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Diamond Picks Up The Witch King For April 2003

Posted: Thursday, September 19
By: J Hues

The countdown begins to the April 2003 launch of book #1 in an epic tale of the life of "the world's greatest mage," in a new full-color book entitled WITCH KING to be published by Phosphorescent Comics. An original tale of fantasy with a difference, WITCH KING explores new aspects of the genre by telling a story through the eyes of the antagonist; a young arch-mage, Gavriel, who has become twisted and 'evil' by his ongoing search for ever-more powerful necromantic magic.

International distribution of WITCH KING will be through Diamond Comic Distributors with issue #1 to list in the February 2003 edition of PREVIEWS, with an in-store date set for April 2003.

The writer is Christian Read, whose prolific entry into the professional comic field has seen him best known for his work in Phosphorescent Comics' ongoing super-hero title THE WATCH. The illustrator is Paul Abstruse, a hitherto relatively unknown creator whose incredible work on WITCH KING should prove a stunning entrance onto the international scene. Together Read and Abstruse are perfectly suited to working as a creative team.

"I'm lucky to have Paul on this," says Read, who helped hand-pick Abstruse. "He's a craftsman, an artist, devoted to not only Gavriel's story but to creating a world. I'm constantly delighted at the depths of detail he'll go to... I'm constantly challenged by his skills."

Fantasy themes in art and literature have broad appeal, yet WITCH KING separates itself from the standards by including horror elements and decidedly darker characters and themes, but that's not all: "Together we've tried hard to avoid the normal formative influences that make up a genre fantasy world." Read explains. "This won't look like any fantasy you've ever seen."

The first issue begins after a long and bitter siege in which Gavriel has essentially usurped his father's throne and taken up residence within his ancestral home. Gavriel's minions now inhabit the ancient halls, searching for the dead and fallen so that they might be brought to serve in Gavriel's undead hordes. Gavriel has spared practically no one from the carnage save for his eldest brother Andarien, a mighty warrior whom Gavriel has placed in chains within the palace dungeon.

"The Witch King is the villain's story," Read explains. "There were lots of reasons I wanted to have a look at the bad guy. Firstly, in fantastic fiction we rarely get a good look at that Dark Lord or even find out why he does what he does. Even Lord of the Rings provides little explanation for Sauron's evil. He's bad. That's it. This never satisfied me, as I doubt it satisfies many readers who have developed modern tastes".

Gavriel is King. He has won all his battles and learned all his spells for now; so he calls for Andarien to be brought to obedience before him. For it was in these palace walls where Gavriel faced rejection and sufferance as the youngest and smallest in a family that lived strictly by the code of the sword, and where he was scorned and outcast for his lack of military potential and for his pursuit of the forbidden magical lore. "I wanted to examine why one man abandoned common morality to focus entirely on what he calls ambition, and others call 'evil'," says Read.

"Anyone who's ever enjoyed a fantasy story should be made aware of Witch King," says Ben Howard, the publisher at Phosphorescent Comics. "The writing is innovative, with a diverse array of characters and a captivating setting. The circumstance will be familiar in ways to many fantasy readers but they've never seen themes like this quite so fully explored. Working on something like this is always something I've wanted to do. The art and story are groundbreaking. Readers won't be disappointed."

More information can be found at Phosphorecent Comics Official Website at www.phosphorescent.com.au.