Swordquest: Realworld
The Swordquest series, Issues 0 - 5
Chad Bowers and Chris Sims, illustrations by X Ghostwriter
Dynamite Entertainment
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Themes: Diversity, Games, Magic Workers, Portal Adventures, Thieves
****
Description
When 45-year-old Peter Case is diagnosed with degenerative lung disease and given six months to live on the same day his apartment burns down, he finds himself back in his mother's home in his old bedroom... where he discovers a relic from his past, and possibly a final goal. As a child, he and his best friends Amy and Alvin were obsessed with Atari's popular Swordquest franchise, a hybrid of comic books and games about a world of elemental powers, a tyrant usurper, an evil sorcerer, and a magical sword. They even entered the contest to win the actual sword itself, until the console industry's collapse ended the contest before a winner was named. Peter has nothing left to lose: why not steal the sword, even for just a few minutes? But the arrival of stranger Terry hints that Peter's newfound obsession isn't coincidence... and the game may be closer to reality than he or his friends ever suspected.
Review
I was a Commodore kid, so I never played console games like Swordquest (the real game on which this was based.) But I do remember the power of the 80's video games - and, in retrospect, the power of the marketing behind them. I also remember how companies and franchises had a way of appearing and disappearing like the blip of a cursor; the cancelled final installment and never-finished contest were real events. For many of us in our 40's for whom life hasn't quite come together the way we might have hoped, there's a definite pull of nostalgia for the days when one could lose oneself for hours, days, even weeks or months at a time in picking apart puzzles and outfoxing boss monsters and generally immersing in a level of heart and imagination that sometimes seems lacking in today's game industry. Swordquest: Realworld is an homage to those days, a chance to return to worlds that seemed, for a time, more real and rewarding than reality. Peter must confront some ghosts from his past, reconnecting with estranged friends Amy and Alvin as he rediscovers the passions that once drove him. They find a nemesis in game developer Konrad Juros, who may have deeper ties to the unfinished Swordquest franchise - and a vested interest in keeping the sword out of Peter's hands. The art has clever callbacks to console-style graphics, adding to the feel (and the nostalgia for us 80's kids; though this is apparently considered a Teen/Young Adult title, I think the real target audience is us "obsolete teens.") The story goes about as one might expect, but is reasonably satisfying nonetheless.