Ten years ago I wrote an Obscure Comic of the Month Special Edition about the first three volumes of Dynamite's Pathfinder comic, penned by Jim Zub and illustrated by a rotating selection of artists. I had nothing but glowing praise for the comic, pegging it as maybe the ideal iteration of a party-basted fantasy series.
In the intervening years Jim Zub has moved on to become a mainstay writer for the Dungeons and Dragons comics, Dynamite found itself courting controversy by allegedly supporting creators with less than progressive political viewpoints, Pathfinder saw the release of its second edition, and the Pathfinder setting itself has gone on to have featured in not one but two smash hit isometric RPG video games.
The comic, meanwhile, has continued to be published on and over the course of these years, seeing a couple stops and starts, crossovers and semi-reboots. All this leads us to ask, with Jim Zub's departure, has the comic managed to maintain the quality of its storytelling and the magnetism of its characters?
Well... not really, but let's take a look at each story arc volume by volume and break down what worked, what didn't and where it might go in the future.
Origins (2015)
When we last saw our protagonists they were becoming firmly established as members of the Pathfinder society, Seoni was finding renewed confidence as the group's leader, Ezren was finally fulfilling his ambitions as an adventurer, and Merisiel and Kyra had started a burgeoning romance. What then, was the story to do to further these characters and greater develop their arcs?
To look backwards, of course.
When you slap the name "Origins," on something you generally tend to know what you're in for. It's usually a prequel of some kind, showing how the characters started and foreshadow critical story beats that will become important later.
The framing device for this series involves our six heroes being asked to recount tails of their heroism to a superior at the Pathfinder society, which ultimately leads them to recalling a time before they banded together, and, as the story progresses, discover that all the stories link together in some way and involve stopping an ultimate threat in the final issue.
Curiously, despite the name, the stories told are frequently not origin stories in the strictest sense, and most involve the characters themselves being firmly established as adventurers to begin with. Instead, the stories serve to introduce a new selection of characters to the audience, in order to weave them in and out of future stories as the comic demands.
This is an element that had also been part of the Pathfinder comics from the start. Pathfinder as a tabletop RPG has always marketed itself heavily around it's "Iconics." Pre-made characters through which new players could jump right into the action. Seoni, Ezren and the gang were all created for the game long before the comic ever debuted, and as the story unfolded, other Iconics would cameo here and there, with info in the back of the book for curious readers interested in checking out the game.
During Zub's tenure these cameos were executed pretty seamlessly, weaved naturally into the story, even when it was pretty clear they were also serving as advertisements for the game. Come Origins, however, the format has never looked so blatant. Each issue involves one of our characters recalling a tale from before the party's formation and, like clockwork, cross paths with a new, previously unknown character that is shown to be a big deal.
It's not that great of a deal-breaker, but the noticeable difference from how Zub's tenure dealt with the cameos is just one of the giveaways that the writing team taking over feel like an obvious step down. Origins has three different writers, Eric Mona, James L. Sutter, F. Wesley Schneider, who I am given to understand are writing staff from the tabletop game side of the franchise. While they are no doubt served well with an extensive knowledge of Pathfinder lore, they are noticeably not writers with the same kind of experience Zub had.
That's not to say that Origins is bad, but its stories are, at best, serviceable. The action is exciting, the jokes are funny and the mysteries are fun to uncover, and the artwork is as fantastic as ever (even if it still has the problem of Pathfinder's over-design addiction,) but it is lacking the kind of spark Zub brought to the previous three volumes. Going from City of Secrets to Origins makes you feel like all the chemistry has been sucked out of the characters. Their dialogue feels more stiff and wooden at times. Especially Ezren, who just feels a lot less fun in this series.
Origins was decent enough to avoid killing my interest in Pathfinder stone dead, but it was clear from the outset that the loss of Zub as the main writer was a serious problem that the comics were going to struggle with, and as the series continued into its fifth volume, it's not a problem they were quick to resolve.
Hollow Mountain (2016)
Eric Mona, James L. Sutter and F. Wesley Schneider continue their tenure as writers on the Pathfinder comics and thus the problems that held back Origins continue to persist. Valeros, Seoni and the gang all feel like shadows of their former selves. The romantic chemistry that is really required to sell us on Merisiel and Kyra's relationship is direly missing. The characterisation continues, sadly, to feel somewhat hollow. Pun intended.
Its good thing, then, that Hollow Mountain manages to make up for these shortfalls by just having a solid, banger premise. Hollow Mountain is an ancient fortress built by the Runelords, filled with arcane knowledge, deadly traps, and an ancient artefact that our heroes must locate while clashing with another, less scrupulous band of adventurers.
Its a classic set up for a tabletop adventure, and that is exactly what the story proceeds to do. While the new writing team may have struggled with characterisation, you can really see their background writing for the tabletop RPG come to the fore here. Hollow Mountain becomes probably the most "tabletop campaign," feeling story arc in the series, and that is very much to its benefit. The comic really takes advantage of its six issue length, pulling out a plethora of deadly monsters and devious obstacles.
Additionally, our obligatory "Iconic cameos," this time round are presented as a rival band of adventures that our heroes have to contend with, and as such it feels much less egregious than how it was dealt with in Origins. Characters like Damiel the alchemist would go on to resurface during later story arcs and their reappearances feel much more natural as recurring characters.
All things considered, Hollow Mountain works as a bold, blockbuster experience. Lacking in depth, maybe, but chock to the gills with great action and nail biting thrills. Ending on a cliffhanger, it leads us right into the next main story arc.
Runescars (2018)
The next story arc pulls our heroes into the case of a mysterious killer, which eventually sprawls out into a wider conflict. Sutter and Schneider continue writing duties without any presence of Eric Mona this time around, and I'm happy to say their character writing has improved overall. While still not feeling as smooth as it was in the Zub penned stories, the characters start to feel more like their old selves than the somewhat cardboard versions we had to deal with in the last two arcs.
Runescars is a story that starts to delve more specifically into the world-building of the Pathfinder setting, something that the previous stories used more as set dressing. Here we're given more specifics into global politics and start getting introduced to nations like Korvosa and it's militant Death Knights. It's a welcome change and helps the story feel as though it has its own identity in comparison to Hollow Mountain which, despite being the stronger story, did feel as though it was just dipping into the fantasy kitchen sink.
Runescars also introduces us to Detective Quinn, who would quickly become a recurring character. Quinn is sardonic and charismatic and brings a welcome new perspective to the cast of characters. He's also another example of using the unwritten "Iconic cameo," mandate to good effect. Due to this beginning as a murder mystery, his presence feels like a natural extension of the story and not just an advertisement for another character sheet.
Runescars is somewhat chaotic and meanders at times, but it has some strong twists and character work, like Valeros burgeoning friendship with the stern swords-woman Tanin. There's also plenty of action and excitement to keep the ball rolling, and as the story continues on, it further hints towards future stories that began to be seeded back in Hollow Mountain.
With Sutter and Schneider's writing feeling much stronger, Runescars ends its run on what feels like a positive note, with the comic getting back on track towards something with a stronger foundation after the shaky few years of trying to find its feet after Zub's departure.
Worldscape (2017)
While it started its publication before Runescars, Worldscape chronologically takes place after it, which is why I'm slotting it in here. Marketed as a big crossover event, Worldscape sees the Pathfinder cast cross paths with the plethora of pulp heroes that Dynamite comics had the licence for, from John Carter of Mars, to Tarzan to Red Sonja. All written by Eric Mona which explains his absence on Runescars.
Worldscape is a typical crossover affair. The characters are all pulled into a mysterious dimension where they are free to battle, team up and double-cross each other without any greater consequences to the fictional worlds from which they originate. It's mostly an excuse for a big old team up and to have a bunch of characters be smashed together like action figures.
All in all, the story is fine, serviceable fair, but it does feel like a squandered opportunity. I often find the real appeal of crossovers is to see how the different characters react when coming into contact with different perspectives and philosophies. For example, probably the best scene in the first Batman/Judge Dredd crossover is when Dredd has Batman in a cell and is interrogating him, which is far more interesting than any of the scenes where they team up for an action sequence.
Worldscape, by contrast, mostly just has the characters team up and fight the bad guys. There some distrust and double-crossing along the way, but for the most part we see little of how these characters relate to each other when outside of combat. Which is a shame, especially when you have characters like Red Sonja who could serve as an excellent foil for the more upstanding members of the Pathfinder team.
All things considered, Worldscape could get away with being considered superfluous, if not for the fact that the comic has a subplot concerning Merisiel's backstory that eventually gets elaborated upon further in the main series. While not unwelcome, I did find it's inclusion as a somewhat baffling choice given the otherwise throwaway nature of the crossover itself.
Worldscape's storyline was fully wrapped up in six issues, but it would later see further issues published that feature other Iconics from the Pathfinder world and elaborate what they got up to and who they crossed paths with within the Worldscape. Much like the main series, they are enjoyable but mostly disposable.
Spiral of Bones (2018)
With the conclusion of Runescars and the concurrently running Worldscape, the tenure of Mona, Sutter and Schneider's writing on the series was at an end. I don't know it it was always intended to be a temporary arrangement or if a decision was made from the top, but the next arc, Spiral of Bones, would see Crystal Frasier take over as lead writer. While Frasier was recruited from the Pathfinder writing team, she also had a background in webcomics, and would later go on to work in comic writing full time.
It is no surprise to say then, that with Frasier taking the lead, the quality of the writing shoots back up immediately. Spiral of Bones gets off to a roaring start as a typical questing romp, before swerving into far more interesting and high concept ideas.
Perhaps the story's greatest strength is the decision to focus specifically on Valeros as the point of view character. While far from being one-note, Valeros had previously very much been played as a secondary character. There for some comic relief and action sequences, but he mostly stepped aside to let the other, more nuanced characters get the limelight.
Instead, Frasier decides to dig deep into the character's background and see what makes him tick, all through the framing device of Valeros being put on trail in the afterlife for the fate of his immortal soul. The story makes great use of taking a character that lacks little ambition beyond seeking excitement for the day and a flagon of ale at the end of it, and unfurls a character being crushed under the weight of self esteem and peer pressure.
Not only does this serve as an interesting character piece, but it also allows the story to get more wild and cosmic. We get to dig more into the cosmology of the Pathfinder universe, see how the godly entities lay claim over their subjects and how powerful magic users seek to subvert them, all through a nice, straightforward courtroom adventure with angelic lawyers and demonic judges. On top of it all, Tom Garcia's art brings a wonderful, over the top cartoonishness to the events, which keeps readers invested but the tone staying breezy.
This story arc's obligatory "Iconic cameo," is the flamboyant orc Imrijka, an old flame of Valeros' and a perfect foil for his more vulgar personality. Also returning is a cameo from Tannin, exploring further the chemistry between the two characters. Both flow naturally into the story and neither feel, as some previous cameos have, like simple adverts for pre-made characters.
The whole story wraps up nicely, with one of those great 'beat the evil wizard at his own game' style swicheroos. All things considered, Spiral of Bones turns out to be a rollicking good time, a fine return to form for the series, and a really effective moment in the limelight for a previously underutilised character. With such a bold and exciting execution, it left me with great hope that the comic still had the best ahead of it.
Wake the Dead (2024)
However, like any good arcane pact, there was a price to pay for the increase in quality. Pathfinder wouldn't see another series start for many years, with the next arc, Wake the Dead, not getting a collected edition until 2024, the entire Covid pandemic unfolding in the interim. Naturally, this meant Crystal Frasier had moved on to bigger and better projects, which is a shame, since I'd liked to have seen what she'd have done with the series given the chance to write more storys. Still, she is succeeded by a respectfully blooded comic book writer in Fred Van Lente, and right from the get go we can tell the series is in safe hands.
Wake the Dead serves as somewhat of a soft reboot for the series, which is frankly a fairly understandable direction to take it. The series felt for a while like it had a hard time figuring out what to do with Seoni and co, to the point it was going through the motions, so putting together a brand new team with a brand new set of foibles to get over is fertile ground to get things going again.
Our adventure team this time is made mostly of familiar faces, though you'd be forgiven for forgetting them from their previous "Iconic cameos." Quinn the private eye returns as de-facto leader, as magnetic and sardonic as ever, and is a great choice for our new lead. He's joined by Seelah the deathly serious paladin, Sajan the fiery monk and Lem, the cowardly but cunning bard. Serving as a touchstone back to our former protagonists, the dwarf Harsk returns, and rounding things off as a semi-antagonist and wild card is Nyctessa the necromancer.
They're all bold and strong personalities and work well within the expertly crafted story, which involves the group having to team up to track down a defector from the land of the dead, each for their own often irreconcilable purposes. Along the way they are forced to clash with the various other factions also on the trail of the defector and are often forced to think fast, and creatively, to deal with the threats they come across deep in enemy territory.
When the story works well, it works great, frequently drawing upon its tabletop roots by having the characters have to leaf through their items or abilities to find an outside-the-box solution to the more ridiculously outrageous scrapes they find themselves in. However, holding the series back a little is Eman Casallos' art, which, far from being bad, does happen to look a little stiff in comparison to the fast flowing work of Tom Garcia. I do wonder, however if this is due to being mismatched with colourist Jorge Sutil. Both have done great work on other projects but together their characters can hit the uncanny valley at times. This becomes less and less of a problem as the story goes on, however, so it's possible the two just took some time to acclimatise.
The story ends on a high note though, with Nyctessa coming out on top after all her machinations and leaving her as one of the funnest and most interesting characters so far. After such a bold new opening for the series, I'm left hungry for more of the new band of adventurers and can't wait to see where we go with them next.
But we don't quite go there just yet, because after Wake the Dead's conclusion we get one more story with the classic group, together again. Ezren, Senoi, etc, minus Harsk, have finally made it to the Grand Convocation of Pathfinders. Respect, recognition and majesty at last, only to see them caught up in an escapade with the bumbling but heroic goblin Fumbus.
The story is a fine return to form and a really makes our original characters feel like themselves again after so many years of struggling to distinguish themselves. Likewise, Tom Garcia is back for another round of bold, fluid artwork to lend a sense of mischief to the proceedings. The story is quick, and mostly disposable, but if Pathfinder indeed intends to storm ahead with its new cast of characters it serves as a perfect swansong for our original cast, and a great reminder of why I fell in love with the series in the first place.
Conclusion, and... the future?
So there you have it. After a few rocky roads, it really feels like the Pathfinder comic has found its feet again. If it sounds like I've been too harsh on Mona, Sutter and Schneider's tenure, I haven't meant to be. They did, after all, have the unenviable job of taking over from Jim Zub, who would go on to be one of the hottest writers in fantasy adventure comics, and they did, in the end, manage to keep the comic going, something that IDW failed at with its own first attempt at Dungeons and Dragons comics back in the early 2010s.
All things considered, there's more good than bad within this (so far) eight volume run of comics, and while it buckles at the edges, and maybe doesn't quite live up the expectations set by those first three volumes, there is still great fun to be had, and, as both Spiral of Bones and Wake the Dead prove, fertile ground for more bold and interesting stories.
The question is, then, what does the future hold? At time of writing there has been no announcement by Dynamite of any upcoming Pathfinder projects in the works. This is unsurprising since the previous series was a limited run rather than an ongoing, and Dynamite are famously inconsistent when it comes to promoting their own series. Still, I hope this doesn't mean that the comics are going on hiatus for another number of years again. Wake the Dead was a shot in the arm for the series and feels like it is raring to go from where it left off.
Fundamentally, it depends on the readership. Pathfinder is, famously, a niche spin-off from an niche franchise. It's never going to be in a position where it is flying off store shelves. But I like it, and frankly, Dynamite comics, you should keep making them just for me.
With the last volume feeling like a resurrection of sorts, and with story threads still left to be addressed, it'd be a shame to see the comic bow out now. Only time will tell, but it would be great if I could do a write up, in another ten years time, going over another six volumes. If not, well, like Valeros, you can't say the comic didn't go out swinging.
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Jack Harvey 2025. Images used under free use.
