Swordquest: Realworld

by Chad Bowers, Chris Sims, Ghostwriter X (Artist)

In 1984, Peter Case was on his way to being crowned champion of SwordQuest, set to win the last of four contests and lay claim to a golden sword worth over $50,000! But when the game was discontinued, Peter found himself without a game to finish. Now, over thirty years later, Peter's stuck in a different kind of game entirely -- the game of life, and he's losing fast. But when he learns that all the prizes meant for the SwordQuest contest of his youth are on display in the World Arcade Museum, he finds an unknown determination that sees him put together a team of like-minded losers for the ultimate heist job -- a real-life sword quest! The red-hot team of Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, and Ghostwriter X (Down Set Fight) have a new game -- and the stakes have never been higher!

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 7, 2018

About the author

Freelance comics writer. Country song come to life. SNAKE EYES: DEADGAME, X-MEN '92, SLEEPWALKER, PBS Comics, and plenty of other stuff

Reviews

[Mike Perschon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cool premise, but the execution was terrible. There’s a solid retro-nostalgia factor of a plot where a guy who only has a few months to live decides to steal the sword from the Atari video game Swordquest. And while the first two issues worked really well in the interplay between story and art, once this dying man becomes a Chosen One, the realistic style of art becomes dissonant. It’s also a ridiculously talky comic. Entire pages of talking heads. Terrible sequential storytelling. And in the end, I felt cheated out of what I figured was going to be an interesting heist story in the real world, but turned out to be a sort of portal-quest fantasy.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a video game nostalgia nut, this comic really is an OK choice for gaming fans. This story is actually based on a gaming contest that former gaming giant Atari held before the video game crash of 1983 and now a former contestant wants to find the prize that he thought would be his. B (75%/Good)

[Oliver Hodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great idea for a story, and what a wonderful skerrick of pop culture to pick up on and turn into a current story. I wasn't sure as I was reading this if it was a complete story or a first arc and I think that bled into the story telling, where some elements felt really open and some strangely closed off. The team of friends who were taking the swordquest as kids and now as adults had some nice elements and dynamics, and they are interesting to follow, but again it was hard to know which dynamics to prioritise as a reader. I felt that there was a nice mix of things to follow but they weren't well controlled, as in you find yourself asking why is this in the story now?

Anyway, as it turns out this is an arc, with every hint of more to come, it seems like a sweet intro to an awesome world, and it could go in a million different, awesome, directions from here. Let's hope it does!

[Jason Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me months to finish this, and I don't know why.

I still find it weird that this comic exists. When I was a child I had the three Swordquest games, and I loved them because of the comics that came with them. I brought those comics to a sleepover and they were lost/stolen, and that was a pivotal moment in my development.

This comic reminded me of "The Toys That Made Us" in being something so specifically targeted towards me.

[Eye · Rating 1 out of 5]

An unoriginal idea executed in an uninteresting way, backed with uninteresting art and two dimensional characters who lean on typical cliches. I wanted to like it, but the whole thing reads like an excuse plot just prattle on about Atari and the good old days, then smash-cut to 'btw, it's all real magic no really'.

[Dave Mcdonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny and poignant story about growing up and looking at childhood through an adult’s eyes. Also, 80s RPGs, death, and a light touch of queerness.

[B. Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is okay.
Art is okay.
Its okay.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very different tale mixing of a video game world and reality. I didn't like the art style as much but the quest was interesting.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sims and Bowers (X-Men’92) embrace 1980s nostalgia in this metafantasy centered on Atari’s SwordQuest video game series. The actual games included a contest featuring a jeweled sword as a prize. Unfortunately, the collapse of the home console market meant that contest was never completed. Here, terminally ill Peter Case wants to track down the sword before he dies. Enlisting the aid of his childhood friends, Peter plans a heist at the Retro Gaming Expo. This gets complicated when it’s revealed that the backstory of the game series is true and an evil wizard and his minions will do everything they can to thwart Peter and his pals. Artist Ghostwriter X (Down Set Fight) does a good job of balancing real-world and fantasy segments, using classic video game imagery and hiding clues in panels like the comics packaged with the original games. There is more talk than action, though, with the emphasis on rekindling friendships.

Verdict While smaller in scope, SwordQuest hits similar points as Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, making it a good read-alike option. Overall, this is more serious than readers seeking an Atari game–based comic might expect.

LJ Reviews Mar 01, 2018

[Richard Ferrara · Rating 3 out of 5]

They should have just written the Airworld comic instead.