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Gerrard's Quest (Magic: The Gathering)
Garrard and the crew of the Weatherlight must brave the awesome power of the battleship Predator and the dark forces of Volrath, ruler of the plane of Rath, to rescue the kidnapped captain of the Weatherlight from his abductors. Original.
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
112 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 30, 2020
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did.
This is a story I've been wanting to read for over 20 years, ever since I first starting reading about Gerrard of the Weatherlight in the flavor text of vintage Magic: the Gathering cards.
Gerrard's Quest is a graphic novel that presents the story of the early Weatherlight saga in visual form. The story begins with our protagonist Gerrard Capashen, reluctantly returning to the multiverse-traveling skyship Weatherlight to rescue Captain Sisay from Volrath's Stronghold. This isn't immediately clear, even though it should be.
It proceeds to enter a flashback which explains the events that had caused Gerrard to leave the crew in the first place—except nobody tells the reader that this is a flashback. I found myself flipping back and forth between the first 15 pages or so for longer than I care to remember, cross-referencing information and trying to figure out why characters who were supposedly dead or kidnapped were appearing in frames where they shouldn't be. When I understood that the entire incongruous segment was a several-years flashback, the segment made 100% more sense, and I was able to start over from the top and really enjoy it. This is important, because the book is going to use that flashback technique at least 4 more times, and it will never warn you. On the bright side, that means there don't seem to be any huge continuity errors; if you think you see one, just assume it's a flashback and then back up until the scenery changes.
The art was unique, to say the least. The artist has a pretty dramatic style, with jagged elongated action poses and erratic panel framing. It was jarring at first, but I think it's aged well in the sense that a cult art film ages well: it's beautiful for all the risks it took and all the way it stood out. If I have any qualms with the art, it would be regarding the consistency in the characters' faces. Many times, several characters seemed to have the exact same face as each other, just with different coloration, hair, or effects. Other times, it seemed as though they couldn't even draw a single character's face consistently between one frame and the next. This is fine, because I had no trouble telling them apart, but it gives the work a sort of sloppy and unfinished feel.
The plot itself, aside from the frantic back-and-forth flashbacks, felt pretty rushed. There are many vignettes that I had picked up on through the cultural osmosis of playing the card game and reading its novels over the last 20+ years. Many of these vignettes were presented in the book, but often only in one or two pages before being dismissed in the rush to get to the end of the story. I often got a shallow feeling when an important character arc would be resolved suddenly without any real explanation, and with a strong sense that the characters had experienced and understood something complex and poignant that unfortunately never actually made it to the page.
The worst part, in my opinion, was the Stronghold. Every scene felt like the writers were trying to cram as many cards from the Stronghold card expansion into one volume before they ran out of pages. It felt like an awkward guided tour with a sense of, "Okay, here's the furnace of Rath, and here are the death pits. Here are the Slivers—you beat them by separating them, of course. Now, onto the Dream Halls!" I can't help but wonder how much more epic the story would have been if they had stopped for even a few moments to explore these segments further.
I have to admit that the cards instilled a greater sense of awe, wonder, and curiosity in me than this book managed to do. Even the quotes were almost embarrassingly quirky, filled with campy monologues about destiny, and edgy one-liners from Gerrard himself. A savvy reader may notice that many of these quotes seem to be ripped directly from the flavor text of cards, although some of them were reworded just a bit to fit with the framing of the dialogue.
Gerrard's Quest appears to be a collection of four independent volumes of the Weatherlight story as published by Dark Horse. However, upon reaching the end, I found that the omnibus is incomplete. The story halts abruptly with our hero on his way to confront his one true nemesis and then... nothing. I was expecting to see a sequel omnibus or additional volumes, but Gerrard's Quest ends here. For good.
This book is a treasure. Meeting my childhood heroes again in in print was fulfilling to say the least, and getting to see all the action and environments in art and full color is an experience any old school Magic enthusiast would be lucky to have. As a collector and as a fan of Gerrard himself, I'm beyond thrilled to have my own copy of this book. The story may leave something to be desired, but a good copy of the book is a relic of classic '90s Magic: the Gathering, lost to time. I'll display it proudly on my bookshelf or next to my cards, and hope to pull it out for another quick flip-through on a rainy day.
This is a story I've been wanting to read for over 20 years, ever since I first starting reading about Gerrard of the Weatherlight in the flavor text of vintage Magic: the Gathering cards.
Gerrard's Quest is a graphic novel that presents the story of the early Weatherlight saga in visual form. The story begins with our protagonist Gerrard Capashen, reluctantly returning to the multiverse-traveling skyship Weatherlight to rescue Captain Sisay from Volrath's Stronghold. This isn't immediately clear, even though it should be.
It proceeds to enter a flashback which explains the events that had caused Gerrard to leave the crew in the first place—except nobody tells the reader that this is a flashback. I found myself flipping back and forth between the first 15 pages or so for longer than I care to remember, cross-referencing information and trying to figure out why characters who were supposedly dead or kidnapped were appearing in frames where they shouldn't be. When I understood that the entire incongruous segment was a several-years flashback, the segment made 100% more sense, and I was able to start over from the top and really enjoy it. This is important, because the book is going to use that flashback technique at least 4 more times, and it will never warn you. On the bright side, that means there don't seem to be any huge continuity errors; if you think you see one, just assume it's a flashback and then back up until the scenery changes.
The art was unique, to say the least. The artist has a pretty dramatic style, with jagged elongated action poses and erratic panel framing. It was jarring at first, but I think it's aged well in the sense that a cult art film ages well: it's beautiful for all the risks it took and all the way it stood out. If I have any qualms with the art, it would be regarding the consistency in the characters' faces. Many times, several characters seemed to have the exact same face as each other, just with different coloration, hair, or effects. Other times, it seemed as though they couldn't even draw a single character's face consistently between one frame and the next. This is fine, because I had no trouble telling them apart, but it gives the work a sort of sloppy and unfinished feel.
The plot itself, aside from the frantic back-and-forth flashbacks, felt pretty rushed. There are many vignettes that I had picked up on through the cultural osmosis of playing the card game and reading its novels over the last 20+ years. Many of these vignettes were presented in the book, but often only in one or two pages before being dismissed in the rush to get to the end of the story. I often got a shallow feeling when an important character arc would be resolved suddenly without any real explanation, and with a strong sense that the characters had experienced and understood something complex and poignant that unfortunately never actually made it to the page.
The worst part, in my opinion, was the Stronghold. Every scene felt like the writers were trying to cram as many cards from the Stronghold card expansion into one volume before they ran out of pages. It felt like an awkward guided tour with a sense of, "Okay, here's the furnace of Rath, and here are the death pits. Here are the Slivers—you beat them by separating them, of course. Now, onto the Dream Halls!" I can't help but wonder how much more epic the story would have been if they had stopped for even a few moments to explore these segments further.
I have to admit that the cards instilled a greater sense of awe, wonder, and curiosity in me than this book managed to do. Even the quotes were almost embarrassingly quirky, filled with campy monologues about destiny, and edgy one-liners from Gerrard himself. A savvy reader may notice that many of these quotes seem to be ripped directly from the flavor text of cards, although some of them were reworded just a bit to fit with the framing of the dialogue.
Gerrard's Quest appears to be a collection of four independent volumes of the Weatherlight story as published by Dark Horse. However, upon reaching the end, I found that the omnibus is incomplete. The story halts abruptly with our hero on his way to confront his one true nemesis and then... nothing. I was expecting to see a sequel omnibus or additional volumes, but Gerrard's Quest ends here. For good.
This book is a treasure. Meeting my childhood heroes again in in print was fulfilling to say the least, and getting to see all the action and environments in art and full color is an experience any old school Magic enthusiast would be lucky to have. As a collector and as a fan of Gerrard himself, I'm beyond thrilled to have my own copy of this book. The story may leave something to be desired, but a good copy of the book is a relic of classic '90s Magic: the Gathering, lost to time. I'll display it proudly on my bookshelf or next to my cards, and hope to pull it out for another quick flip-through on a rainy day.
December 30, 2016
As far as I know, this is the only graphic novel made about the MTG trading card game. Gerrard's Quest relates the story that is the focal point of the Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold, and Exodus expansion packs for MTG. These sets and the story they tell represent the most advanced and complete story of the MTG universe. Gerrard's Quest is really a companion book to Rath and Storm (Magic the Gathering Anthology), which essentially tells the same story with a little more detail (but without the colorful pictures). In order to get the whole story, both of these books should be read. Neither contains the entire tale and each adds its own dimensions to the overall. Also consider ART OF MAGIC, THE (Magic the Gathering Artbooks), which is full of very nice illustrations of characters, settings, and much more pertaining to this story.
In Gerrard's Quest, Gerrard has become the temporary captain of the Weatherlight and must travel to the world of Rath to battle his old friend Vuel and rescue the old captain Sisay. Gerrard's Legacy also plays a major role in the story, while its true purpose remains somewhat of a mystery. A large group of well-developed and interesting characters accompany Gerrard on his quest, and interactions between all of these characters help bring the story to life. This is the most well-planned and complex storyline of the MTG literature. A great story.
In Gerrard's Quest, Gerrard has become the temporary captain of the Weatherlight and must travel to the world of Rath to battle his old friend Vuel and rescue the old captain Sisay. Gerrard's Legacy also plays a major role in the story, while its true purpose remains somewhat of a mystery. A large group of well-developed and interesting characters accompany Gerrard on his quest, and interactions between all of these characters help bring the story to life. This is the most well-planned and complex storyline of the MTG literature. A great story.
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