Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Chad Bowers and Chris Sims
Artist: Ghostwriter X
Colourist: Ghostwriter X
Release Date: OUT NOW
Price: $0.25c

Ever wish life could be more like a role-playing game? Well, in Swordquest #0, Peter Chase is going to find out the answer to that question and I’m betting he won’t like the answer.

Not that he has much to lose in Swordquest #0 though. He’s forty-five years old, single, has a terminal illness and is back living with his mum after his apartment burned down. Still fixated by an Atari game called Swordquest – what, you were expecting Mario? Maybe -he played as a kid, Peter sets out to retrieve the prize that should have been his when he entered a competition thirty years ago.

If you think this might involve more than a little breaking and entering, you’re probably right. Swordquest #0 is a 25c teaser for the main series just to whet your appetite. It sets the scene, but the overall effect is a little so-so and so what? A sort of middle-aged bucket list saga with added fantasy it may be okay for 25c but is it enough to tempt anyone to part with bigger bucks?

I kinda like Peter Chase as a character in Swordquest # 0; he’s definitely in the Peter Parker, all-around loser with a good heart category, so you’re gonna root for him whatever happens. We know already that his clock is ticking, so can he get the magic sword and will it be enough to save his life?

Or will it be just a cheap advertising stunt and the poor shmuck is doomed anyway? Only time and the full-priced series of Swordquest will tell.

 

 

Reviewer: Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker