I bought Quests Aside #1!

Quests Aside #1 Vault Comics Written by Brian Schirmer Art by Elena Gogou

"It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia meets Dungeons and Dragons in 'Quests Aside,' a brand new fantasy series from Vault Comics!"

Aside from a few clips I have never seen It's Always Sunny. I have tried playing D&D a number of times and always found the best part of the experience to be the pizza and other snacks that go hand-in-hand with such events. I tend to discount "it's this meets that!" marketing as weak copies of the two properties being referenced.

I don't remember ever looking at the solicitations for Vault Comics when placing my monthly orders, and I'm not even sure how I came to read an early review of the book just a few days before its official release.

The review piqued my curiosity and I decided I would hunt down a copy, which turned out to be slightly more challenging than I expected. My favorite local store did not have any copies, but another store a few miles away did. Well, they had no copies with the main cover (with tavern owner Barrow welcoming a pack of gnomes, and readers, into his world) ONE with skeleton cook Ray with mug in hand, and two incentive covers tagged at twice the cover price. It is painful enough to pay ten times what I did as a kid for a single comic; I CAN'T fathom paying twenty times as much. After checking for any damage (again, if I'm paying modern-day prices I NOT buying anything that isn't 'like new') Ray and I made our way to the register.

My experiences at this particular pop culture emporium have been hit-or-miss. This was definitely one of the better ones. The person at the register tossed out a well-rehearsed, "did you find everything you were looking for?" then looked down at the book. "I hadn't seen this yet - this looks cool!" While flipping though it the clerk and became more enthusiastic with each new page. "I love this style of art! This looks awesome! I'm going to have to get a copy of this!" I wanted to ask if employees were allowed to buy incentive copies for a discount but didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. The interaction did make me feel better about my purchase, though.

Readers are not introduced to Barrow immediately; the tavern, its staff and patrons, and Barrow's reputation all precede his appearance. Once we meet him, though, we realize that owning the tavern is less about fulfilling a lifelong dream and more about keeping his loved ones close for their own safety and security. They understand working at Quests Aside might not be as lucrative as other possibilities, but are also well aware that he'll never sell them out regardless of circumstances. But anyone who has worked for a small restaurant or bar will recognize many of the challenges that come from blending work and personal relationships. This first was a ton of fun and I can't wait to see where the story goes from here!