Mad Cave has announced a new series by writer/artist Matt Emmons — Crusader, the story of a Templar knight who has to battle his way through a high-fantasy world. He’s joined by letterer Andriy Lukin on the project.
“I’ve been trying to capture the feeling of a pulpy, fun adventure story that embodies everything I’ve loved about the genre, and I hope it translates,” Emmons said. “I’ve also been wanting to draw Pilgrim in action for years, so it’s very exciting to finally bring him to the page. Crusader has been a fun challenge!”
Here’s how Mad Cave describes the series:
A Templar Knight finds himself transported to a dangerous realm known as the Beastlands. With sinister entities known as The Masters hunting him down, all he has is his sword and a weird, goblin-like creature named Grimbel to guide him through this strange new world.
“I was raised Catholic, though never really engaged with it or practiced beyond when I was required to,” Emmons said. “I’ve struggled trying to reconcile how contradictory some of the most extreme versions of faith can be. It’s a common feeling I’ve found with others that feel like we have to unlearn that we don’t have to follow a certain belief system in order to be “good” and that sometimes we really do need to question systems in place rather than be party to them. The Crusader at the center of the story, struggles with a much more exaggerated version of that, trying to survive during a crisis of faith and return for the better.”
Mad Cave will release two variant covers for the first issue — one available through Diamond, and a second through Lunar Distribution. Here’s the Diamond exclusive cover by Michael Walsh:
And here’s Marie Enger’s variant, available exclusively through Lunar:
Finally, here’s a preview of Emmons’ interior pages:
“Crusader is an adventurous and fun title that won’t leave fantasy fans disappointed,” said Lukin. “It’s a story of re-evaluating your goals and principles, filled with awesome art, memorable characters and great action scenes! I’m very excited to help Matt Emmons with his artistic vision and I hope our readers will appreciate the work we put into this series!”
Look for the first issue on Sept. 6.