The Warcraft franchise seems to be one overpowering juggernaut of media saturation nowadays. From its humble beginnings as a simple real time strategy computer game to the ever-expanding massive multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, we see such things as dedicated television shows, novels, figurines, and now a manga. Warcraft has a rich history when it comes to the story, so it is not real surprise that a manga adaptation has been thrust upon the legions of adoring fans. Here we have the beginnings of The Sunwell Trilogy Vol. 1 – Dragon Hunt written by Richard Knaak, illustrated by Jae-Hwan Kim.

Dragon Hunt follows almost directly from the end of Warcraft III’s expansion pack ‘The Frozen Throne’, so if you are a fan of the computer games you’ll be right at home with the characters and events that are referred to in this The Sunwell Trilogy. But you aren’t you are left out in the cold. There is a brief history of Warcraft at the beginning of the manga to get you up to speed. The story itself follows the hunt of a shape-shifting dragon called Kalec that is trying to escape from the dragon hunters. He gets shot down and caught in a net, but luckily for him a girl named Anveena comes to his rescue. The manga follows these two as they try to escape the clutches of the dragon hunters and other shady figures that believe Kalec knows the whereabouts of the Sunwell.

While the story certainly seems like the strongest point about this manga there are weaknesses. There have been steps to make the story more accessible to those who have not played the computer games but it still requires more explanation. The use of chapters seems pointless, mostly because the story never really deviates. But the flow of the manga is really nice. Jae-Hwan Kim’s illustrations are wonderful but not eyepopingly gorgeous. Even if you read your mangas quite quick you wont feel like you might of missed something.

Overall Dragon Hunt felt derivative and wistful. It almost feels like an illustrated Followship of the Ring without really coming close to Tolken. Dragon Hunt is certainly more of a fan service rather than something new and exciting. For those unfamiliar with Warcraft it is only worth 2 orcs. For fans of Warcraft a solid 3.5 orcs.