Dungeon Twilight: Dragon Cemetery

French cartooning sensations Trondheim and Sfarr have produced numerous volumes of their epic fantasy series Dungeon. This latest American translation jumps far into the future, where Marvin, a blind old dragon, is trying to complete one last task. He must find the dragon cemetery and, in his cranky, irascible way, adopts a bat, who serves as his guide, and a foolish but brave red rabbit also named Marvin, who becomes his protector. The trio journey across a vast and colorful landscape to ultimately confront the Grand Khan, with whom the dragon has old, unfinished business. The entire book is rendered in a fairly seamless blend of Trondheim's exuberant cartooning and Sfarr's grittier, more intense drawings. They move the story along at a brisk pace, with just enough digressions to add depth. The only sticking point is that Trondheim and Sfarr are sometimes so busy moving the plot along that they forget to shade in the characters: occasionally the reader is left wondering why exactly he should care about them. But more often than not, Sfarr and Trondheim effortlessly sweep you into their breezy adventures. (Apr.)