Magic: The Gathering (IDW comic)

Magic: The Gathering
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Publication information
Publisher	IDW Publishing
Publication period	2012
Number of issues	4
Character(s)	Dack Fayden
ISBN-13	978-1613772287
Creative team
Writer(s)	Matt Forbeck
Illustrator(s)	Martin Coccolo
Preceded By N/A Followed By Magic: The Gathering - The Spell Thief

Magic: The Gathering is a paperback published by IDW Publishing in 2012, assembling 4 comics which were published earlier in that year. The book follows the exploits of the planeswalker thief Dack Fayden, a Magic character specially created for the series.

Blurbs

• Get ready, Magic: The Gathering fans, there's a new Planeswalker in town! In search of greater magical knowledge and on the hunt for the people who destroyed his town, Dack Fayden is the greatest thief in the Multiverse. When he gets his hands on his latest prize, though, he has no idea where it will lead him - or to who!

• After last issue's fierce battle against a group of Innistrad vampires, Dack Fayden has found a new ally: young cathar Ingrid Reichert. With her help, Dack continues to track down the person who devastated his hometown. But when Dack stumbles into another vampire attack, even Ingrid's help may not be enough to get them out alive...

• Dack Fayden has finally caught up to the mage that destroyed his home village, but it might be too late: she has begun casting a deadly spell that will drain hundreds of their life force. And, now that Dack has arrived, he may fall prey to the same dark magic as the rest!

Story

Dack Fayden has just stolen the Ancient Fang from the Cult of Rakdos, on the plane of Ravnica, and is being chased by several of the cult's members and a very large dragon-like creature. He can hide in a tower but runs into a viashino, who is trying to rob another man. The trapped Dack escapes by planeswalking to Fiora, but not before the viashino has a chance to cut him with his tail.

Now safely on Fiora, Dack goes to the local watering hole where he is recognized, not in a good way, and is forced to use magic to escape an angry mob. He runs upstairs where he runs into his friend Alessa. Alessa begs Dack to take her with him, but he explains to her he can't do that to her children and her. Dack leaves through the window and planeswalks back to Ravnica.

Back on Ravnica, Dack goes to see the healer, Fadka, who heals his viashino wound. She also offers to heal his mysterious red-stained arm, but Dack refuses, claiming he keeps it as a reminder and it keeps him focused. While Fadka is healing Dack, the fence Vaclav Nosek shows up unannounced. Vaclav tries to convince Dack to sell him the Ancient Fang, but Fadka attempts to kick him out of her shop. Before she does Dack says that after he is done with the artifact, he'll find Vaclav. This seems good enough for Vaclav but he leaves Dack with a warning to find him before they find Dack.

Back at Dack's safe house, he uses a spell to see what the last owner of the Fang saw. He sees his hometown of Drakeston and a woman named Mariel, who is looking for Dack. He sees the owner of the Fang, an old woman named Sifa Grent, kill Mariel and her army kills the townspeople. The last thing he sees is Sifa's face now young once again. After putting the Fang away Dack heads off to Innistrad to find Sifa and get his revenge.

While in Innistrad, Dack is forced to save a mother and son from a group of vampires, While making their escape the Baron Eckhart Von Falkenrath, corners Dack and he is forced to pull out the Fang. Upon seeing it the Baron flees. Dack takes shelter at the home of the Cathar Ingrid and her father Hermann. Dack looks into the dagger once again and sees Sifa's face again and a vampire's as well. This time Sifa orders the vampire, against his will, to kill the people of Drakeston and hints that she is looking for Dack. Dack now realizes that the dagger can control vampires and that Sifa is close by.

Eckhart reports to Sifa about their failure and the reappearance of the Ancient Fang. This concerns Sifa, who goes to search for Dack. Meanwhile, Hermann, who wants to evict Dack for endangering them, argues with Ingrid. Dack decides to work alone and leaves them to pursue Sifa. Ingrid follows him, and together they track Eckhart to a manor. Dack and Ingrid fight Eckhart and his minions. Dack uses a spell he learned from the Ancient Fang to take control of the vampires and defeat Eckhart. However, Eckhart reveals that Sifa has gone to Hermann to question him about Dack. Dack charges off on horseback to rescue the village, while Ingrid stays behind to deal with Eckhart.

Sifa, having gathered a horde of zombies, interrogates Hermann about Dack. Dack sneaks back into town but is drained by the fight at the manor. He intervenes and duels Sifa. He reveals to Sifa that he was the one who escaped the massacre at Drakeston. Ingrid shows up with a team of Cathars, turning the tide against Sifa. Though Dack defeats Sifa, the zombies threaten to overwhelm the townsfolk and Cathars, giving Dack a choice between killing her and saving them. Dack unleashes a spell to banish the zombies, but Sifa planeswalks away. Dack explains to Ingrid and Hermann that he must follow Sifa to stop her, but they cannot follow. He tracks her back to Ravnica.

Promos

Each first wave of the original comic books contained a playable alternate art Promotional card.

• Issue #1 (2012-01-02) — Treasure Hunt
• Issue #2 (2012-02-28) — Faithless Looting
• Issue #3 (2012-03-28) — Feast of Blood
• Issue #4 (2012-05-23) — Electrolyze

Covers

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  Issue 1

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  Issue 1 (alternate cover)

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  Issue 2

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  Issue 3

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  Issue 4