The Damned Meanderers
Chapter Three: All One Wants
By Tom McGrane
DamnedMeanderers.com
Release Date: December 19, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Continuing our look into the multimedia motion comic experience called The Damned Meanderers, we enter the third chapter of the journey. While the first two issues make a fine establishment of setting and introduce some key characters, the third issue is unfortunately more filler material than anything of substance, exposing the characters on their journey back from the fight with the orcs to the return to the main camp.

The plot behind Chapter Three is quite simplified, beginning with a funeral for the fallen dwarf who died in the battle in the previous issue. From here the small group, including main protagonist Mage Dazanorl, journey back to their main camp, but stumble across the remnants of another battle that bring Gillo and Greer clues as to who the main nemesis is – hinting at the Sovrin we encountered in issue one.

That is, on the surface, the main gist of this issue. Very little character development is accomplished, aside from one thought bubble showing Greer’s envy of Daz being sheltered from the long war. For the most part, the plot doesn’t carry along the story very much at all, and could easily have been replaced with a phrase such as “Later, after our heroes return to their camp…”

It’s an unfortunate turn for the series in issue three, for this chapter is primarily full of filler material that could have been excised in favor of moving the plot along further. While we do see a little more anger from another dwarf, Remira, his toughness and brusque exterior was already well established in the previous chapter. The humorous elements are also absent in this issue, as are the proofreaders I suppose, what with some careless spelling errors scattered here and there in the digital publication.

The artistic presentation of Chapter Three, in contrast, takes a step further just like the previous chapter did. The same frames are used for specific scenes and sequences in All One Wants, making great use of fades and blurs, zooms and pans to focus in on minute details and establish aspects of emphasis. This is a great improvement in the presentation, and even some of the emotional displays by a couple of the characters display some more realism than seen before.

As much as I enjoyed the first two chapters of The Damned Meanderers, I find myself highly disappointed in this third installment. After the fun battle with orcs from the last issue, I found myself hoping to see more bloody action, but also a deliberate move forward in the plot with the improved pace in issue two.

Previously, I recommended fantasy fans and D&D enthusiasts check this series out, but I cannot recommend this one at all unless you’re already a fan of this new series and simply must read the third chapter. Quite honestly, you could overlook this one completely and not lose any important plot elements whatsoever. Take a break from this one and wait for Chapter Four.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5