Warning! Spoilers for Quests Aside #1 by Vault Comics below
Dungeons and Dragons meet It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in Quests Aside, a brand new fantasy series from Vault Comics. The new series from the publisher by Brian Schirmer, Elena Gogou, Rebecca Nalty, and Tim Daniel will star an eclectic ensemble, including a skeleton, an apprentice mage, and an exiled princess working at the watering hole, where the King of the realm is threatening to shut it down. The hilarious series will flip the fantasy genre on its head.
Vault Comics is the home to some of the most critically acclaimed stories in comics. The independent publisher has teamed up with rising voices in the industry and created several books that have captured the comic world's attention. Among their best titles are Barbaric from Michael Moreci and Nathan C. Gooden, Blue Flame from Christopher Cantwell and Adam Gorham, Heathen from Natasha Alterici and Ashley A. Woods, These Savage Shores by Ram V and Sumit Kumar, and Reactor from Donny Cates and Dylan Burnett. Now, Vault Comics is stepping into the fantasy genre once again for a new series, Quests Aside.
Quests Aside by Brian Schirmer (Black Jack Ketchum), Elena Gogou (Campfire Stories), Rebecca Nalty (Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures), and Tim Daniel is a Vault Comics series starring a unique cast of characters. Barrow is a former legendary adventurer who's retired to run the watering hole. Among the staff at Quests Aside include a skeleton, an apprentice mage, and an exiled princess. The team will fight to save the business once the King plans to shut it down. The story will see the unlikely family work together to keep the lights on at Quests Aside. Check out the covers for the series by Gogou and Michael Dialynas, as well as a preview showing a rock-off between musicians outside the bar.
Check out the official synopsis for the series.
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.
It’s always sunny in the realms!
Writer Brian Schirmer said he wanted to write a story about family that was also fun and occasionally absurd.
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. 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.
With a set cast of bartenders, servers, and a skeleton cook, Quests Aside — the series and the tavern itself — also features a steady flow of colorful characters heading out to slay a dragon, or returning with a treasure, a few scrapes, and tales to tell. We liken it to high fantasy Cheers or It’s Always Sunny.
I wanted to write something that was about friendship and (found) family, and the lengths we’ll go in order to protect, preserve, and (sometimes) exploit those relationships. I also wanted it to be fun, funny, and occasionally absurd.
Elena Gogou said she wanted to draw the book to be familiar but unique while discussing what inspired Quests Asides art.
In the world of Quests Aside you can have your old-time adventures who went on epic quests in their youth, but you will also get heralds with three-neck electric guitars, orc stand-up comedians and 20-year-old mage apprentices with anxiety. There are no rules. I love this genre of fantasy, the one that takes more traditional fantasy elements and flips them on their head. When designing the world and the characters I tried to follow the same principle. I wanted the book to look familiar to what you’ve seen before, but with a little unique touch. For that I took a lot of inspiration from Greek culture, among other things. From the character's looks and clothes to musical instruments and table top games you’ll notice them playing in the background. I wanted to create a really rich, interesting and fun world and I can’t wait for Brian and me to share this story with you.
For readers who want to check out Quests Aside, the Vault Comics series arrives in comic book stores on April 27, 2022.