A stronger outing is here, but does this latest comic book yield enough narrative meat to warrant your attention?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dark Horse:

Enter the Fade, where the life you always imagined is yours—as long as you never wake up!

Dwarven rogue Varric Tethras travels through the realm of magic and fantasy rescuing his companions from the dreams—and nightmares—that have imprisoned their minds. Will our heroes remember the truth in time to stop the most evil of mages from making his dream a reality?

When it comes to high end fantasy outings, there are many paths a tale, such as this one, can take.  Some lead to over explanation and a story that simply drowns in an unnecessary amount of context while others simply embrace their world while trusting that their audience will figure it out sooner or later.  Being that this is an established property this duo chooses the latter option.

Alexander Freed pens the script and in this penultimate issue he effortlessly brings us into a unique corner of this saga while allowing our chief characters to have some true moments of development.  And that right there is what sets this comic book, and perhaps this property, apart form the rest of the pack.  If you’re unfamiliar with this tale and the world therein I would recommend picking up this series nonetheless because at the very least it feels like a solid entry point.

The art by Chad Hardin is top notch from beginning to end.  He seamlessly brings the written word to life in a way that not only yields a soul but also builds convictions for this fantastical romp.  I was positively floored by the use of characters and backgrounds however here were a few instances where the illustrations were a tad bit confusing to follow.  But for the most part these momentary gaps seemed to be few and far between.

Dragon Age: Until We Sleep #2 is a step-up from last month’s beginning issue and has me all kinds of excited for the final piece of this puzzle.  Recommended.

4/5