Darkstalker

Wings of Fire Graphic Novel

by Tui T. Sutherland, Jake Parker (illustrator)

The graphic novel adaptations of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series continue to set the world on fire!

Three dragons. One unavoidable, unpredictable destiny. This is the beginning...of the end.



In the SeaWing kingdom, a young prince learns he is an animus—capable of wonderful magic that comes with a terrible price.



In the mind of a NightWing dragonet, a thousand futures unfold—and almost all of them, she knows, lead to disaster and destruction.



And under three full moons and the watchful eyes of his NightWing mother and IceWing father, the most powerful dragon Pyrhhia will ever know is clawing his way out of his egg. Darkstalker, the dragon who will change the world forever.



Long before the SandWing war, lifetimes before the Dragonet Prophecy...darkness is born.



The #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series soars to new heights in this Wings of Legends graphic novel adaptation, with art by Jake Parker.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Dragons, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Childrens

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Tui? What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?

Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (the Lord of the Rings movies, cats that paint, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!

I was born July 31 (same birthday as Harry Potter!) in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.)

I graduated from Williams College in ’98 and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my perfect new baby, and my adorable yoodle Sunshine (what’s a yoodle? A puppy that’s three-quarters poodle and one-quarter Yorkshire terrier, of course!).

Much to my parents’ relief, I abandoned my theatrical aspirations after college for the far more stable and lucrative career of fiction writing.

My first two official books were beginning readers, part of Grosset & Dunlap’s “First Friends” series for kids learning to read. MEET MO AND ELLA is tough to find now, but FUN WITH MO AND ELLA should still be out there somewhere.

My first novel for teenagers was THIS MUST BE LOVE, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena.

And now I'm writing in a new project called SEEKERS! It's a children's book series that I'm writing with Erin Hunter. Check out my blog to find out more!

Reviews

[Luci Arbon]

I'm DYING for the all of the death scenes! I can't wait to see if there all like I imagened! I have this book preordered, now all I have to do is wait.
It BETTER be as good as the book, or else this will be my first one star.

[Hamburger · Rating 2 out of 5]

To start: I think it was OK- It definitely could have some changes, like the art wasn't so good, and it should be longer because it kinda felt like it was trying to squeeze everything in. It's really sad and gruesome, it should be for readers older then 11.
I'm really sad about how bad it was because I ordered it online and I regret doing that- and I was really-really-really exited for this.
But it was kinda good.

[Malai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-read: Not ready for the super-violent bits to be illustrated, also not sure how this artist will do but I hope it’s as good as the novel

Update: I’ve now read this, and it was pretty good. 4 stars because the art was a bit hard to read (arctic looks a bit like a rainwing!) Decent amount of blood, but not so much that it’s scary or painful to read. The seawings are done really well. I’m sad that I read it because now I’ll have to wait for Talons of Power to come out so noooooooooooooo 😫

Notes: I love the colors they chose for pearl. She isn’t described much in the book, so it was nice to see that

[MsGem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as good as the book, but still pretty good.

[Melanie Prince · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, it just unsettled me the entire book that the artist was different. The art was still good, the dragons were just more humanoid than animalistic, like the other graphic novels.

[Camden Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let the battle between Jake Parker and Mike Holmes begin…

[layla · Rating 5 out of 5]

post read
the decision to have a different artist for the backstory graphic novel was so genius i can’t lie. i have also always loved how darkstalker dives into what ruins our soul; the magic or how we use that magic? and this gn delivered that theme so well



pre-release
OH HELL FUCKING YEAH WINGS OF FIRE FANS WE ARE ABOUT TO EAT GOOOOOODDDD

[rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know a lot of ppl complained abt the art style change but:

1) I think it’s smart because this book takes place 2000 years in the past, and

2) It finally gave the NightWings draconic snouts, unlike whatever the hell Moonwatcher had in the second series. Their heads literally liked like boxes. This was a BREATH of fresh air.

None of the graphic novels will ever top the actual written books. They’re just too good. The written Darkstalker book is quite literally in my top 5 books of all time, embarrassingly enough, because it’s that good in my eyes. The graphic novels are fun to see things visualized, but are poor in terms of pacing. This isn’t just a WoF issue, either, but just the norm for graphic novels as a whole.

The brutal scenes were good. Many people wanted outright gore for a children’s series which is kinda wild. I was surprised for the SeaWing attack, but not for Arctic’s death. His blood being blue also just takes away from the effect but yolo. Kids’ series.

Anyways, 4 stars and maybe 4.5 on Storygraph. Darkstalker should’ve killed everyone but whatever.

[Chloe Horstman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I was expecting- just as good as the book itself. I can’t wait for the 9th graphic novel to come out soon!!!

[CaptainCassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore the Wings of Fire series. Darkstalker is my favorite character. However, this book (and the novel by extension) really puts on full display the reason he falls flat as a villain. From being "born evil" to never making a selfless choice once in his life, despite the attempt to write him as complex, to immediately abusing everyone around him the moment he doesn't get his way. Where some characters try to paint him as complicated, with deep motivations (and the plot itself does, too), what we really see is a petulant child who's first thoughts are about how he wants his mother "All to himself" and how he wants to kill his father. Ah yes, a very complicated villain with a "mostly-good" soul, as dictated by the plot, characters, and soul reader. :I

A couple of things are omitted from the graphic novel version: Fathom and Indigo have their dragonets in secret, for example. Unless I missed a line, the graphic novel paints it as a much more romantic ending, rather than an acknowledgement of future issues to come. Granted, we never see Fathom again, and likely never will. :(

I still don't fully understand why the NightWings leave their land forever, when Darkstalker was neutralized. And never returning to it? It doesn't feel fleshed out enough, in this or the novel. Surely their seers would see going back wouldn't put them on his warpath, at least, not for 2k years? I wish we'd seen more of that, and why the NightWings later choose to forgo their powers when hatching under the moons. Darkstalker was scary, but he was dealt with pretty succinctly, and besides the island, nothing else notable threatened the tribe in that time (that we know of).

Finally, I'm SO glad for the new artist(s) working on this graphic novel! I adored the style. If I had to nitpick, I'd say the dragons sometimes look too anthropomorphic (or, like furries). Other than that, I enjoyed the art a great deal. The expressions are a highlight! I hope we see more WoF graphic novels with Jake Parker and the other members of the team for this book.

[Daniella · Rating 4 out of 5]

My love for this book (as the original novel) is unending and probably because it's a very emotionally heavy story. The drawing style I wasn't a huge fan of. The angles were all sharp and wrong on the dragons. That's what happens with two different graphic novel artists, I suppose. I did appreciate that the gore was limited to being off screen and thoughts of dragons replaced the images, not because I particularly care but also seeing a dragon get disemboweled visually represented is something that most people would agree is a bit much for a children's book.
Also we get Blob art!!!

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series continues to be beautiful. Love the villain backstory.

The art style was a bit different - which makes sense, I just checked, it’s a new artist - so I did feel like I had to adjust but the dragons still looked great. I’m so amazed at the range of action and emotions they can capture in graphic form

[Christian Lenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book way different ten reading th chapter book and they left a lot of inportent information out. It was cool to see how the author Made the dragons colors. / This book was amazing and the charecters played there parts so good. I would defiantly read this book again. I just love reading graphic novels and the pictures and color really brought the dragons to life. When I was reading this story it felt like I was there and kept me wanted to read more. It was hard for me to chose a favorite character in this story but I will have to go with the one on the cover of this book Darkstaler. He justed had a seroius personailty and had he in way of doing things wich for him lead to his doom. The artwork for this book was so amazing it made me feel like I was there.

[Grac09 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite wof book but comic book.
Darkstalker is such a well written character holay molay!

[Caitlyn River · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the illustrations in this adaptation.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original version of this book is the best in the whole series, so this was... a little disappointing. I don't like the new artist/art style. I dunno. A little underwhelming, but still good.

[chris pratt's mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

WAIT THE ARTIST IS THE INKTOBER GUY???

This is a pretty great adaptation of Darkstalker. The graphic scenes were pretty well handled, enough detail that it didn't feel immature, but obviously not too grusome. The scenery is phenomenal, way more detailed than the Mike Holmes books. I like most of the character designs, except Darkstalker was a bit unnaturally angular. Also, some of the poses were oddly human. Too much standing on two legs for my taste, let dragons be glorified horses in peace. I was unreasonably excited to finally see what the soul reader looked like, I never could visualize it. Overall, it's Darkstalker. It's good.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal!!! I read it in under 24 hours and I absolutely loved it!!! For those worried about certain scenes being cut, don't be!!!! Those moments were so well handled and overall the whole book was done very very well!!!! However, it is important to note that while baby Darkstalker may look cute on one page. when you turn the page he is a terrifying baby. Jake Parker really did an incredible job at helping us see how wicked Darkstalker is, even as a new hatched dragonet.

[Amanda Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

My boys love this series, especially the graphic novels. They were looking forward to the big release of Darkstalker and let down. They immediately noticed the dragons look different than the other graphic novels. I guess the artist changed from Mike Holmes to Jake Parker.

[PERIL the peril supporter · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was VERY weird to read the new art style
I liked the art style tho
I still like Mike Holmes’ art better no offence to
Jake parker tho
I’m glad the disembowlment was off screen tho
I noticed that clearsights and indigo’s and whiteouts snouts were More delicate
and pretty than everyone else’s
Was that on purpose?
And I was SOO happy to see Whiteout in this
WHITEOUTS SOOO PRETTY

[jason derby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was honestly a great graphic novel to give more background images, and character designs, from the actual: Darkstalker Legends, Novella.
The new artist did a stunning job, and I couldn't have been MORE excited to find it in Target the other day. Though the art style was different from what I was used to, I'm still trying to accept different ways of things that I'm used to, so this was a whole new thing to take in.
Jake Parker is doing a great job as a new artist for the graphic novels, and did a great job while Talons of power is still in the works. I am grateful he helped in this so we would get 2, great graphic novels not far off from each other. Personally, the expressions of the Dragons could use a tiny bit of work, other than that, I loved this book along with every other WoF book!
My favorite character is the same in this one, Whiteout was adorable with every little page she got. Jake did wonderful with her colors, and I at first, was convinced she had more of a Black shade of scales! But this showed she had more of a Blue shade of scales.
Would recommend, please DO read! <3

[Lucas Hooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok before I critique this book, let me preface by saying I have NO HATE towards the artists involved with this book. I personally prefer Mike Holmes's illustrations, but that's my take.
I will be reviewing the art. If I wanted to review the story, I would be reviewing the OG one.


I was disappointed to see the cartoony art style, and how the book leaned heavily on "tell, don't show" which is the exact opposite of what a story should do.

The art was a shame because the whole point of this book is to add a mature edge to the series. When the art is as cartoony and Disney-like as this, ESPECIALLY when compared to the previous graphic novels Mike Holmes illustrated.... it makes the book just feel off, like its insincere in what its telling. How am I supposed to be horrifyingly captivated by certain parts in the story (no spoilers) when the illustrations dont match the situation?

The original book is dark. It's gruesome. It's suspenseful. This book didn't feel that way. The illustrations stripped the dark tone away, and took me completely out of the scenes sometimes.

I'm not asking for outright gore in a children's book. That would be insane. However, I feel it could have met in the middle- showing some graphic scenes while still leaving it appropriate for its audience. I would argue the original book is as mature and graphic with violence as other YA favorites like Hunger Games, and that should have translated into the graphic novel. If TV adaptations are able to do it, then graphic novels should be able to.

Graphic Novel adaptations are hard to do, especially for a book as mature and complicated as Legends of Darkstalker. You have to take the intricate emotions of a character, the tone of the story, and the dazzling imagination of young readers, and try to make sense of it. It's tricky, and I don't envy anyone who has that job.
This book is an example of what happens when the adaptation doesn't (for lack of a better word) harmonize with the original book. You get a disjointed book that leaves you confused instead of wanting more.

Most of these cons are very prominent in the graphic novel world. I'm not the biggest fan of this form of media, so I get that I'm not the target audience. That doesn't change the fact that the problems with graphic novel adaptations as a whole were MAJORLY shown, if not amplified, in this story.

Some pros to end on a good note:
•The nightwings have more dragonlike snouts
•Clearsights powers were shown well
•The eyes looked hauntingly beautiful
•As pointed out in previous reviews, the artist chose to make them have more humanlike features rather than animalistic features. I don't prefer it, but I appreciate the artistic choice.
•I AM glad they didn't lean too heavy into the gore. I'd rather kids not be traumatized

[Olivia]

See my full review here: https://yabookscentral.com/darkstalke...

DARKSTALKER is an engaging graphic novel adaptation of the WINGS OF FIRE book. Fathom, a young SeaWing prince, has learned he is an animus. With the great power comes a terrible responsibility. Clearsight, a Nightwing dragonet, can peer into the possibilities of the future. Darkstalker is a dragon who could change the world forever. Destiny will play out for these three dragons in unexpected ways.

What I loved: This is an intricate and intriguing story with strong themes of family, fate, friendship, the weight of power, wishes for the future, and possibility. These are really thought-provoking and interesting throughout the book. Some are quite relatable for the middle school audience who will be understanding the weight of their own responsibilities and navigating changing relationships with friends and family.

The characters were well-developed, and the three main characters are all really compelling. Although they are dragons, they are easy to relate to and enjoyable to get to know. The illustrations are really well done with lots of details and expressive characters that work well in the graphic novel setting. Fans of the series (or new fans) will enjoy this graphic novel and the way that it brings the imagined scenes and characters to life.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, this is very text heavy, which can make it a bit tough to follow in places and weighs down the story in graphic novel format. As such, this would work best for older middle grade readers who can appreciate the added world- and character-building that come with the heavier text load.

Final verdict: DARKSTALKER is an engaging graphic novel that will work well for older middle grade readers who love fantasy, magic, strong themes, and dragons!

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

[May Zavadil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of WOF for years and every time I spot a new graphic novel in store I AUDIBLY gasp… and while I enjoyed the art and the story as much as I always do, I feel like there was so much wasted potential and that the book could’ve been so much better.

The thing that really pissed me off was the included narration on little snippets of scrolls. It included stuff like imagery and descriptions of things that you would find in the original novels - but I feel like the whole point of a graphic novel is to use IMAGES instead of imagery, and the best parts of the previous graphic novels were the massive, double-page pictures showing a million things going on when a character is introduced to a scene. One example of what I’m talking about is when Darkstalker and Clearsight are flying somewhere and the little scroll describes the wingbeats and the sky being filled with other dragons, but then over half a page is dedicated to the two embracing. Overall, I feel like certain parts of the story could’ve been arranged in a much more creative way.

Additionally, some of the dialogue struck me as a bit on-the-nose. I feel like every emotion the POV characters had was spelled out quite a bit, and that even though it’s middle-teen fiction, I think some more trust in the audience to infer the characters’ feelings could’ve been awarded.

Overall, I still enjoyed the book apart from those things, and would definitely read it again, which is why it gets 4 stars.

[Cadence V. Matcha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will always prefer the novel over the graphic novel, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the graphic novel. I think it was a great adaption of the novel.

I know there is a lot of discourse within the Wings of Fire fandom about the artstyle. I have seen many people say that the artstyle wasn’t good or that they didn’t like it, etc. I do prefer the artstyle used in the graphic novels of the main series, but the artstyle used in this book I thought was super cute. I don’t exactly know why so many people don’t like this artstyle, because I think it’s a really nice one. My own guess is that the dragons in this one compared to the dragons in the main series, is that the artstyle in the main series makes the dragons look a lot more like dragons than the artstyle used in this one. When I look at the dragons in this one, I think they’re super cute, but I don’t think they look like fierce, scaly dragons. Obviously this is not the end of the world because the artstyle is still really pleasing to look at, I just think that the dragons don’t look like dragons as much as the other graphic novels artstyle does. However, this does not ruin the book for me because I still really loved it.

I think if you like dragons and graphic novels, this is a great pick to read. I will always be super happy that the Wings of Fire novel series has graphic novel adaptions, because I think its just super fun to see what the cannon characters look like, as well as seeing things like their world, buildings, etc

[Bailee · Rating 4 out of 5]

No spoilers :)

Okay, honestly, when I saw this book in Target, I was so excited to read it because Legends Darkstalker is my FAVORITE in the Wings of Fire series!! So I bought it and the art style was actually beautiful. The backgrounds, the first looks at characters we had only imagined before, and the baby dragons were adorable!! I really liked the transition between perspectives, which they do with a little context on a scroll!
The biggest critisism I have, (which I still think the book is amazing), is that the poses for the dragons look a little too human. A lot of the time, they're standing on two legs. Also, the female dragons now have distinct eyelashes, which in my opinion, don't even look bad! The main issue for me was that the expressions the dragons wore in a lot of scenes weren't aligned with how they were feeling. For example, a character finds out someone did something horrible-- but instead of looking worried/terrified, he looks skeptical.
Overall, I would say to buy it though, I will never stop buying Wings of Fire books because they were my childhood and I will hold on to them forever :)
Thanks for reading the yap if you did!

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkstalker (Graphic Novel) by Tui T. Sutherland explores the backstory of the fearful legend, and the old, violent history of Pyrrhia. Not usually a graphic novel reader, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I found the storyline one of the most deep, interpretive, and impactful in the series, and I enjoyed how bits and parts of it connected to the "modern day" Pyrrhia (specifically, the second arc of WoF). The original Darkstalker chapter book was, and still is, my favorite book in the Wings of Fire series. The graphic novel captures a lot of the amazing plot and storyline of the original book, and I enjoyed how expressive the art style was. Fathom's storyline in particular had some amazing art, with lots of details and coloring that I enjoyed. I do think some of the more violent scenes were depicted a bit inaccurately, and didn't fully capture some moments in some characters' thoughts (specifically Clearsight), but that seems like a fair trade off since it's a graphic novel. Overall, I think this book is definitely worth reading if you enjoy graphic novels or the original Darkstalker story.

[Mooshusaurus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super disappointed in this book. Been reading these books since elementary school, I own all of them I know the story by heart and I could recite it to you. First of all, HATE that he made it very clear which dragons are boys and which are girls. They're dragons. They don't have softer more feminine features. There's one specific page that really irked me on this front. Author did not seem to have a good grasp of the characters he was writing and just put surface level caricatures. It feels like even the author downplayed Clearsight because she is female. Furthermore the book feels much more rushed than the others despite it being one of the longest books in the series. The art style is inconsistent at times and proportions look weird. There are also way too many text blurbs telling us what's going on instead of the characters just showing us with their actions. Jake Parker is clearly talented, but he needs to stay away from this series. If they don't bring back Mike Holmes I'm not going to bother buying the rest of the graphic novels.

[Jarneka Jaunay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh. This book was sooooooooooooooooo gooooooooddd!! So good. The character development is crazy. I was a little mad with change of illustrator from Mike Holmes to Jake Parker, but the style grew on me throughout the book and baby darkstalker is soooo cuuuttteeeeeee!! I know this book isn’t initially a continuation of the main series, as it is more of a side book, but for me it really made the hush hush mentions of darkstalker clearer. Now I feel as though moon’s choices are a little more justifiable? Because now that we have seen the backstory of fathom, clearsight, and darkstalker, altogether, the events of the main series make much more sense.

All in all, amazing book. This and moon rising are my favs of the series so far.
I can’t wait for the graphic novel series to be complete!!

I <3 WOF!!!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I forgot how good this story was. It’s been awhile since I read the chapter book and I’m reminded of why my mom had to tape the book back together from reading it so much. It is such a great story and has amazing characters. As for what this graphic novel brings though, I think it did a great job adapting the story. While I could point out obvious differences from the other graphic novels due to the different artist, that’s not an issue for me. Legends is different from the main series, so I don’t mind a different artist. My only complaint is that the illustrations could be a little awkward at times in my opinion and the context sort of got in the way of the flow, but aside from that, it was super well done. Darkstalker is an amazing book and this is a great adaptation.