It's Sunday, the 5th of July, and somehow I think that some of you guys are either traveling, sleeping in, or "mysteriously" a little ill. This one's dedicated to all of you. I hope you had a happy Fourth of July, and here's a quickie to enjoy before you realize that today is the last day of the Midsummer Fire Festival and you never did get around to finishing those achievements.

• Cru the Dwarf: A Pile of Dried Plums.
• Dark Legacy Comics: On the Run.
• GU Comics: If the Armor Fits.
• On Experience Points, Victor finds a way to solve his problem.
• Flintlocke vs. the Horde.
• Check out the latest from LFG.
• NoObz: Crafting.
• NPC: Time Spent and 17 Pound Catfish.
• Teh Gladiators.
• World of Warcraft, eh?: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I agree with the comments, there are some great facial expressions in this one! Plus, a pretty cool bikini.
  

When I'm not playing WoW, I'm usually found indulging in manga and have been devouring the Warcraft series ever since the Sunwell Trilogy came out. Of all the characters introduced through comics and manga, the most tragic next to Anveena has to be Trag Highmountain. I've watched over the last year as more characters from the print franchises began to appear in-game, and there's something about seeing them translated into the game which gives me an amazing thrill.

We've met Anveena and her soul mate Kalec, Tyri and Jorad as well as Broll and that Blood Elf chick whose always hanging around Varian, so I've often wondered when Trag would turn up. It's inevitable given how his quest to Icecrown is in keeping with Wrath of the Lich King. Imagine my surprise when I logged on to the PTR for the first time this morning to find one Tauren Death Knight standing guard over one of the incapacitated forms of one of the Coliseum bosses.

Yes, it's our old friend Trag, now a level 80 NPC. While seeming hostile, he makes no move to attack the Alliance or speak, he just seems to stand near Gormok the Impaler. I'm sure he'll get some lines by the time Patch 3.2 goes live though. Having not yet read Warcraft: Legends' final volume, I'm curious to find out what happened to him but it's nice to know he's finally free of the Lich King's thrall.

Click here to submit a link to TDQ

It's officially summer, or Midsummer, if you like. This week's list is pretty hefty and even has a few seasonal entries. Enjoy!

• Cru the Dwarf: Sir Lothar has been given some cryptic orders.
• Dark Legacy Comics: Invention Time! I really liked this one. What could go wrong with Invention Time?
  
• GU Comics: Ingenious Plan. I have not yet done this, but I can't say I've been looking forward to it either. I did however spend some time screwing up my karma by the bonfire in Silvermoon City.
• GU Comics: More Fire Catching. I echo these sentiments.
• In the conclusion to Victor's plight from Experience Points, the punishment is laid out. I for one, agree RedWoodElf's comment. Then he ventures out onto a date "IRL" but doesn't get what he bargained for. Personally, I like comparing their head sizes. Oddly enough, he bravely pushes through.
  
• Check out the latest from Flintlocke vs. the Horde. I am totally jealous of that dude's button.
• In LFG's latest, the gnomes are getting restless, though they remain content to do nothing about it.
• NoObz: I'm Worth It. I never find any good options either.
• NPC: Kitty Names Revealed. It seems that cat identities are similar to those of females on the Internet.
• NPC: Perspective. Heck, people need guild bank alts these days! I have two.
• Teh Gladiators: The Beast Rares its Ugly Head(s).
• Kuo: When the Kobold disappears, the adventurers employ their own methods of finding him.
• World of Warcraft, eh?: The Battle is Lost. I love the detail of the creepy centaur's fingernails. I can't wait for the new features!

I've been getting back into comics lately, thanks largely to the World of Warcraft. My most recent purchases were the trade paperbacks of Wildstorm's World of Warcraft series and Ashbringer, as well as Tokyopop's Warcraft Legends manga. Since I couldn't get my fix of Hong Kong manhua without actually going to Hong Kong (which makes it kind of hard to keep up with weekly titles like Amazing Weapons 4...), it was a bit easier to head over to our local shops and get some Western comics. What better subject than my favorite game, right?

While I enjoyed Ashbringer, I take a great liking to Warcraft Legends because it explores the other aspects or characters of Azeroth. The ongoing series can focus on well-known guys like Varian Wrynn, but Warcraft Legends are cool side-stories of the unknown guys. That opens up a world of potential. We could see stories about those NPCs we always see all over the place. Maybe we can get a comic about Cro Threadstrong and find out why he hates the fruit vendor so much. How about stories about the wandering "named" NPCs in Dalaran? Minigob Manabonk, maybe?

On the flip side, how about when the characters in the comic stories suddenly make their way into the game? We know Broll Bearmantle and Valeera Sanguinar have their roots in toys and comics, and players can now meet them in WoW. This whole idea of comics as an extension of the game's story is really cool, and I hope Wildstorm and Tokyopop keep putting out great comics and characters. Is there anything in particular about the World of Warcraft that you'd like to see in comic form? A favorite character? A particular period or special event? Share your thoughts!

This week's comic list is a good one, so settle in and start clicking. To answer a comment on last week's post, comics can be submitted through the WoW.com tip form, or left as a comment on the most recent Sunday Morning Funnies post.

• Check out the latest from Cru the Dwarf.
• Dark Legacy Comics: Toe Stub.
• This comic from GU Comics is related more to Activision-Blizzard than to WoW specifically, although there is a WoW reference.
• Check out the latest from Experience Points.
• The latest Flintlocke vs. the Horde got me laughing, although you should check out the Taco Time comic first, if you haven't.
• This isn't the most recent comic from LFG, but I thought it might stand alone better.
• NoObz: To Pull Or Not To Pull.
• NPC: Just Like Me and Squirrel Flavor.
• Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators.
• Backward Compatible has a WoW-related comic out.
• The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: Druids with Candy.
• Check out the latest from Kuo.

It was with a mix of anticipation and apprehension that I wrote about the Ashbringer Trade Paperback by Wildstorm which collects all four issues of the limited series. After all, I wasn't entirely impressed with the regular series featuring Varian Wrynn but thoroughly enjoyed Tokyopop's Warcraft Legends manga, so while I was decided upon getting Ashbringer, I had moderately low expectations.

The good thing about having low expectations is that it's hard to get disappointed. It turns out, however, that I didn't have to set my expectations so low... the Ashbringer comics are a very good read from start to finish, particularly for readers who play World of Warcraft. In fact, that might be its one caveat -- the Ashbringer limited series is a decent read for the average reader but truly shines for players, who are familiar with the story and recognize the characters.

Today's comic list is full of surprises, including great artwork, plot development, hilarity, and one or two that didn't really tickle my fancy this week. Perhaps if I were a bigger fan of tacos....

• Cru's parents deduce that he's probably in trouble, and his father goes looking for his hammer.
• Dark Legacy Comics: Direction Dance.
• Experience Points: Too many addons leads to bad places.
• Check out the latest from Flintlocke vs. the Horde.
• Check out the latest from LFG.
• NoObz: Translatoxx is My Friend. I love that little robot.
  
• NPC: Check out Pandering part two and Pandering part three.
• Questionable Content made a WoW reference recently.
• Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators.
• Gotta Catch Them All Part 2 from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf. I knew Mr. Pinchy would be a formidable enemy.
• The latest installment of how Kissless and Cadistra meet is live, and the artwork is awesome (as usual)!
• A Thousand Hurtful, Hurtful Words from Awkward Zombie.

Today, the rubber gloves come off. Or rather, they are not being put on again. The list is a good one, full of jokes you need to read because I say recommend so.

• Cru is getting some action! Though I do have to say, the latest update cracked me right up!
• Dark Legacy Comics: No More Puns.
• Experience Points: Vincent gets nerfed and then needs to make a decision. Not only did I "lol" I totally identify.
• I love the last frame of the latest from Flintlocke vs. the Horde.
• Check out the latest from LFG.
• NoObz: 64 I live in the Shadows.
• NPC: Confused Instincts. Thanks for the kind words at Mike's meet-up Mary! I, too, vote for Booth Studs.
  
• Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators.
• The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: Gotta Catch Them All. I can't wait to see what Disgraph unleashes. After all, pinching is mean.
• Check out the guest comic on World of Warcraft, eh? written by Dan Wood of Disgraph. I giggled pretty hard at the hockey sticks!
• In the category of new things, a recent Working Daze comic was WoW-related.

Another Sunday arrives, and now it is almost June! This means less than a month until servers flood with children, Barrens chat takes on new life, and we're all being asked for "golds" and dungeon runs. Savor the next couple of weeks.

• Check out the latest from Cru and the one before that! After all, I can't have you all missing the drunken bar scenes.
• The latest from Dark Legacy Comics, Whitecraft, touches on one of the limitations of WoW's character creation service.
• Experience Points features another Dear Diary, and discusses, in its own way, Ulduar trash mobs.
• Check out the latest from Flintlocke vs. the Horde.
• Check out the latest from LFG.
• NoObz: Serborusski.
• NPC: Critter Tease.
• Check out the latest Teh Gladiators.
• The latest from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf, Form of... a Druid!, is all about the new Druid forms.
• It Slices, It Dices from World of Warcraft, eh? shows the kitteh unleashed!

I haven't been a big fan of the whole Alliance-centric direction of the Wildstorm World of Warcraft comics, and I picked up the whole Varian Wrynn saga mostly out of a completist impulse rather than actual concern for the story or its characters. I also thought Ludo Lullabi had better samples of art on his personal site than what he showed in the comic, so when I found out the next story arc was going to be pencilled by Jon Buran, I wasn't too concerned. Buran is doing tremendous work so far. Of course, we all soon learned why Lullabi left the book -- he was tasked with illustrating the Ashbringer story.

The good news is that the Ashbringer comics which follow the story of the legendary blade showcase some of Lullabi's best work yet (with assists from Tony Washington). This owes largely to the spectacular coloring, done Painter-style by either Lullabi himself or an uncredited colorist. The painted covers by Chris Robinson add a sense of awe and wonder to the series, and each issue of the four-parter is rich with lore because it was written by Blizzard's own Micky Neilson. Even better news is that DC Comics has collected the mini-series in a hardcover edition available at your friendly neighborhood comic shop for $19.99. So soon after picking up Warcraft Legends, I think I'll need to make a little more space on my shelves...

Although Free Comic Book Day is supposed to be on the first Saturday of May each year, our local book store chain Fully Booked held it last May 23 with a 20% discount off graphic novels and select manga. I thought it was a good opportunity to pick up Tokyopop's Warcraft Legends series, a manga-style take on the Warcraft universe. I'd had my eye on these books for a while, so last weekend was a good opportunity to get them.

Each book contains three self-contained stories and one ongoing tale featuring the Tauren Trag Highmountain from the Sunwell Trilogy manga written by Richard Knaak and drawn by Kim Jae-Hwan. Trag's story in Warcraft Legends picks up where the Sunwell Trilogy left off, and although the story is rather interesting, the best thing about the manga are the short stories which breathe a little more life into the Warcraft world. These stories are what make the books truly shine. My take on the first three books in the series after the jump.

Along with most of the Blizzard fansites, Arena Junkies is also conducting a BlizzCon ticket giveaway, and they want you to design your own Arena. Basically, you come up with an idea, supplement it with whatever drawings or pictures you'd like, and then submit it in their forum thread by June 5th. After that, they'll have the community choose the top three, and each of those winners will be on their way to Anaheim to visit Blizzard's big event. We bet there'll be some awesome ideas coming out of the contest by the end -- Arena players are nothing if not creative.

And in other BlizzCon news, Tokyopop has announced that they'll have a booth at the convention (not a huge surprise -- we'll expect to see most of Blizzard's licensing partners in attendance), and they've got a lot of fun stuff planned: artist Fernando Heinz Furukawa of Warcraft Legends and Starcraft: Ghost Academy will be there and drawing pictures for attendees, and there'll be various art on display and new books to be sold. Plus, they'll have a Blood Elf standup for pictures, and they even leak a little something about fellow exhibitor BradyGames: this year they'll be hosting a convention-wide "fishing quest." Sounds like fun.

If you don't have tickets yet, you have one more chance: they go on sale this Sunday, May 31st. Seriously, don't show up until then. (Ed: Schramm, stop trying to keep people out of your ticket line! The second round of ticket sales is this Saturday, May 30th. Good luck to everyone except Schramm.)

We're nearing the end of May, and I'm trusting that all of you US players have been having a wonderful long weekend! For those of you who didn't get to go on vacation, or who snuck a laptop into your bags, here are the latest WoW-related comics.

• Check out the latest from Cru the Dwarf.
• Dark Legacy Comics: Evade.
• Experience Points: Perhaps you have recently considered spending some more time outdoors? If not, you can always fake a disconnect.
• Flintlocke vs the Horde: The guys are on a quest chain.
• Check out the latest from LFG.
• NoObz: My Big Brother.
• NPC: Warcrack Game Thingy?
• Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators.
• The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: The Monday Dregs.
• World of Warcraft, eh?: Lions and Paladins and Bears - Oh My!

Blizzard has posted an online preview of the next edition of the World of Warcraft comic book, issue number 19, and it's full of something we love doing: Scourge killin'. Actually, not to spoil it for you (it's only a few pages long), but it looks like the book is revisiting the old attacks on Stormwind (well at least the planned attack on Stormwind) and Ogrimmar right before the last expansion.

I haven't been following the comic book super closely, but it looks like the comic's timeline has just now caught up to the Scourge invasion. It's still fun to see what was going on then, from the big throwdown (that we never actually got to see in-game) on the docks to the other big throwdown between Thrall and Garrosh. Give it a look and if you like it, keep an eye out for the new comic book issue, which should be in stores right now.