LEGO Ninjago Garmadon #1 Comic Review & First Impressions (spoiler warning)

April 4, 2022 | 3

Last year, LEGO and Skybound Comics announced that a new comic book series – Garmadon, based on the LEGO Ninjago universe would be released on 6 April, 2022.

Ahead of the official release, I had the opportunity to check out and review the first edition of the upcoming series – Garmadon #1!

Garmadon written and drawn by Tri Vuong, a rising star that will pen the upcoming Everyday Hero Machine Boy series.

Garmadon #1 will be available from comic book shops, as well a digital download on 6 April 2022, and will be priced at US$3.99

Spoilers ahead, so don’t read if you don’t want to find out plot points from Garmadon #1!

Garmadon #1 is an exciting new foray into the expansive world of LEGO Ninjago, exploring new facets of the world, and its rich tapestry of characters.

The star of this series – Garmadon is well known to LEGO Ninjago fans, and Garmadon #1 starts off with a prologue, introducing both new and existing fans to who Garmadon is.

We get a peek into Garmadon’s early life, being Sensei Wu’s brother, and how he fathered Lloyd (the Green Ninja), and how he sacrificed himself to save Ninjago.

We get an introduction to the Oni, via the Sons of Garmadon, who resurrected him.

The story opens with Garmadon awakening in a forest, as he’s confronted by a shadowy creature (that looks a lot like himself), that he duels with in the moonlight, before it is revealed that it’s all a dream.

Chapter One: Two Moon Village follows, and opens with Garmadon spending time in the forest, where he comes across two children being attacked by a savage bear, as they harvest Glimwillow Lilies.

Garmadon rescues them, but realises that his powers weaken. As he’s brought back to Two Moon Village, we discover more of this corner of the Ninjago world, and are introduced to more characters – Renzo and Kenzo that run the village.

They brew Garmadon some Two Moon Tea, made out of Glimwillow Lilies, which somehow returns Garmadon’s strength!

Two Moon Tea is exceptionally rare, and can only be harvested under the light of a full moon, and has magical properties, granting healing powers to regular humans, but for otherworldly creatures – they amplify their powers greatly.

Chapter One ends with the introduction of a new faction – the Red Crows, which seem to be an offshoot of the Sons of Garmadon (SOG), and the return of a fan-favourite character Ultra Violet, a general of the SOG.

We also get introduced to the leader of the Red Crows – Lord Mogra, which I believe is a brand new character, and sets the scene up for the next edition – Garmadon #2.

Final Thoughts:

The series is supposedly canon, and picks up after the conclusion of 2019’s March of the Oni (Season 10), where Garmadon joins forces with his brother Wu and the Ninja to vanquish the Oni army.

The Garmadon comic series fills in the gaps, after his disappearance, and explores new ground in the world of Ninjago. From Garmadon #1, and we can already expect both new and old characters like Ultra Violet to make a return.

I’m not a massive comic book fan (I have some DC Comics), but this is a really interesting use of the media to tell the story of Ninjago. The art by Tri Vuong is gorgeous, and I’m intrigued to find out more about the story.

Each comic costs US$3.99, and for LEGO Ninjago fans, they represent great value.

I only got the digital version of Garmadon #1, but will definitely pick up the physical versions, and will be collecting the entire series.

At this stage, there aren’t any LEGO Ninjago sets tied in to the comics, but I totally expect them to do so, maybe later in the year, once the story is a bit more fleshed out, and can’t wait to see where this goes.

Garmadon Comic Variant Covers

And last but not least, here’s a look at some of the variant cover for the Garmadon comic.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this short review of the Garmadon #1 comic!

Special thanks to LEGO, Skybound, and AMEET for the early review copy of Garmadon #1

If you’re a LEGO Ninjago fan, or if your kids are into Ninjago, I think these are great to pick up (physically, preferably), and are a very classy way to immerse yourself in Ninjago lore.

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