As announced by Erik Mona  in Know Direction 96, the next Pathfinder comics series, releasing February 2015, will be a prequel to the main storyline. Called Pathfinder Origins, each issue of this mini series will be written by a member of the Paizo staff.

 

Find out more, and read the official press release after the jump…

The writing duties for Pathfinder Origins will be handled by Paizo Publisher/Chief Creative Officer Erik Mona, Editor-in-Chief F. Wesley Schneider, and Managing Editor James L. Sutter, all three of whom wrote a story for an issue of Dynamite’s Pathfinder Goblins 2013 miniseries.This series will travel to areas of Golarion outside of Varisia, which has been the setting for all Pathfinder comics released so far. Each issue will feature one of the six iconics who have starred in the Pathfinder comics teaming up with one of the six Core Rulebook iconics who have not or barely appeared in the comic form so far (including Seltyel, iconic eldritch knight turned iconic magus).

We know issue 1 will feature a beefy melee team-up of fighter Valeros and barbarian Amiri, written by Erik Mona. Erik also told us that other issues would include team ups of:

• Ezra the wizard and Lem the bard;
• Seoni the sorcerer and Seltyel the magus (written by F. Wesley Schneider);
• Merisiel the rogue and Sajan the monk (written by James Sutter).

That leaves:

• Kyra the cleric;
• Lini the druid;
• Seelah the paladin;
• Harsk the ranger.

I think it’s safe to predict a holy team-up of Kyra and Seelah and a nature team-up of Harsk and Lini. Not only does that make more sense than two tales of different divine casters, it’s consistent with the other pairings, that all feature classes with more similarities than differences.

As is typical of Dynamite and it’s Pathfinder comics, there will be a slew of alternate covers, one of which will pay homage to a classic comic cover or movie poster. Paizo released five covers of issue 1, although it wouldn’t surprise me if there were ultra rare sketch variations of some of these. I am surprised by how heavily the covers feature Amiri considering Valeros’ name is on the covers. I’m curious how much the covers are indicative of what the story will be, in particular how one story can makes sense of Sean Izaakse’s variant with tiny Amiri (or regular Amiri and massive Valeros) plunging her giant sword into Valeros’ skull either before or after drinking together on Andrew Huerta’s variant.

Each issue will include a poster map and Pathfinder encounter, popular features that were in the first six issues of the original Pathfinder miniseries, absent from the next six issues, and returned with much fanfare in Pathfinder City of Secrets. They aren’t slatted to be Pathfinder Society legal quests yet, but listener Joe Smith’s question during the broadcast did plant the seeds of the idea in Erik’s mind.

As I mentioned on the podcast, I am excited with this new direction for the comic. I have read all of Dynamite’s Pathfinder comics and enjoyed them quite a bit, but knowing that there were more than 20 other iconics who have yet to be fictionalized outside of the chapter headers in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rulebooks has left me yearning for a change in cast. But how? Would a Pathfinder comic staring only the Advanced Class Guide iconics be fulfilling enough, All New, All Different X-Men style, or would it be missing cornerstone elements like the Sunbow Transformers animated series post Transformers The Movie? In this format,  six new iconics get more page space dedicated to them than any one iconic gets in a typical issue of the Pathfinder comic, plus a familiar iconic to buddy up or create a rivalry with. I just don’t know which team up I am most excited about.

-Ryan.

 

Here is the official press release, for people who like their press releases to be official:
 
REDMOND, WA (December 1, 2014) – Paizo, Inc., leading publisher of tabletop roleplaying and adventure card games, and Dynamite Entertainment, publisher of best-selling comic book titles, announce today Pathfinder Origins, the next comic series based on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
 
The Pathfinder Origins series will tell the tales of the early days of the Pathfinder iconic heroes. The series will contain 6 issues, written by Pathfinder developers Erik Mona (Paizo Publisher and Chief Creative Officer), F. Wesley Schneider (Paizo Editor-in-Chief), and James Sutter (Paizo Senior Editor).
 
Each issue features one of the main Pathfinder comics characters (Valeros, Seoni, Harsk, Merisiel, Kyra, and Ezren) in an early adventure that sees them team up with another Pathfinder iconic hero who has not yet appeared in the comics format.
 
“The Paizo senior editorial team is thrilled to get a chance to pen new stories for the iconic Pathfinder characters we created,” said Erik Mona, Paizo Publisher. “Because the tales are coming directly from the source, Pathfinder Origins reveals more about the Pathfinder world than we’ve yet seen in comics, with scenes in a half-dozen different nations, featuring all twelve of our core iconic characters, plus some fun extras like Hellknights, devils, chupacabras, and more!”
 
The series will kick off in February 2015 with Issue #1, in which Valeros crosses swords with the brazen barbarian Amiri when both serve as hired guards escorting a doomed caravan through the treacherous Bloodsworn Vale. Script by Erik Mona (Pathfinder: Goblins!) and art by Tom Garcia (Mercy Thompson). Each issue will contain a pull-out poster map, an official Pathfinder RPG bonus encounter, and collectible variant covers.
 
About Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Vampirella, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more.  Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button,Chastity, Purgatori, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.  In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, Neil Gaiman, Andy Diggle, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Jae Lee, Marc Guggenheim, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner, Gail Simone, Steve Niles, James Robinson, and a host of up-and-coming new talent.  Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles – including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger’s Project Superpowers – have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards. All characters, names, logos, etc. are ™ and © their respective owners
 
About Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is the world’s best-selling tabletop roleplaying game, in which players take on the role of brave adventurers fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil. The Pathfinder RPG is currently translated into multiple languages, with hundreds of thousands of players worldwide. Players need only the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook to play, but Paizo Inc. produces a wide range of books and accessories, from hardcover rules compendiums to complete campaigns to packets of beautiful, full-color maps. The Pathfinder brand has also been licensed for comic book series, graphic novels, miniatures, plush toys, apparel, and is being developed into a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. For more information, please visit paizo.com.

About Paizo Inc.
Paizo Inc. is the leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels. Paizo’s Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game, the result of the largest open playtest in the history of tabletop gaming, is currently the best-selling tabletop roleplaying game in hobby stores. Pathfinder Adventure Path is the most popular and best-selling monthly product in the tabletop RPG industry. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the eleven years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than 50 major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.