This is a question we at Almagest Press get asked quite a lot. Much more, in fact, than "When does the next issue come out?" or "Can I have your autograph?" or the kinds of questions we'd prefer to be asked. But by far, the question we get asked the most would be something along the lines of: "Why?" The posers of this question may ask it in different ways, but when you get down to it, what they're all asking is "Why are three otherwise relatively sane men producing a black-and-white fantasy comic with a hard-to-pronounce title in the current comics environment?" To which some of our so-called friends add, "Don't you WANT to make any money?"
Well, the answer to that is simple: Because we can.
By that, I don't mean that we have money to throw away...we don't. What I mean is that self-publishing an adventure comic that doesn't feature guns or ridiculously endowed females may be a risk, but we here at Almagest sort of like that. Fred Barrows, the writer, creator and publisher, as well as artist/co-creator/conspirator Anthony Bordelon and myself, have all grown up with comics and have an interest in, and a genuine love for, the medium, just like most of you reading this. We also, being creative types, have stories to tell, and not all of them fit in the relatively narrow confines of the superhero comic (not that we have anything against those...in fact, I happen to be sitting on the supreme superhero saga of all time, but that's a topic for another time). We've decided that we want to be a part of this field, to contribute to it in some (hopefully) meaningful way. And yes, we'd like to make some money while we're at it, but not at the expense of the kind of stories we want to tell.
Aertimisan: War of Souls is one of those stories. It's Fred's idea, and he was the first one of us to get motivated enough to corral, conjure and cajole this book into being, so his tale is first. And it fits the criteria we three have of the kinds of stories we'd like to tell; it challenges perceptions. The main one, of course, being that there are only certain kinds of stories it's safe to tell in this medium. The story of Aertimisan and Blackfell is an intriguing one, with lots of possibilities, and also a story that raises a lot of questions, like all good sci-fi and fantasy should do. It's a straightforward adventure, but even that is done differently: after all, how many books begin with a quest for vengeance, and ask you to empathize with either the questors or the questee before you know the whole story? How many books introduce protagonists about whom you seem to know less and less as each revelation is made? Everyone in this book has a secret, just about no one is as they present themselves to be, and as the story unfolds, nothing happens the way you'd expect it to. And we happen to think that's kind of cool.
It is, admittedly, an involved story, one that requires and rewards careful attention, and doesn't give you answers tied up in neat little packages. And it's black and white, and it's bimonthly, and it's a fantasy, and then there's that title. We've heard it all before. Sure, we could play it safe; we could create a large-breasted female and rationalize a series around her, or we could produce poignant slice-of-life tales about guys with goatees in coffee shops or something else that someone else has already done better. But we believe in this story, and we believe in the medium and in the readership out there. We'd like to think there's a market for stories done in a different way, and that's what we're trying to do here. If you're the kind of person that that sort of thing appeals to, then give Aertimisan: War of Souls a try.
Oh, and the "e" is silent.
Kevin F. Moreau
Editor, Almagest Press