This is going to be a very short review by my usual lengthy-page standards. In my issue # 4 solicitations post, I flattered Titan Comics for daring to make a 4-issue Foil cover for a Diablo comic book.

Now that I have issues #1 and #2 on my hands, I have a crystal-clear verdict on whether to recommend it. The Titan Comics Diablo #1-4 Foil cover variant is not worth $15 each. For a fan new to comics, the discovery of a Foil variant in the solicitations for a franchise you love is going to be exciting. Possibly, even having it in your hands might still excite you.

For veteran comics collectors from the 1990s, including myself, this is the equivalent of buying a gold ring by catalog or online at a premium price, but receiving a knockoff gold-plated ring instead. Yup. It’s that bad.

With over 1200 comics collected, and a few Foil variants such as the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse – Alpha (1995), X-Men: Age of Apocalypse – Omega, and Cable #1 — those were made with foil material. Foil on both sides, and you can rub your finger along the edges and feel that if you put enough pressure, you might cut yourself. That’s hyperbole, as I don’t know if that’s even possible, but I don’t recommend trying hard. It might make you bleed. On top of that, those 1995 foil variants also had an extra touch and care… the cover was foil embossed, which made the characters’ outlines stand out. Colors truly pop out, and that foil emboss gave up chromium vibes or shades of gray depth.

The first thing that came to mind when I had the Titan Comics Diablo #1 and #2 Foil variants in the palm of my hands was that the foil cover’s coloring looks so dull and opaque in this foil material. Then I did what comes naturally. You look at the inner side. It is not foil. It is a flat white paper with the front foil-plated(sp?) Got it? gold-plated. A knockoff.

I don’t know. Could you imagine what a fully foil variant would cost if this foil-plated white paper knockoff costs $15? I’d rather have the true foil variant, to be clear, which is what I thought I had purchased. For me, it is a once-done-to-me, last-done-to-me deal. I’m not falling for the “Foil variant” moniquer coming from Titan Comics again.

I am going to cancel my Diablo #3 foil variant. If you are in the process, I recommend canceling too. In the wise words of Gandalf: “Fly (flee), you fools!”

Here are two photos with my Samsung Galaxy S10. I made sure to reflect my LED light on the foil surface, but that made the colors stand out more than it really does in real life. It is very opaque with a washedout yellow and light orange. No vivid colors. I was a graphic art graduate and had my practice at a press shop. Of course, that was 30 years ago. If I had to strike a guess, I’d say that’s printed on paper and then foil-dust was sprayed on the paper, then heated. A foil variant knockoff. I might be wrong on the material and methods, but as the second image illustrates, the white paper on the inner side makes it a knockoff.

The Story: I haven’t read issue #3 and #4 yet, and I haven’t completed any of the Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred side quests. I might have a separate review once I’m done with the side quests. But if you ask my opinion purely based on the Lord of Hatred’s campaign, I’m disappointed. I don’t recall hearing once any mention of the Barbarian hero or his barbarian tribe in the Lord of Hatred campaign. I didn’t see barbarian monsters transformed by Mephisto, bodyguarding him. It truly pissed me off every time we encountered devoted followers of Akarat in-game that would be transformed into a monster boss. None of them looked barbarian, to me. A truly missed opportunity.

That alone to me is going to really make me want to be more careful on reading anything with the “Diablo” title on it the next time. I don’t demand simply stories based on Diablo. I demand stories based on Diablo that either expand the in-game lore of recent Diablo expansions, or add new lore that I will later find in the next Diablo IV expansion.

Why is it a tragedy? Because the Diablo: Dawn of Hatred comic doesn’t feel connected storywise with the Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred expansion. A tragedy, because what I did find plenty of connections in the expansion of is the mention of events that happen in the novel, Diablo: The Lost Horadrim. Every time you hear Lorath, or [the-other-character (spoiler)] talk about their past adventures in Skovos, or whenever they talk about the Skovos Queen … that’s a connection to the novel.

The comic? I guess I’ll have to play all the Skovos side quests to have a final comment. We need better comics and Diablo IV expansion story integration that I read and later pays off in-game. Otherwise, my money stays where it belongs. In my pocket.