Dragon Age: Dark Fortress

Dragon Age Graphic Novels #8

by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, Fernando Heinz Furukawa (Illustrator)

From the video game developer of genre-defining roleplaying games such as Baldur's Gate, Star Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect comes the next chapter in the story begun in the multiple game of the year award-winning Dragon Inquisition.Fenris and the Inquisition race to keep the Venatori from unleashing a power that will reshape Thedas in this canonical continuation of BioWare's dark fantasy RPG!Deep within the Tevinter Imperium, with the invading Qunari armies hot on their heals, a fearless team prepares to assault a fortress said to be unbreakable in a bid to prevent the unthinkable from being unleashed. Among them is the deadly Fenris, the brave Ser Aaron Hawthorne and his squire/thief Vaea, the troubled mage Francesca Invidus, and the mage-killing team of Tessa Forsythia and Marius. Will they be fast enough to outrun their own pasts and stop what's coming?Collects Dragon Dark Fortress #1-3.

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, High Fantasy, Video Games, Fiction, Comic Book

72 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2021

About the author

Nunzio DeFilippis is married to Christina Weir; together they have written a large number of graphic novels. They have written superhero comics but also created original comics and graphic novels of many genres, from YA fantasy to sports to horror to crime drama.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid finish to the Dragon Age comics Dark Horse started several years ago. As it is an ending, it's a poor jumping on point and does reference a lot of the events of the previous miniseries. The art is solid if unremarkable.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Dark Fortress completes the story begun so long ago with Vaea, Ser Aaron, and their companions. Author DeFilippis has noted that he and the authors/illustrators were for-hire artists brought in to create original storylines/characters in the DA universe but worked closely with Bioware to ensure accuracy and consistency between tie-ins and the original game IP. Admittedly, the series has been very uneven, felt far too episodic, and illustrations didn't always match the characters.

Story: Ser Aaron and Vaea have managed to collect a powerful team of mage killers including Fenris, Tessa Forsythia, Francesca Invidus, and Marius. When they learn that Fenris' former owner and torturer is part of a scheme to create a more powerful version of Fenris (infused with red lyrium this time), they work together to stop the Tevinter mages. But at the same time, the Qunari are at the gates and may just get them first.

A lot of this last book is more of a character arc for Ser Aaron. He started as a more laid-back, insouciant, hard drinking knight but in this book we get much more backstory as well as some soul searching. Ser Aaron was one of the more interesting personalities in the series since he fought at Ostagar against the Dark Spawn (the events from the original Dragon Age game). There is a bit of redemption and growth for Aaron and Vaea by the end but it does feel abrupt and I would have wished it to be explored even more in earlier series.

Because the emphasis is on Vaea and Aaron, we don't get much of the other characters. There is a lot of action but secondary characters don't have much to do. Fenris looks/feels a bit more like the game character again, fortunately, in this last book but Marius and Tessa really do not have much to do.

The ending ties in nicely to Dragon Age 4 and the spoilers we have received so far from Bioware. I can't say that I recommend this series - it was often boring, felt very fractured and episodic, and characters didn't necessarily look or even act like their game versions. As a standalone tale without having played the game, I don't really think most will be able to follow the characters.

There are nice cameos throughout of various game characters (such as the annoying Sebastian) and we get a look at Tevinter and Antiva. But I honestly found the action hard to follow, the storylines rather bland and uninteresting, and the illustration work lacking clarity and consistency, especially to the DA universe. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nooooo...

I'm so sad about the ending, there go some of my hopes and predictions about some of the potential DA4 companions.

The volume was great, though. The story-arch of many of the characters was wrapped up very well, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Fenris, who I somehow missed to recruit as a companion in DA2.

And not to mention the ending, the very ending, which was great foreshadowing. I can't wait for DA4 to come out to see how this story will be included there and tied up with the main events.

However, I'm also a bit worried, because these volumes were coming once every year up to this year, but they all had open endings, and this volume closed a whole chapter, it seems to me, so I wonder if there will be more books at all before the game. Perhaps different characters, because I can't imagine how this particular story will continue. Not to mention how tricky it already is to create new content while tiptoeing around the, arguably, most important characters, who are the main characters from the games, and therefore, subject to too many player choices.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gah I really wish this were longer, not because it's unfulfilling but because now I'm out of Dragon Age comics and I need more Fenris, Vera, and Autumn in my life.

[sassafrass · Rating 3 out of 5]

two characters in this were drawn so identically that i genuinely didn't realise that there were actually two of them until the end when they finally both appeared in the same panel

[Katie Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was absolutely astounding. Wtf.

[Václav · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3,3 of 5 for a weak and short tale with actually nice finale)
I like the Dragon Age franchise so as a comics geek I needed to read all of its comics. Most of them are rather mediocre and the quality greatly varies.
This one follows the character from the previous stories on a little-big adventure. The set-up is not very clever and actually even interesting. Maybe it's because the three issues length is not enough to create something better (but there are authors who manage to achieve that even in a one-shot, so...).
The art - this series is struggling with that too. And this one isn't performing well. It looks like cheap generic work, something you get on short game/movie/etc... promo comics. It didn't offend me, but I just didn't like it.
For non-fans of DA - this comic is easily missed. Not worth both of your time and money. For the DA fans - your call, but be warned.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ser Aaron 😭

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounding up from a 2.5,,,,, maybe i needed to review the other comics, and maybe I’ll do so and give it a re-read then, but as it stands I just didn’t really care about this? A lot of rly big stuff happened in this comic but I just didn’t really feel all that connected to it or the characters. Some beautiful art and colouring though.

[V K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fenris as we know him from DA 2 is finally back. They put the Dragon into DA and we had a sad and foreshadowing ending. Overall not show stopping but pretty decent.
Has me SUPER excited about Veilguard.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

C/W:gore, violence, death of a loved one

Actual rating is a 3.5

Dragon Age: Dark Fortress was a return to the things I've liked most about the graphic novels -- it expanded the Dragon Age universe in interesting ways, it had compelling characters, and it made me even more excited for the eventual release of DA:4.

Dragon Age: Dark Fortress really tied the series together in a gripping way. Fenris seemed a bit more like I remembered from DA:2 -- a pleasant change from Dragon Age: Blue Wraith. The original characters from earlier graphic novels had stronger characterization here, particularly Ser Aaron and Vaea. I would've loved a little bit more of Marius and Tessa since they were my favorites out of the new additions but you can't have it all.

The stakes were high, the plot moved along quickly, and some really interesting concepts were introduced. Plus, the ending seemed like a DA:4 teaser in all the best ways. I would've loved it if some of the emotional beats had gotten a bit more space on the page but there were still some moments that had a good emotional heft to them.

After really struggling with Dragon Age: Blue Wraith, this installment won me back over. If you're on the fence, I recommend giving Dragon Age: Dark Fortress a try.

Thank you to Dark Horse Books and Edelweiss for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Fernanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

até que não foi ruim, levando em conta que faz anos desde que eu li os capítulos anteriores e não lembrava de quase nada, o fenris estava muito bom aqui e destaque ao mabari, 10/10 para o mabari

e o solas no final vendo tudo pelo eluvian como se fosse uma novela? kkkkk

"Maybe we can't save the world. Maybe you can't save the king at Ostagar, and we can't stop a Qunari invasion. But is that the only way we measure the impact of your life?"

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3

Total review score: 2.1666

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn. Didn't expect it to make me cry... These stories, obviously, need to be read together. And the more you read, the better it becomes. I think it was a good bridge between the main parts of the story of Thedas.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hopeless battle. Besieged on all sides. The only hope is to separate him from his weapon.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

That ending 😫

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dragon Age rules!

[rae ✌️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

oh look, i’ve been impaled 🥲 dragon age stop being so tragic challenge failed

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartbreaking

[Otso Rasimus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawing quality is as good as before, which is probably the best I've ever enjoyed in a Western comic.

I found the story not as interesting as earlier, even though the characters were cool. Qunari have been fooling around for quite some time now, but they don't really feel like a threat, rather like a deus ex machina you can use when you need to.

Definitely a good addition to the Dragon Age comics, even if it's not the best of them.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently there are no reviews in this or the individual issues yet, but I'm just doing this for me, so... there's no deep or professional analysis here.

Nice continuation. Some of the layouts were pretty frenetic and hard for me to fully parse, even with zoom and scroll. But overall dynamic and nice, and the two-page spreads were used to good effect.

Figures that after mainlining the post-DAI comics and haughtily talking about my new party members, I would run into this thread the same day I finish the series-to-this-point.

Much is made of the two wronged former slaves confronting their masters (or master's heir, or master's new pet), but with all the overlap it was a little hard for me to viscerally appreciate the righteous vengeance. Marius's confrontation faded into the background until the last moments--though the last moments obviously had character implications--and despite all the build-up, Fenris confronting his corrupted friend wound up feeling perfunctory. I kind of enjoy that his forced mercy toward Danarius's son wound up unleashing another loose thread. Take that, compassion. :/ But it's a sad day when we lose Ser Aaron! Another Old mowed down after his prime. All hail the Qunari being cannon-fodder Cool Guys for once, though. Shades of the alliance I was supposed to have with them.

Oh, and burying a magical artifact of unspeakable power a couple feet underground should totally work. The problem with the red lyrium idol was definitely that it just wasn't buried deep enough.

[Evin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since these are tie-ins I'm not sure if the creators are told that they have to make x, y, and z happen in a certain number of pages, but for at least the last several of these graphic novels it certainly feels that way. This felt crammed and jumbled, the dialogue was confusing, the layout made it difficult to understand what was going on or even who was meant to be speaking to who, and the tiny panels all squeezed onto one page really made it hard to get any kind of emotion out of what was happening. Things that should have been really impactful were crammed in with utilitarian panels of characters speaking or going up stairs or whatever.

I keep buying these in the hopes they'll be a good primer for the new game but honestly I don't think I'm going to purchase anymore, they're consistently disappointing. Knight Errant was the only one I've sort of liked.

[RB Alley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another solid entry in DeFilippis’ line of Dragon Age tie-ins, and much better than Blue Wraith. Sometimes it still moves a bit too fast for its own good and struggles to balance time spent amongst its large cast, but the colorful art and adventurous writing keep this one fun and engaging.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The graphic novel assumes readers already know about the Dragon Age world, so it's really made for existing fans, not for newcomers who don't already know the terminology, races, undercurrents, etc. Some cool art and character designs, but not enough time to get attached to anyone if you don't already know them.

[Gilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7/5 ⭐

I didn't think I'd cry when finishing this series but here we are.

After playing these games now for more than a decade and watching the world and characters grow, I love how the comics pick up where the games left me wanting more. While I didn't enjoy all the comics in this series to the same extent and felt some where rather slow, Dark Fortress seemed like the very good ending to this story.

It might be that I just replayed the first two games this year after Veilguard was announced and am now way too immersed in the world, but watching "Broody Elf" Fenris turn into this person that sparks up conversation at camp and is met with an even broodier attitude from his newfound companions made giggle.

Seeing all of those characters go through their own struggles, with many of their issues being the collateral damage of the decicions we as players made in the previous games or situations we went through ourselves, it made me just empathize so well with every single one of them.

Though I do have my beef with Bioware, as does everyone, I just really love the world of Thedas and how the managed to create such a living and breathing world that I could get lost in at 12 just as well as at 22.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we go! It finally all comes together here. It's a shame that each segment of this story was presented as its own entity rather than one interconnected story released over like 5 years, because that may have helped the earlier books land in a better context. But as it is, this is the part where it all actually leads to something.

And it's a good send off for most of these characters. I really adored the completed arc of some of them - Vaea, Francesca and Fenris all had something that felt nice and complete and complicated, and while Sir Aaron's arc was a little messier across the different storybeats it still concludes well here. And I appreciate that the end of the story gives itself time to breathe and feel the consequences of what happened. It made me appreciate where some of them are heading off to next, even if I bet that they sadly never turn up again.

The only characters who I don't think really added much were sadly Marius and Tessa, especially when the others all walk off without even saying goodbye to them at all, but I can see that this is probably as close to a completed arc for them that we're going to get so I'll run with it.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this final volume of Dragon Age, we have the story set up for the next game.

I've been reading this series pretty much after I finished the last DA game and it's because the world of DA is so rich and full of possible story telling choices. I think Nunzio DeFilippis does a good job of taking the world and not only giving us interesting stories, but using the backdrop of the setting as a perfect way to make the world feel "lived in" and ancient.

This volume is a wrap up of sorts and references a lot of the books that came before it. So I will say its not exactly new reader friendly as all of these references will be completely lost on you if you don't know the story up until now. Without reading the earlier volumes, the impact of what is being said is much more less than.

Overall, this was a fun series and good way to get your DA fix in before the next game.... whenever that will be released. However, if you're a fan of the game give this series a try.

[Simen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings the graphic novel saga to a tense, emotional climax. It follows the same crew (Vaea, Ser Aaron, Olivia, and Fenris) as they plan an assault on a heavily guarded Venatori stronghold. The stakes are higher than ever, with lives, loyalties, and the future of Thedas hanging in the balance.

This volume leans more into strategy and character development than action, but when the battles hit, they land hard. Fenris continues to shine, and Ser Aaron’s arc reaches a surprisingly heartfelt conclusion. The story also deepens the threat of the Venatori and ties directly into the lingering threads of Inquisition.

The art remains solid, with darker tones matching the mood. It's not quite as fast-paced or twisty as 'Blue Wraith', but it delivers satisfying closure to the characters and their journey so far.

A strong finish: bittersweet, grounded, and full of promise for what’s next in the world of Thedas.

[Marek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for allowing me to review this book early. Rating and review are my own.

Ok, let me start out by saying that...Again I didn't realize that this was the LAST issue of this comic. However, I still enjoyed this a lot! The art was beautiful and even without having read the previous issues, I was able to catch on to what the story was. I was happy to familiar faces like Fenris! As a Dragon Age fan, it was so easy to step back into this world and continue its story. I want the next game even more now and I am definitely going to go back and read the issues before this because I loved all the characters.

Seriously, if you love the Dragon Age games, please read this.

[ur didact · Rating 3 out of 5]

a decent end to this story. still, as i've mentioned quite a few times prior, the whole story itself is just incredibly shallow about evil tevinter supremacist mages and their tussle with ~bad magic~ and slavery. as far as lore and stories go, these are pretty much the laziest editions you can include in DA, because it just offers absolutely nothing new, nor does it want to bother challenging boundaries in any way. although it serves this story to its end, the whole journey has been straightforward as hell, and written in just to bring various chars together on one big, basic mission. i also do not like how the qunari are not treated with any interesting insight, either. it's okay, i won't complain too much, but as a whole, it's nothing great any DA fan is missing.