Review: Dragon Prince #1

Written by: Gary M. Kenny, CC2K Comics Editor

Dragon Prince is a story about a teenage boy named Aaron. Aaron has a pretty (clichéd) hard life. His mom is a fantasy writer, his father is dead, he gets picked on by the kids at school, and nobody but his mom likes him. He’s a little down on himself too, until one day he learns that he’s a… If you’re about to say wizard, you would be talking about Harry Potter (minus the mom part), but alas the young boy is a dragon. His father was a dragon that could change shape and one day, he fell in love with a beautiful woman. They got married, they have Aaron, and their lives should end happily ever after. The happiness dies short though, for the evil Magi (wizards and dragon slayers) are on the prowl and kill Aaron’s father. Now, the Magi are on the hunt for Aaron. What can a half teenage / half dragon do?

Written by Witchblade writer Ron Marz, this semi-original four-issue story has some heart but nothing too captivating to entice this reader. It is a fun little read and fans of Marvel Adventures comics will probably love this. It is written for children of all ages, which is terrific. I believe that comics in general should really be aimed at kids, but in this case, I guess I’m not young enough to be spell bound by Dragon Prince.

With Ron Marz on board, I was expecting something more original. Writing children’s books is one of the hardest tasks for most authors. You have to write a compelling story that will not play down the reader. The story shouldn’t contain too many adult themes but if it’s overly kiddy, most children will not take to it. The most important aspect is the moral of the story. In Dragon Prince, I was trying to figure out what the moral really was. Was it that “everyone is special,” or “don’t pick on the quiet kids, they turn into dragons,” or could it be “with great power comes great responsibility?” Maybe Marz needs more than an issue to reveal this comic’s moral. There are plenty of amazing and original children’s books out there and I am surprised that Ron Marz couldn’t come up with something a little more… compelling.

The art by Lee Moder is cartoon-ish and very Saturday morning. It is loud but not scary, it has nice features but it’s not graphic enough to be impressive. Moder drew the definition of a kid friendly comic. I believe Moder deserves merit for this choice of art direction. It was the use of bright colors that really stood out in this issue. He did not have much use for shadows and that actually helped the tone of this comic.

I see Top Cow wanting to address all ranges: teens, girls, and the generic middle aged comic reader. It was a good try; maybe issue #2 will have the missing “oomph” that is needed. I don’t know, but I am looking forward to more of Ron’s Witchblade.

2.5 out of 5.