By Clyde Hall — I stepped into my first dungeon in 1979. Or rather, my first character did, and in all the years since then, the taverns and inns of my various campaigns have occupied fond recesses in my tabletop gaming heart. Game supplements, novels, and homegrown modules have added even more visions of creatively crafted pubs with quirky characters abounding to give the joints atmosphere. Only in such places could you meet important contacts, network with other delvers, bet on a fantasy equivalent of The Running Man, or take part in fierce Friday night fish-flinging competition. Normally, this was where the actual roleplaying happened, your characters not under life-and-death pressures but instead allowed to be themselves. Let their dwarven beards down and quaff a pint o’ stout. Or three. Not all these establishments were equals of The Prancing Pony, but they could be a lot of fun. 

The same components from that slice of roleplay enjoyment are included in the first issue of Quests Aside. Some are familiar standards. The owner, Barrow, is a former adventurer who’s now retired and running his own roadhouse. Clueless novice delvers are part of his clientele. Bards provide tuneful entertainment. Friendly competitors drop by. Other characters, especially performers and staff, are humorously more unique. 

Brian Schirmer scripts introductions for his cast in, naturally enough, a Gamemaster’s manner. Readers find out about the principle characters through engaging interactions between one another and with Barrow. Schirmer then builds interest in Barrow’s relationship with the ruler of the realm, King Durk, and revelations about their past, plus secrets the tavern owner keeps close to his padded leather vest, set hooks in the final act. 

With King Durk, Schirmer presents situations echoing early Game of Thrones motifs, but varies the similarities enough that a different progression of events seems assured. Other portions of the storyline also have familiar resonance but evade being too trope-like while establishing their own unusual, novel aspects. 

Elena Gogou’s art style for this issue is reminiscent of feature strips in early years of Dragon Magazine. She’s equally adept bringing funny character interactions into play and bestowing expressions both charming and chuckle-worthy, or positing confrontation when the time for light-hearted banter ends. Though action imagery is mostly limited to a ‘battle of the bands’ moment and flashbacks, Gogou is a talented visual choice for making violence or threats thereof more humorous than harrowing. 

Colorist Rebecca Nalty brings a palette of appropriate neutral tones mixed with muted color variations, and at times she bestows an appropriate smokiness to the inn’s interiors. Letters by AndWorld Design drop clever mentions into the sound effects fonts, in particular one noise door slam that earned my wistful smile. The lettering also explains portions of the narrative when words or the illustrations would have difficulty doing so in panel space provided. 

Collectively, the creative team members have produced a premiere issue which introduces a varied found family cast and settles them into an offbeat, convoluted environ they’ve fashioned into their home. In the tradition of Rick’s Café American and the Firefly-class transport Serenity, you have a grizzled former adventurer of fortune dealing with flinty authoritarians while keeping his adopted family of workers safe and gainfully employed. How Barrow and his crew compare against the benchmarks of those other beloved outcasts will ultimately gauge the success of the title. 

Fantasy comic fans who enjoy humor balanced with perilous predicaments will appreciate the groundwork established for both in Quests Aside #1. The nature of this intro should also hold appeal for certain to the game community as well. Those new to fantasy gaming will find amusing characters and patrons presented through the narrative layers of a delvers dream drinkery. Veteran gamers will find familiar, comforting nostalgia in the tavern setting, the quirky occupants, and adventures reminding them of good times with fellow players who became friends. Even family. 

Overall: As the sagacious bards intone, “Don’t sit there in your room all alone, come sample our ales then stay ‘cause you’re prone!” Quests Aside #1 is just potent enough that a second round will be hard to resist. 7/10

Quests Aside #1

Quests Aside #1
Writer: Brian Schirmer
Artist: Elena Gogou
Colors: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $4.99. 
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!
Release Date: May 4, 2022
Buy It Here: Digital

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Clyde Hall (He/Him) lives in Southern Illinois. He’s an Elder Statesman of Geekery, an indie author, a comics fan/reviewer, and a contributing writer at Stormgate Press. He’s on twitter at: (@CJHall1984)