Mage (comics)

Did You Know?

• In June 2002, Zack Snyder took over directing a film adaptation for Walt Disney Pictures, with Spyglass Entertainment producing.
• The rights to a film adaptation were picked up by producer Lloyd Levin in 2010.

Publication history

The first volume of Mage, The Hero Discovered, ran from February 1984 to December 1986 under Comico. Ads promised a sequel soon, but The Hero Defined only arrived in 1997 from Image Comics, after Comico’s 1990 bankruptcy and Matt Wagner’s recovery of the rights. The final volume, The Hero Denied, started with a zero issue in July 2017, and its last issue hit stands on February 27, 2019—35 years after the first. Wagner wrote and drew all three. Sam Kieth inked part of volume one, Jeromy Cox colored volume two, and Brennan Wagner colored volume three.

Plot synopsis

The Hero Discovered follows Kevin Matchstick, an alienated young man who meets a wizard called Mirth and discovers he possesses a magic baseball bat and superhuman abilities. He defeats the Umbra Sprite and learns that Mirth is Merlin, the bat is Excalibur, and he is, ambiguously, King Arthur. Chapter titles are from Shakespeare's Hamlet. A backup story, 'Devil by the Deed', appeared in issues #6–14 and led into the Grendel series. The Hero Defined picks up years later as Matchstick fights supernatural menaces with heroes including Kirby Hero and Joe Phat, each based on a mythological character and a comics professional. Mirth has disappeared, replaced by a tramp named Wally Ut. Matchstick learns he misunderstood his mission, meets his future wife, and discovers he also represents Gilgamesh, with Kirby as Enkidu. Chapter titles are from Macbeth, and his wife and siblings are based on the Weird Sisters. The Hero Denied takes place years later, with Matchstick and his family hiding from the Umbra Sprite, now the Umbra Witch, who has female children called Gracklethorns. Chapter titles are from The Tempest. Each volume's final issue was double-sized with a gatefold page; the final issue had an eight-page gatefold. Mage also ran as a backup feature in Comico's Grendel series issues #16–19.