Review – Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

October 17, 2025

2–3 minutes

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Wilton Santos, Edvan Alves
Colourist: Raul Angulo
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Release Date: 15th October 2025

On sale this week from Dark Horse, Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks sees writer Greg Pak and artists Wilton Santos and Edvan Alves bringing the characters from the novel Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallback: Bound for Ruin to the world of comic books for the first time Full disclosure, I wasn’t familiar at all with Jaleigh Johnson’s prose novel, but after reading this comic, I feel like I may need to remedy that ASAP.

Much like the well-received Honour Among Thieves movie, I love the way that this group of heroes feels exactly like a D&D party, packed with weird characters with amusing personality traits all just kind of vibing along together as they try to figure things out. I’m not sure how much is Pak and how much is Johnson in terms of the characterisation, but there’s no doubt that Pak’s story is a slice of classic D&D, with taverns, treasures and, yes, dragons aplenty.

The introduction of the titular Fallbacks is handled smoothly, giving new readers like myself all they need to know – for the time being, at least – about this rag-tag group of adventurers. The issue whips along at a fairly brisk pace as a random encounter with some kobold thieves leads to a reunion with an irritating rival team of heroes, before we get a bit of treasure hunting and a shocking final-page cliffhanger.

Santos and Alves provide pencils and inks respectively, packing the pages with expressive, distinctive and slightly cartoony characters, giving the book a light and upbeat aesthetic. Extra credit should be given to colourist Raul Angulo who adds to that aesthetic with a wonderfully vibrant colour palette. There are some great character designs here, with Uggie, the (somewhat) domesticated Otyugh serving as an unquestioned highlight.

Overall, The Fallbacks does a great job of tiptoeing the line between the established D&D lore and visual style and a more modern, humorous vibe that keeps the pages turning from start to finish. It’s not exactly reinventing the wheel, but there’s more than enough interesting characters and situations here to appeal to grizzled D&D vets and curious newcomers alike.

Rating: 3.5/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]