Magic: the Gathering is not just a card game. Inside of the cardboard rectangles is a rich and deep story that spans multiple planes and peoples. Every block of the set that is released has a corresponding back story that gives flavor to the cards and allows Magic to travel to new and exciting, or old and familiar locales. Novels about these settings have been the mainstay of most of the creative work that has been published about Magic in the past, but that is changing. In 2008, Wizards of the Coast started a web comic based on the powerful new Planeswalker cards released in Lorwyn block.



The series of webcomics started with "The Hunter and the Veil", featuring the Green Planeswalker Garruk Wildspeaker and the Black Planeswalker Liliana Vess, and moved forward with new arcs, touching upon the stories and histories of each Planeswalker (besides Sorin Markov and Nissa Revane, which are the newest Planeswalkers from Zendikar block). Early in 2010, Wizards published all of these comics in a full-color glossy trade paperback. Path of the Planeswalker is the result.

As a person who had read all the comics before getting my hands on the book, I was a little unimpressed with the concept. You do not get any new content with the book (now that the last bit of "Awakenings" has been published on the site). Add all of that to my skepticism concerning how well the book would be constructed, and I was pretty cynical about the book. Getting my hands on the final copy has all but wiped those concerns off the map.

For $14.95 US, you get a nice, thick-bound graphic novel that does not skimp on quality. The paper is some of the best I have seen in a release this size, thick and glossy with excellent color depth and contrast. If anything is a problem at all with the book itself, it is the cover. A little too thin, but not very pliable, the front and back covers crease easily. Still, if you take care of the book (and I'll be honest, I'm tough as hell on books) then it will treat you just fine.

The content has been rearranged in chronological order, and the overarching storyline of Jace and Chandra and their exploits that lead them to Zendikar is interrupted by stories of the other Planeswalkers. These interruptions give a strength to characters that do not carry much weight straight out of the sets of cards. We see Elspeth and her decision to leave Bant after the Shards of Alara merge. We watch Sarkhan Vol's torture and descent into madness at the hands of Nicol Bolas. We observe Garruk as he battles a magical sickness wrought on him by Lilliana Vess, and we see Lilliana gain untold power and destroy the demon that holds her soul as payment for eternal beauty. Each story is well written, and striking on the page. If I have any problems with the short stories in the book, it is that there are still loose ends that have not been wrapped up. Presumably, some of these stories are developed and possibly concluded in the Magic: the Gathering novels Agents of Artifice, Alara Unbroken, and The Purifying Fire.

Another thing of note - some of the comics themselves have been re-lettered, and the contrast has been adjusted. This is especially true for some of the earlier comics. Looking at "The Hunter and the Veil" on the website makes the set of three comics seem almost shabby in comparison to their printed versions. The colors are more vibrant and the images are more alive.

Magic: the Gathering is a very visual game. For all the rules text and tense battles, there are pieces of beautiful artwork on each card. It is for this reason that I think that a comic book of Magic: the Gathering really shines. The cards and their art breathe life into what would otherwise be plain, boring rules text. A comic also tells its story in images, and I think this is why Path of the Planeswalker left more of an impression on me than any of the Magic: the Gathering novels I have ever read. It is contextual, it gives background on the storyline that we only see smatterings of on the actual cards, and far and away, the most important point is that it looks good.

For those Magic players out there that love a good story, for comics fans that also play Magic, and for anyone that would prefer reading comics out of a book instead of on a screen, Path of the Planeswalker is a stellar opening for the collected online comics that Wizard's creative team has developed. The book looks great, reads well, and is a great addition to the Magic fan's bookshelf.

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