We’re a sucker for a simple-yet-effective pitch. Writer Brian Schirmer first came on our radar in 2019 with Fairlady, a series of standalone fair-play mysteries he described as a gender-swapped “fantasy Magnum P.I.” Sold.
His latest, out next month from Vault, is Quests Aside, a workplace comic set in a D&D-style tavern that includes the log line “It’s Always Sunny in the realms.”
My mind immediately went there. Do you have to pay the troll toll to get in? Will there be a barkeep who’s actually a giant bird? Do you have to roll an ability check every time you pretend to know karate?
No, because the creators aren’t just ripping off an existing TV show, but still, that’s the power of a good pitch.
“I’ve always loved stories about the thief who wants to take One Last Score, or the outlaw who needs to take One Last Ride. Their eyes are frequently fixed on retiring thereafter,” Schirmer said in materials supplied by Vault. “Usually, things don’t work out as they planned. We take this conceit to a fantasy realm, where a legendary adventurer has already actually succeeded in taking One Last Quest, opened a tavern, and got to retire. That’s where we begin.”
Artist Elena Gogou promises “heralds with three-neck electric guitars, orc stand-up comedians and 20-year-old mage apprentices with anxiety. There are no rules.”
Check out this extended, exclusive preview of Quests Aside #1 from our friends at Vault, plus all the standard deets below.
Synopsis: A skeleton, an apprentice mage and an exiled princess walk into a bar … for another shift at Quests Aside, the local watering hole run by once legendary, now retired adventurer Barrow. When the King privately explains that he plans to shut the place down, Barrow must find a way to hold onto his business and the family he’s built around it.
Writer: Brian Schirmer
Artist: Elena Gogou
Colorist: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Designer: Tim Daniel
Cover A: Elena Gogou
Cover B: Michael Dialynas
On sale: 5/4/2022
Cover price: $4.99
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts WMQ&A: The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
