Vault announces the comedy-fantasy series ‘Quests Aside’

Brian Schirmer and Elena Gogou tell the story of a retired adventurer and his tavern.

Pour a cold one and get ready for some stories, as Vault Comics has announced Quests Aside, a new fantasy-comedy series about the local tavern and the retired adventurer trying to keep it open.

The new series is written by Brian Schirmer, writer of the excellent fantasy comic Fairlady, and drawn by Greek comics artist Elena Gogou (Campfire Stories, My City). They’re joined by colorist Rebecca Nalty and designer Tim Daniel, who brings a creative consistency to everything Vault publishes.

“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,” said Schirmer. “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.”

Here’s the description:

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!

“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,” Gogou said. “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.”

And here’s a look at Michael Dialynas’ variant cover, as well as a preview of the interior art:

The first issue arrives in April.

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