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Few fantasy novelists are as prolific or popular as R. A. Salvatore, whose contributions to the Forgotten Realms universe are many and varied. Most popular of these works are his series of novels about the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden, the first of which has been adapted as a comic book by Devil’s Due. As with other recent comic-book adaptations of fantasy fiction such as Robert Jordan’s New Spring and George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight, Forgotten Realms: Homeland suffers initially from the slow-paced exposition that comes so easily in the novel but is often plodding in a comic book. The story itself is a unique study in a world literally turned on its head, where the sky is a vault of stone, where women dominate and terrorize men and values like ruthlessness and blind ambition are prized above all others. Still, this first installment lacks a sense of direction until the very end, undermining what might otherwise be an engaging story.

Drizzt was born in the midst of a great blood feud’s last battle. With his family victorious, his mother offered him to the service of their god, and he was trained as a warrior by his mother’s best swordsman. Disgusted with the greed and arrogance that pass for virtue among the Drow elves, the swordsman taught Drizzt of mercy and honor in addition to parries and counterattacks.

Once Drizzt reached manhood, his mother sent for him to be tested before his final offering to the academy, commanding him to kill a goblin disguised as a Drow fighter.

This first installment lacks a sense of direction until the very end, undermining what might otherwise be an engaging story.

Reluctant, he slays the goblin, but his hesitation does not pass unnoticed by his aunts, who see his compassion as an unbecoming weakness. But a greater threat to Drizzt and the entire clan of Do’Urden lurks in the very halls of the academy where Drizzt will be sent.

Salvatore’s tale is uniquely dark in a genre dominated by Tolkien wannabes. Despite its slow start, the pacing recovers as the book progresses, but an unimaginative layout and the similarity of several characters’ appearances detract from the overall effect. With few exceptions, the pages are laid out in four or six square panels, with little visual interest or splash, even in scenes of battle. The universal gray skin and white hair of the Drow demand distinctive facial and costume features to determine who is who, but the only substantial distinctions between most characters are whether they are male or female.

I think readers should expect more from a $4.95 comic book than a long story. Forgotten Realms: Homeland #1 unfortunately has little else to offer.