Dynamite and Paizo have announced the debut of the long-anticipated next Pathfinder comic series with tabletop connoisseur and fan-favorite writer Fred Van Lente at the helm. Pathfinder: Wake the Dead begins in May, featuring an all-new party and campaign.
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It’s a new creative team, a new party of Iconics, new lands of Golarion to explore, and unforgettable moments galore in the brand-new adventure. Paizo and Dynamite are teaming up once more to offer not only a thrilling tale but also extra features that players can bring right to their next game nights! It’s been nearly five years since the last major Pathfinder saga in comics, the critically acclaimed Spiral of Bones from writer Crystal Frasier. Since then, the world of Pathfinder in-game and in real-world popularity has exploded even more. With recent record-smashing sales of guidebooks and more, it’s the perfect time for fans of the game to explore this other avenue of carefully crafted content!
The tantalizing prospect of a rendezvous with a Geb defector in possession of priceless secrets from that undead nation is bringing together a diverse group of adventurers to the Nexian metropolis of Ecanus. Van Lente is assembling a mostly all-new grouping of heroes. Readers will get to hang out with Quinn the investigator, Sajan the monk, Lem the bard, and Seelah the champion. All have appeared before in various Pathfinder materials and even comics, but never met each other and partied up until now. Readers of the original hit series by writer Jim Zub and others will be reacquainted with Harsk the dwarf ranger too though! When they all find themselves cornered by the city’s remorseless Deathsealers, can the Iconics band together for survival and escape a city full of hostile wizards alive?
“I’m thrilled to be back writing Pathfinder comics, and even more exciting to be writing a whole new party of Iconics meeting and adventuring together for the very first time,” said Van Lente.
Known for Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hercules, Marvel Zombies, Archer & Armstrong, The Comic Book History of Comics, and more, the writer has been playing tabletop RPGs for years, starting with one of those classic “red box” basic sets as a kid. Eventually, he was introduced to the world of Pathfinder and played regularly for years. Recently Van Lente wrote the epic comic spotlighting Fumbus available initially on Kickstarter. He has been contributing prose stories to the mythos on the Paizo site as well.
For this new series, Van Lente is joined by artist Eman Casallos, who will bring his dungeon master-esque storytelling to the page. Artists Steve Ellis and Biago d’Alessandro add covers along with Casallos. d’Allesandro’s covers for each issue will also connect to form a larger image when collected.
Each issue of Pathfinder: Wake the Dead will feature premium cardstock covers for a top-tier product for collectors and something durable that will survive the rigors of the gaming table. Issues will also come with bonus material useful for players of the game, including playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah, new character options for inhabitants of the magical military city of Ecanus, and more. All of these extra features are officially sanctioned by the Pathfinder Society.
Paizo and tabletop fans can stay tuned for another big announcement, as the first-ever Starfinder comics are in the works and details will be revealed soon.
Pathfinder: Wake the Dead #1 will be available for preorder in March 2023 and is slated for release in May 2023. It will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Dynamite Digital, ComicsPlus, and more.
