Review of Diablo: Legends of the Necromancer, Rathma

The acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the massive layoffs that followed the transition have shown a difference in how things used to be done versus now.

I contacted public relations in early April 2024 to point out that no preview images had been revealed in the Diablo: Legends of the Necromancer, Rathma pre-order page at Amazon. I requested preview images. I got a response that it would be forwarded to the appropriate person, but I got no follow-up.

In contrast, the publishing team uploaded preview images of the Bul-Kathos graphic novel on March 14, 2023 — nearly 4 months before the graphic novel shipped (July 11, 2023).

Diablo: Legends of the Necromancer, Rathma shipped on July 16, 2024. No preview images were ever shared on Amazon or elsewhere. That in itself is a bad sign of what was versus now under Microsoft/Xbox management.

I have the graphic novel in my hands right now. I purchased it myself. No free review copy as it used to be… it seems… ages ago (in the Pocketbooks / Simon & Schuster era). There is no intro or prologue page to set the tone of the story.

After the title page and the credits page, the graphic novel starts with a page showing Lilith and a short narration from the point of view of Rathma. Lilith had just killed the rogue angels and demons that joined Inarius and Lilith in Sanctuary. Lilith is floating triumphantly atop the pile of bones, flesh, and gore of demons and the armor of angels. This happened many centuries before The Sin War.

The graphics by Adam Gorham (penciler) and Lauren Affe (colorist) are enjoyable and worth praise for this type of dark and rated-M graphic novel, but I can’t say the same about the story.

There are 66 pages of graphics, but if I were to summarize the story within the dialogues and narration, it wouldn’t take me more than 2 paragraphs.

There is no dialogue between Rathma and Lilith. There is no dialogue between Rathma and Inarius. Both are merely shown in a couple of pages with some short narration.

Multiple pages are wasted with Linarian (later to be known as Rathma) walking from his home to the ancient citadel. Every page repeats the same words from risen corpses he finds along the way. Before I knew it, I had gone past half of the graphic novel’s pages.

This is not an artist problem, but a storyteller and an editor problem. Personally, if I had been the editor of this graphic novel, I wouldn’t have approved it. I would have sent the Diablo historian and the writer back to the drawing board with feedback from game developers about future game content to tie-in. This graphic novel felt like a story you would write for a child age 7 in terms of pacing and simplicity. Minimum this graphic novel should have had 112 pages. Not 66 pages.

World of Warcraft: Pearl of Pandaria by Micky Neilson was a graphic novel published in 2012 with 112 pages. There were several locations and characters mentioned there. Though it was about a kid named Lili, it was an enjoyable story, later complemented in-game with Chen and Lili becoming part of the Valley of the Four Winds zone’s story and the dungeon (wink-wink, nice tie-in).

Players want to read names of locations, and long narrations to fill us in on what’s happening from page to page. Things that are relevant to learn about Linarian, Lilith, Inarius, the balance, and Trag’oul.

If anything, you will only learn a few things about Linarian. Trag’oul is merely an implied character out of view that is not even named in the graphic novel’s last page.

The first dialogue happens on page 18 featuring his wife. Only 3 pages.

Thereafter, Linarian is on a journey toward the Citadel of the Firstborn, where he encounters the villain that calls out to him.

What happens happens, and the graphic novel ends on page 66. That’s all. Finito.

I couldn’t believe how short and slim the story was for $22. I felt like I barely learned anything about Linarian. I fail to understand how the graphic novel ties in with Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, and the answer is likely that it simply doesn’t tie in with the expansion.

Considering there was a Diablo: Legends of the Barbarian, Bul-Kathos, these are stories based on each class. Especially, those who were the first of that class.

There was so much potential in a Rathma story, but I feel it was wasted.

I would have raised it to more than 110 pages. I would have talked more about the rogue angels and demons. I’d have revealed some of their names, dialogues, and interactions with Inarius and Lilith.

At least I would have mentioned the name of some of the firstborn, and who their parents were. You know, build up some base backstory for future Diablo IV expansions and Season themes. Who is to say that Rathma was the only firstborn still alive? Or that some of the firstborn could be reborn in the Burning Hells or raised. Or some of them might be hidden in realms such as… the animal spirit realm in … Nahantu.

How many years of whispers and prophecies have we heard in World of Warcraft? Some that came to pass in Legion. Some that came to pass in Battle for Azeroth. Some that came to pass in Dragonflight… and some yet to be in The War Within and beyond. That’s how you build storytelling. Give us something in-game, in comics, graphic novels, novels. Then as new Seasons come in the future… and new expansions …ohh… ((surprised))… I read that in Diablo: Legends of the [fill blank], or Diablo: Book of [fill blank].

Season 2 (Season of Blood) featured Lord Zir — revealed to be one of the firstborn. Lord Zir could have easily appeared in this graphic novel, scheming with the other villain.

It feels like a missed opportunity.

The only thing that this graphic novel could be of consequence or relevancy is if the villain somehow managed to return as a Diablo IV boss or be the main villain of an upcoming Season.

Other than that, I don’t see how to justify recommending you to buy Diablo: Legends of the Necromancer, Rathma for $20-22+. The art is very decent. The story isn’t worthwhile. However, you might have a different opinion after reading the graphic novel.

I must be harsh and honest in my review whether paid-by-myself or as a free-review-copy. Especially so with what appears to be new publishing management at the reins. We deserve story quality for the price. That in turn helps us to build trust and faith in future Diablo graphic novels.

I find it unacceptable that there is no Kindle version of Diablo: Legends of the Necromancer, Rathma. I own the physical and PDF format of every Diablo novel and comics. I prefer the digital version for when I need to search for a reference using the search tool.

My Comics-reading Background

I have read every Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo novel and comics (except the Dark Horse Comics’ Tales of Sanctuary). Most of them in PDF format, accessible through the Kindle app on my Windows 11 PC. Diablo: Book of Adria (in printed form only).

I own over 1,500 Marvel comic books spanning The Avengers, West Coast Avengers, all X-Men title spinoffs up to the early 2000s, and a few Fantastic Four. Many other titles to mention here. I have read countless hundreds more post-2000s with a Marvel Unlimited subscription (digital PDF).