Dark One Volume 1

by Brandon Sanderson, Jackson Lanzing, and Collin Kelly

Adrian F. Wassel (Editor), Nathan C. Gooden (Artist), and Kurt Michael Russell (Artist)

From #1 New York Times Bestselling, Hugo Award-winning author, Brandon
Sanderson (The Mistborn Trilogy, The Stormlight Archive series), along with
Nathan Gooden, Jackson Lanzing, and Collin Kelly, comes Dark One, the first
book in a series of original graphic novels, from Vault Comics.

Some
worlds are made to be broken.

Paul Tanasin is a young man haunted by
visions of a dark and fantastic world?visions he initially believes are
hallucinations. But when he discovers they are prophecies from Mirandus, a world
in which he’s destined to become a fearsome destroyer, he’ll have to
embrace the fear, rise up as the Dark One, and shatter everything. Dark One
examines the dual roles we often take on in life—the ability to be a
savior as well as a destroyer.

• ISBN10: 1939424453
• ISBN13: 9781939424457
• Publish Date: 18 May 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Vault Comics
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Honestly, it amazes me just how many projects authors like Brandon Sanderson can juggle at any given time. Dark One Vol. 1 is written by Sanderson, adapted by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and illustrated by Nathan C. Gooden and Kurt Michael Russell. All of which begs for our attention.

We've all had dreams of finding our way into other, more fantastical worlds. Yet that dream became a reality for young Paul. Once, he had visions of a strange world. Then, one day he found himself trapped in that very world.

Worse, he is very much not the person he dreamed himself to be. Where he had pictured himself the hero of that fantastical world, in reality he's the villain that makes the people tremble with fear. This begs the question, can he escape this fate, or this world?

I went into Dark One Vol. 1 with sincerely no idea what to expect. I knew that I've loved Brandon Sanderson's writing in the past, and in general I'm willing to give many series that come out of Diamond a try. But that's about the extent of my expectations.

So I was pleased with what I found inside the pages. Paul's story is a fascinating one, with some seriously major twists and turns. I love that it flips all expectations on its head, and in general really has fun running with that concept.

I do wish that the pacing was just a bit slower in the earlier parts. I feel like I didn't have much time to grow attached to Paul's character before the world got flipped on its head. Maybe that's for the best, considering the path that Paul is now heading down. Hard to say.

The artwork is divine, and Nathan C. Gooden and Kurt Michael Russell did a fantastic job of bringing the story, characters, and world to life. It really made the whole experience a bit more memorable for me.

It's the color palette in particular that is really sticking with me, if I'm being honest. It reads as a cross between a desert and a fantastical world, which actually does seem to be fairly on point. Still, it's not a combination you see every day, and that makes it stand out.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next volume of this story. I have a feeling that Dark One Vol. 2 will get darker before all is said and done, and I will do my best to prepare myself accordingly.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Initial Thoughts: I enjoyed the book, but because it's just the first volume, I barely felt as if I were getting into the story and understanding it before it ended. Some characters did seem underdeveloped.