Service industry jobs for the most part suck no matter where you are. Rude customers, rough hours, little pay, dragons, co-workers who are skeletons. You know, same stuff all over the place. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and can also send you on your next quest. All that and more can be found at and in “Quests Aside.”
A new Vault Comics fantasy-comedy series, “Quests Aside,” written by Brian Schirmer, drawn by Elena Gogou, colored by Rebecca Nalty and designed by Tim Daniel. It’s Always Sunny in The Realms!” The series follows retired adventurer Barrow and his team of staff to prevent their pub, Quests Aside, from being closed down by the King.
We were able to speak to writer Brian Schirmer to learn more about the new series, Barrow and his crew. Brian discusses the tropes of fantasy, work place comedies, his art team and much more. A huge thanks to Brian for taking the time to answer our questions. Be sure to make a reservation at “Quests Aside” this April 27, 2022 in stores and online from Vault Comics.
The fantasy is a genre that fans of are very aware of its tropes. Does it help as a writer to be able to play off when it comes to the comedic approach of the series? Has there been any common tropes that have just worked better than you thought they might in the premise of the series?
Brian Schirmer: Going against type and against expectations has been a great deal of fun. One of the earliest conceits was taking a character like Aragorn or Ned Stark and giving them a second chance at life — but as a barkeep. That was something I’d never seen, and therefore something I wanted to bring into the world. There are so many others. Ray the skeleton is a great one, too. I liked the idea of taking a reanimated skeleton and giving him a job as a chef. But that wasn’t enough. He’s always in a rotten mood, and yet he’s in a relationship with the sweetest barmaid on staff.
Likewise workplace comedies are something most people are familiar with shows like Cheers, The Office, It’s Always Sunny, Taxi, and a billion more. What have you taken from that genre and style of story telling to use in this series?
BS: We’ve kept it fairly episodic. Each issue has its own “guest stars” and subplots. But we do have the “season arc”, the main storyline that’s always happening in the background. The fact that this is kept a secret from most of the main characters allows for them to be the kind of characters one would expect from a workplace comedy — anxious, delusional, optimistic, pessimistic, romantic. It’s the combination of wildly varying personalities that makes such series so endearing.
I’m not sure if it has been on any of the preview pages but in the first issue the Bard acts as a narrator/greek chorus which is just great. Was that an element that was always present in the story as you created it? Also it must make him safe from any harm because you need him right? Cause he is great.
BS: To paraphrase the great George R.R. Martin, “No one is safe!” *Insert mad laughter here*. The Bard as narrator was a fairly early idea. I wanted not only a tool that could fill in some tidbits about the world as needed, but also an Arrested Development-style “Narrator Voice” who could comment on things or reframe them in humorous ways. And yeah, we knew he was pretty special right out of the gate, and that knowledge spurred me to give him a little arc of his own. He’s little more than a background player, but be advised that he has a major role to play later in the story.
A fantasy world would obviously lend itself to a lot of fantastical elements, characters, and worlds. Do you, Elena and Rebecca have a guideline when it comes to the world building for the series and the looks of the characters and environment? Do you have a favorite design element that has come out of the collaboration between the three of you?
Continued belowBS: I think our only guideline has been to have fun. When Elena and I were initially talking about designs for the series, she gave an example that really set the tone: Rather than drawing, say, a mermaid, with the human torso and fish tail, she’d prefer human legs and a big fish head. That’s when I really knew that I could and should trust her instincts, that she’d help our world standout from other fantasy realms.
As for a favorite collaboration between the three of us, I think the point where I felt it all come together was in the end of the first scene from Issue One. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it involves a giant’s foot and the aftermath. From a writing standpoint, I knew that moment would set the tone for the whole series. But when Elena drew it and then Rebecca colored it, that’s when I felt we were really in sync. And that’s a great place to be at the start of your series.
Following up on that, Elena Gogou and Rebecca Nalty’s work in this series looks fantastic. The art really marries the stylization of fantasy with the acting of comedy. For you, what has Elena and Rebecca brought to the story and series?
BS: Rebecca’s colors give “Quests Aside” its warmth. Early in the process I was talking with Tim Daniel, and he kept banging the drum that this tavern — like Cheers before it — needed to be some place that was inviting to readers, that was a place where you wanted to come hang out. Rebecca nailed that straight away, and in so doing helped us create a book that doesn’t look like every other fantasy comic out there.
As for Elena… Look, if you read this comic and you find it fun and funny, that’s all Elena. I try to write some witty characters and banter, but Elena is the one with all of the expressions, the background gags, the quirky character types. I may write that a character has butterflies in their stomach in a certain panel, but she is the one who gives that butterfly a sword!
The series has been advertised as a fantasy comedy in the vein of It’s Always Sunny in a fantasy world. What can readers expect from the overall tone of the series? Will there be action/adventure baked into the story as well? Will there be any mystery like who pooped in the bed?
BS: Well, I can again point back to the opening scene of Issue One. Characters you might absolutely expect to be our protagonists for the series are dispatched in an unfortunate and rather hilarious fashion, but then life goes on. That’s really the tone we’re after. That said, Barrow, our proprietor protagonist, he’s a bit the straight man for much of the humor. That fits for him, given that he’s the one shouldering the big secret through much of the arc. Action and adventure mostly find their way into the story via tales being told by our main cast or by visiting patrons. Not that they’re just talking about things that happened. This is comics. We offer up some fun flashbacks, bar fights, training montages, and so on.
Vault comics I could be wrong, it happens quite often, but this is your first work punishing with Vault Comics. How did Quest Asides find its way to Vault and what has that experience been publishing and now preparing for the release of the book been?
BS: I met Adrian and Damian at what I think was Vault’s very first convention a few years back. Emerald City Comic Con, if I’m not mistaken. We chatted and stayed in touch. It was maybe a couple years before we seriously started talking about working together. Adrian expressed how he wished more creators at the time would pitch him high fantasy concepts. I already had the idea for “Quests Aside,” and so I ran it by him. We passed some notes back and forth for a while, like you do, and ultimately we determined that this is what we were going to do.
Working with everyone at Vault has been a dream. Adrian and Damian are terrifyingly smart and savvy. I mean that in the best of ways. They understand the business and the story-side of things in a way that fills me with awe. Plus, Adrian gives the best notes. Nine times outta ten they improve whatever idea I’m knocking around. That’s a talent. Tim Daniel is a design god. He landed on the logo for “Quests Aside” on the first try. Seriously. I still have the “rough” jpeg he sent me last year. It’s all there. Plus, his input on our covers has been essential. And then there’s David Dissanayake, Director of Publicity & Direct Market Sales. I knew early on that he’d be juggling a lot of books, so I tried not to get my hopes up insofar as what he could handle for us. Nope. I was wrong. He’s been on top of so much, from scheduling interviews and corralling cover artists, to responding to my wild and varied middle-of-the-night questions (e.g., Can we just put me in a crate and ship me from store to store for signings?). Seriously, he rounds out a team of heavy-hitters.
Continued belowWhat do you hope readers are able to take away from their experience with the first issue of “Quests Aside?”
BS: That they enjoy it so much that they can’t wait to buy the next one!
