Pathfinder: Wake the Dead #1 Review: A Standard Set-Up in a Weird World

Pathfinder: Wake the Dead is a standard opening issue for a fantasy adventure comic, although it does highlight a conflict unique to the setting of Golarion. Dynamite has resurrected the Pathfinder comics line, which focuses on the world and characters of the Pathfinder tabletop roleplaying game. Instead of continuing the adventures of the heroes seen in the first line of Pathfinder comics, Pathfinder: Wake the Dead introduces a new group of characters and places them in the middle of an ages-old conflict between the countries of Nex and Geb, whose populaces are warped by necromancy and the long feud between the rulers of those two nations. Written by Fred Van Lente and illustrated by Eman Casallo, the comic struggles to stand out among other fantasy comic books, but it does successfully highlight a weird corner of the Pathfinder world and shows off some of the abilities of Pathfinder's classes.

If you've looked through a Pathfinder rulebook, you'll probably recognize the heroes of Wake the Dead, as they are all "Iconics," meant to represent different character classes. All of these characters have their own pre-established backstories and personalities, along with very defined abilities. I'm sure this presented a unique challenge to the creative team, as they not only needed to bring the characters together to tell a good story, but also use the characters to highlight the strengths of various character classes. For the most part, Van Lente and Casallo do a fine job of not making this feel too forced. The characters use their abilities when the story calls for them, even if there is a little too much of the characters explaining what they are doing as they're doing it. 

The story itself focuses on the various Iconics converging to meet with a supposed defector from Geb, a country where the undead greatly outnumber the living. The first issue is standard stuff, with the characters meeting, teasing some conflict, and then realizing that they are much better off working together to survive some bigger threats. 

One way where this new Pathfinder series differs from its predecessors is that the comic feels much more current in today's Pathfinder world. Unlike the campaign settings in Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder's Golarion is a living world that changes constantly. In a nice twist, several of the characters represent a different faction that was recently featured in a Pathfinder lore book. This not only provides some tension to the story (all the characters are "good" but not necessarily working for the same "team"), it also captures the current state of Golarion compared to the previous comics. 

I also appreciated that the comic is leaning into the Geb-Nex conflict, which was conveniently featured in multiple rulebooks last year. Fighting necromancers and powerful arcanists is a great choice to highlight how much weirder Pathfinder tends to be compared to other fantasy worlds and the comic nimbly balances the horror and fantasy aspects of Geb and Nex without leaning too far into one genre. 

Overall, Pathfinder: Wake the Dead serves as a fun introduction to the world of Pathfinder to newcomers. The story is perhaps a little too safe and by the numbers, but the comic achieves its most important goal of showcasing the game of Pathfinder in an entertaining fashion.

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

On May 31, 2023

Written by Fred Van Lente

Art by Eman Casallos

Colors by Jorge Sutil

Letters by Tom Napolitano

Cover by Steve Ellis