Qunari invasion of Tevinter, they had invaded Neromenian (Dark Fortress). before that they invaded Carastes (Blue Wraith) and Ventus/Qarinus (Deception). now the Antaam have progressed towards Vyrantium and are laying siege to it. this shows the passage of time between our looks at Thedas and that that the world isn't static, and it keeps building the backdrop in Tevinter of the Antaam invasion as a potential background plotpoint for DA:D (reminds me of the mage-templar war in the background of DA:I). the Tevinters don't seem to be having much luck in this war, losing city after city to the Antaam.

looking at this progress map below, I'm reminded of this line from Dread Wolf Take You in Tevinter Nights: "I fear everything east of Vyrantium will be under their control inside a year, and northern Antiva as well", said by the Mortalitasi at the meeting Charter attended. we're seeing this come to pass now, and if it roughly followed that projected timescale it gives us a bit of insight into when Charter's meeting with Solas in TN took place relative to the effective prologue to DA:D (this comic). if the Antaam keep this up, I guess the next settlement is Marnas Pell and then onto Asariel. Minrathous has famously never fallen to siege or invasion. I guess you could still effectively choke a country by capturing all of its other cities besides the main one though. maybe the plan is to take the rest and Minrathous would be the last hold out? its food supplies in the Catacombs will only last a year

"You think Solas would have crawled through a city's worth of shit to get here?" felt like a bookend to Varric's comment in the previous issue, "It fits, though. A refuge in the ass end of nowhere is exactly Solas’s style". at this point varric sounds like he's talking about an ex who jilted him lmao. and probably not, Varric, he's probably fast-travelling around as it suits him via the eluvian network. I thought the highlighting of sense of timing, how long it took them to get there, how rough the road there was and the obstacles they went through to reach their destination was interesting. maybe it's a precursor (for the sake of creating contrast) to the possible upcoming 'travelling around via eluvians' stuff from the recent leak? to the possible plotpoint of 'here's how the Inquisition remnants have eluvian access now'? it's taken them weeks to walk from Marnas Pell to Vyrantium, which gives a sense of the scale of Thedas and emphasizes travel time outside of in-game 'fast travel' mechanics. Solas is basically leading them on a wild goose chase in this comic series all over Tevinter. given his effective teleportation relative to their having to walk for weeks to get between cities, he has them at a massive disadvantage.

new locations in the lore: Armael Hills, Wava River/Wava River crossing. given that they have travelled from Marnas Pell to Vyrantium, these must be places in Tevinter.

"food poisoning" ye sure okay bud. at the end of issue 1, Varric was after a stiff drink. this panel is a smart bit of continuity from that, and also, BioWare must have fully known what they were doing with this panel lmao.. on a serious note though I hope Varric is doing okay like, and this was just a hangover after a celebration like he says, rather than part of his recent tired/sad/kinda strugglin vibe. otherwise coupled with his older tireder more haggard look it reminds me a bit of Ser Aaron which is sad to think about :( (RIP)

lmao the valet was really like "You? The noble famous Viscount of Kirkwall? but you're so scrungly, stinky and oldlooking.. No. It can't be so. Bye"

if Lady Crysanthus has been 'indisposed' for months it means Solas was here months ago. that's confirmed when they mention about how the bedroom hasn't been used in months. they're so many steps behind him and would continue to be - the walking distance between Vyrantium and Arlathan Forest is even further than that between Marnas Pell and Vyrantium.

I enjoyed how their cover story was "Hi I'm Varric", they walked straight up to the front door, showed themselves and told him who they were, and then broke in talking about how they're supposed to be being subtle lmao. (also that setup for the house going up in flames at the end and condemning the lady's husband to death so dramatically, LOL subtle indeed. I guess it was them being ironic). so knocking on the door was Harding's suggested approach, Varric had initially suggested breaking in and they decided to try Harding's way first. that's nice, it contrasts them as characters and carries on that idea from their discussion in issue 1 about their two different suggested ways for approaching/dealing with stuff/Solas if they found him

so about Varric's redesign, he has speed stripes now/salt and pepper hair, and where/when did he get that big serious scar? also would you take Varric's hand and trust him, even though he's like, a pathological liar? after that panel i would ok

their dynamic is cute

Tevinter architecture is cool (red glass windows) and I like those lil Tevinter wind chime looking things. inside the bedroom there are serpents coiling around the bed posts.

Harding was right after all, and had the smarts to check under the sheet. she looks shook when they discover Crysanthus. and no wonder, of course the only person they know who can turn people to stone is Solas. from the lady's outstretched 'Stop!' arm and scared facial expression, it doesn't look like she and Solas were having a pleasant conversation when he did this.

that wall mural... lmao. the dog looks kind of like a mabari, which I guess I could see since they originated in Tevinter. my random obscure headcanon is that this ~Decadence~ mural is supposed to, by in-universe artists, depict the golden age of the Imperium when it ruled most of Thedas and before the mabari defected to the 'barbarians' of the south hh

shoutout again to Harding's cool looking cape

Teia and Viago!!!! as the front cover prophecy foretold!! man we knew it was coming but i still went OOOOOO at them appearing. their entrance and they in general was/are so cool. they look amazing!!

wing-like motif on their outfits, fitting for Crows :) hh, Harding knows immediately that they are Crows. also "subtle".. :)

lmao he's so done

I enjoyed the banter back and forth at this point, it was fun :)

Harding's freckles 🥺

The question is, who put out this contract on Crysanthus to the Crows and why? it must have been a pretty big deal (the person who took out the contract and/or the reason for taking it out), otherwise what are two Talons from two different Houses doing on a job in Tevinter when the Antaam is currently invading Antiva and we know from TN that the Crows including Teia and Viago (Eight Little Talons) were going to be taking the defense of Antiva seriously?

So the Inquisition remnants are still basically "The Inquisition" when it comes to name-dropping, and Varric 'my cover is hi I'm Varric also I'm gonna break in now' Tethras has no qualms about telling a pair of Crows they've just met that they're working with the Inquisition. whereas he omits mentioning Solas specifically by name. I guess "Inquisition" is an easier sell than "The Dread Wolf"

also interesting, why are the Crows concerned about a Tevinter mage possibly working with the Venatori, or about the Venatori planning a possible concerted move against the Imperium, or about stopping that? I'm reminded of TN where we learned that a mysterious patron had contracted the Crows to kill a bunch of prominent Venatori (Lucanis' story). some of the Venatori were scared about that, particularly of the aforementioned notorious Crow, "The Demon", who had been doing a lot of these contracts. the Venatori said that they wouldn't cower to foreign mercs like the Crows. and it was implied that the anonymous hirer was elfy, as they gave Lucanis assistance/info about a magic secret passage inside a statue of a vhenadahl, the passage of which was lit with veilfire and guarded by an elf, Athima, who was sent by their patron. then Lucanis died or "died" and we saw his wake, which Teia and Viago were at. and now here are Teia and Viago in Tevinter on a contract job to take out yet another Venatori/Venatori collaborator. are they continuing where Lucanis left off? Crows, the Venatori, and Solas... curiouser and curiouser

the fight scenes in this comic were cool. Varric at one point doesn't even draw Bianca, he just socks someone in the face like POW

Viago with his poisoned rapier/poisons again, ice cold but also like, what a nerd

when the secret door opens Harding is like > :) hhh

when the valet says "You've killed us all just by being here", is it Lady Crysanthus' husband that he's thinking about or someone else? the Venatori? the person who turned the lady to stone?

so Lady Crysanthus was a spymaster who had records and notes on many known Venatori agents, as well as maps and papers relating to their plans to get a magical artifact/magical weapon called the Crucious Stone out of Arlathan Forest. she was also helping Venatori operate in Tevinter. given this, why would she invite Solas to come and talk to her? their mutual interest in the Stone? was the invitation even for Solas, or did he or whoever was using the room in the Deep Roads get it from the person it was actually supposed to be for after he/they got wind of this scheme?

the Stone can bring the Imperium to its knees. that would explain why the Venatori, who are apparently plotting a move against the Imperium (to.. make it great again? I guess they have to take it down or take it over before they can make it great again?), would want it. Solas isn't a fan of the Imperium - is he interested in this Stone because he'd also like to impact Tevinter, or because he needs to use the Stone's powers for his plans relating to the Veil or similar? (I'd think more the latter than the former) Any relation to, or how does it tie in to, the Orb or the idol?

Also I wonder about the specifics of the stone's powers. to bring the whole Imperium to its knees.. we must be talking blood magic? I'd guess? plus some Veil wibbly-wobbly Fadey stuff too, if the last page of the comic is anything to go by. also, the shape of the stone reminds me of the sarcophagus from Dark Fortress. that artifact was of unknown origin but built to fit an elf and there were some possibly elfy aspects to its design..

"Monologue about it, who knows?" // "Is this a contract or an old flame?" // "Well..." killed me hhhh

Viago asking the Important Questions

Stone Fist

Teia is badass

nice group takedown, again a party with majority dwarves and elves :)

Varric's one liner while the guy stabbed through the wrist crushed by a broken statue of his beloved departed wife while he burns to death is. stone cold.

this time around there's a reason why they didn't gather up a bunch of papers/books from the Secret Den, it was going up in flames and they had to escape. makes sense. I still wonder why they didn't take those books with them from the Deep Roads room in issue 1 hh.

in the panel where they are back outside on the streets of Vyrantium, the column of smoke from the burning house can be seen in the background going up into the sky, and off to the right in green is the figure that Teia clocks in the next panels.

Cat

presumably the possible Venatori assassin is the Venatori we saw tailing Varric&Harding at the end of issue 1.

Varric and Harding leave Teia and Viago on a positive note which is nice. I hope we meet them for a bit in DA:D :)

also since it was confirmed that the characters in this comic are Teia and Viago, I think again about the 'this comic is introducing us/re-introducing us to various factions/groups who are players on the chess-board or otherwise of note in DA:D' idea. Issue 1 had Wardens, 2 the Crows, 3 looks to be the Veil Jumpers. also since it was Teia and Viago, I'm also once again wondering if the two Veil Jumpers will be Strife and Irelin, who we know are in a Dalish clan that lives in/near Arlathan Forest. (also I enjoyed the confirmation in this comic that a few/multiple Dalish clans live in Arlathan Forest. those clans, like Morlyn, sound super interesting due to the magical/ancient nature of the Forest)

About the last page of the comic, the tree branches give an elfy vibe, and that structure in the distance being upside down gives a Fadey and/or Arlathan Forest's current time/space topsyturvyness vibe. could the archway in the structure be an eluvian? is this how they get eluvian travel? is this what's in the heart of Arlathan Forest, or is it somewhere in there where the Veil is thin and the time/space reality warping has influenced things? did Dalish elves build those walkways?

the synopsis for Issue 3 is as follows:

Following their adventure in Vyrantium, Varric, and Harding travel to Arlathan Forest in search of the crucious stone. When the duo finds themselves face-to-face with a pair of Veil Jumpers, they decide to team up. Finding what they seek will have them up against puzzling obstacles, and their success could depend on the allies they can gather.

this is the issue in this comic that I'm most excited about. I'm so hyped to meet the Veil Jumpers AAAAAA!! [cat.yodeling.png]