DIABLO: TALES OF SANCTUARY

Three tales of fantasy horror based on the video game, plus production art from Blizzard

By Mike Whybark     October 28, 2001

This member of Dark Horse's Blizzard Entertainment software tie-in line presents three tales of dark fantasy set in the world of the game DIABLO. Ably illustrated by Francisco Ruiz Velasco, these brief stories use character types present in the game to launch vignettes of action and horror in a mythical reality in which combat lurks around every corner and demons haunt the night.

The strongest tale in the book, "The Hand of Naz," owes a debt to Michael Moorcock's "Corum" cycle. We follow a brutal warrior in his quest to find a magical token, the hand of the story's title, which grants the wearer the power to summon an army of wraiths to serve in battle. Naturally or is that supernaturally use of the toy comes at a cost. The warrior is aided by a vixen who presents herself as a junior-grade necromancer. In the course of events, the army is summoned and the brute pays the price. Thank heavens our necromantic babe is more than she pretends and the warrior is resurrected, naturally, sans toy. She knew what she was doing all along, of course, and though our hulking protagonist doesn't wind up with the prize, he did get to wipe out an army of ghouls. Such is the fate of video gamers everywhere, after all.

The other two stories in the book are less well told. In them, we learn of the heartbreak that is werebearhood and of the dangers that await those who lift sword in service to religion. Backing things up is a gallery of production and concept sketches from Blizzard artists that shed light on some of the character designs used in the game. Beautifully produced throughout, the one-shot is lovely to look at, and the atmospherics of the creative team are excellent.

Don't look here for psychologically illuminating character studies of the tortured hero, although the tales make reference to this state of mind. Instead we are presented with sketches from a world of constant turmoil, a place where war is so close at all times that the characters don't really have much of any other life than battle. Because the stories are so compressed and benefit from the effective visualization, the book shares something of the frenetic, nerve-wracking quality of the game that inspired it.

Adapting a video game to a different medium has always been a challenge, and the primary problem confronting creators who undertake such a task has been meeting the divergent needs of the differing mediums. Compression of story appears to be a promising avenue to explore in learning how to take game to panel. Unfortunately, real-world constraints on such projects mean that gifted creators may be reluctant to go all out in service of another's project; I suspect we have an example of that here. A brave effort well executed, but not by anyone's standards a groundbreaking or essential title.

DIABLO: TALES OF SANCTUARY

Grade: C+

Issue: No. 1

Author(s): Phil Amara, Dave Land, Francisco Ruiz Velasco

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Price: $5.95