Pathfinder #1 (Standard Cover—Dave Dorman)

I liked the comic and the gaming material in the back. If you order comics and non books, Paizo sends them together, to my shock. They did not even put the comic in a comic bag. Even though the metal figures were braced by starofoam peanuts, they survived but not my comic. I give the comic 4 stars. Paizo's delivery receives only one star.

The main storyline is pretty thin as it is primarily constructed in a way to introduce the main characters. However, the characters don't honestly DO very much other than a bit of fighting and saying hello to each other. I understand their reasons for this, but I think the other upcoming issues to come will probably be more enjoyable and offer more interesting storylines and more developed plots.

The additional components to the book are terrific. The mini battle map is very nice and the flip side of it is a nice mini poster (the same picture on the cover of the Core Rule Book). As the previous reviewer noted, the additional NPC data and the short scenario is actually a really neat aspect of this product. It makes it that much more desirable and that much more worth purchasing.

I used to love comics as a kid in the early 90s but eventually stopped reading them. I'll pick one up now and then but I'm usually disappointed. For example, the fantasy CrossGen comics from the early 2000s were nice, but for the price, you didn't get much story. So, I wasn't really expecting much when I picked this up today at the local game store (and it was the Dave Dorman cover I grabbed). However, I was wrong and found myself actually enjoying reading it. It had a very cinematic feel to the way the story was set up and the way the characters were introduced. Plus you got a write-up of Sandpoint, a small encounter map (with details of the encounter in the issue), and some info on NPCs (which you can use if you're running Rise of the Runelords or early in Jade Regent). All that for only $4 bucks is a really great value. The art style, I admit, isn't my favorite, but the story and the other extras more than made up for it.