XolokReads reviewed Warcraft. by Richard A. Knaak
After the War of the Ancients they decided to let Tommy Wiseau write a manga
1 star
First off. The art is fine. They should have sprung for full color or gone with a simpler style because some panels are difficult to discern. Let's get to the main issue with this manga. The writing. I know English is something like Tommy Wiseau's 4th language, but nobody refers to their betrothed or fiancé as their "future mate." I guess they're dragons, but Richard Knaak (Wiseau's pen name) has characters refer to their partners/spouses/wives as "mates" all the time regardless of species. It gives the whole thing a very alien feeling. We get little development of any of the characters involved. There are Events that need to happen! This is a constant weakness in Wiseau's writing. Character and relationship development always takes backseat to Things Happening. Much like how we are constantly told that people are Johnny's best friend in The Room, we are told repeatedly that Kalec cares …
First off. The art is fine. They should have sprung for full color or gone with a simpler style because some panels are difficult to discern. Let's get to the main issue with this manga. The writing. I know English is something like Tommy Wiseau's 4th language, but nobody refers to their betrothed or fiancé as their "future mate." I guess they're dragons, but Richard Knaak (Wiseau's pen name) has characters refer to their partners/spouses/wives as "mates" all the time regardless of species. It gives the whole thing a very alien feeling. We get little development of any of the characters involved. There are Events that need to happen! This is a constant weakness in Wiseau's writing. Character and relationship development always takes backseat to Things Happening. Much like how we are constantly told that people are Johnny's best friend in The Room, we are told repeatedly that Kalec cares Anveena so much. There's no real explanation why. She helped him and was kind when she met him, but they didn't know each other for more than a day. Tyri (Kalec's future mate) and Jorad develop a fun relationship (everyone betray Kalec!) that is far more interesting than most anything else in the story. Even so, there are a couple of panels that start off with Tyri proposing she lead the attack on their enemy followed by Jorad saying to Kalec "Though I am loath to admit it, she is the most powerful of us, Kalec." This makes no sense. Why is he loathe to admit it? It's like Wiseau forgot that Jorad likes Tyri and would have no problem encouraging her. Kalec responds, "Maybe, but she's also the most headstrong!" That is completely irrelevant to proposed plan. The only way this makes sense is in a sexist way. i.e. Jorad: "I don't want to admit it because she's a girl, but she is tougher than you or me." Kalec: "Yeah, but she's also pushy so we're still better." He might as well say she "lacks the will of the warrior." Sylvanas also makes an appearance, but she isn't developed much. Some of the lore doesn't really line up, but that fine. She anti-magic screaming powers, which is kind of cool. Lor'themar (leader of the blood elves in WoW) makes an appearance, but he's as forgettable as he is in the game despite having a decent amount of time in the story. Honestly, if he didn't have one bad eye, one couldn't distinguish Lor'themar from any other elf in his group. The blue dragons breathe fire, which isn't what they do in the games, but that's not a big deal. They misspell the character name Arthas as "Arthus" at one point despite spelling it correctly throughout. That's not a big deal, but kind of inexcusable. I read this because it is referenced heavily in another one of Wiseau's Warcraft books "Night of the Dragon." I'm off to review that next.
