I'm always intrigued by what Vault has up their sleeves, as they really don't have a strict theme or type of comic they prefer to publish. When the PR comes in and they reference It's Always Sunny in Philadephia as the tone of a comic where there's a bar in a fantasy universe, I'm doubly intrigued. That's what Vault is promising with Quests Aside, a new comic set to come out in April.
What's the overall premise, you ask?
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.
Well that certainly sounds like it could be an episode of the FX show that's basically Danny DeVito's retirement gig. The writer, Brian Schimer, goes into a little more depth about what he's trying to accomplish:
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.”
That definitely squares with how the creators approach Sunny, and if the creative team behind Quests Aside can find that balance that Rob McElhenney started with, along with Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day (as primary co-writers), then it's easy to see how this book will become a new favorite for me.
Gogou was also quoted in the release. The line artist added:
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.
Vault provided some art samples, that I'm sharing here, for you to see that touch in action. Some really awesome color here from Nalty as well:
This looks like it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun to read. I'll admit that by pitching it as one of my favorite TV shows mixed into what feels a lot like a side story from Jim Zub and company's Skullkickers (one of my favorite comics) is setting yourself up for some high bars to live up to. Getting comedy right on the comics page is extremely hard, and very few can do it well. I don't know much about the creative team, but I trust Vault to know how to make this work. Can't wait to sink my teeth into this issue and see if it's something I can recommend to my Always Sunny-loving friends and family, both found anotherwise.
Quests Aside hits your favorite comic shop and digital device in April, 2022.
