Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, kickstarter, trolltooth wars

Kickstarting The Trolltooth Wars

Published Sun, 08 Mar 2015 19:00:40 -0500

Last updated Mon, 09 Mar 2015 10:49:49 -0500

Joe Glass writes,

There are many out there who may be familiar with Fighting Fantasy. And there are many, perhaps, that are not. I would fall into the latter. So when I heard that indie comic creators PJ Montgomery and Gavin Mitchell were working on adapting Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars to graphic novel, I had to learn more.

Fighting Fantasy was a series of Role Playing Game adventure books set in the fantasy world of Titan. Think Choose Your Own Adventure, but more in depth, with dice and stats. The books proved so popular that along with games and toys, it eventually spawned its own series of original novels set in the world of Fighting Fantasy, starting with 1989s The Trolltooth Wars.

Perhaps it's better to turn to one of the graphic novel's creators to explain. PJ Montgomery writes:

"In 1982 Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone released The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the first book in the Fighting Fantasy series of gamebooks. The series, now more than 30 years old, and more than 60 books strong, would lead to the creation of the fantasy world of Titan, the setting for many of the adventures.

In 1989 Jackson released The Trolltooth Wars, the first straight novel set on Titan. It featured many characters and locations that readers of the Fighting Fantasy series would be familiar with, working them all into the story of a war between two powerful, evil sorcerers. The novel would spawn two sequels, Demonstealer and Shadowmaster, which told the continuing adventures of Chadda Darkmane, the warrior introduced in The Trolltooth Wars, and Yaztromo, the good wizard familiar to FF readers the world over.

These novels were in turn followed by The Zagor Chronicles, a series of four books telling the story of a group of warriors and their struggles to defeat Zagor, the infamous Warlock of Firetop Mountain."

Now, PJ Montgomery (Stiffs, The Pride Adventures, Dynamite) has adapted the novel for a new medium, and a new audience, lovingly and painstakingly drawn by Gavin Mitchell (Santa vs. The Nazis, Stiffs, The Pride). The graphic novel creators promise something for existing fans, filled with easter eggs and with the complete backing and support of the series' creator Steve Jackson, as well as being totally and completely accessible to new readers unfamiliar with the source.

For Mitchell, drawing goblins, warriors, wizards and trolls is something he's been itching to do:

"Personally, I've always wanted to do a fantasy comic, and getting the opportunity to be a part of Fighting Fantasy was perfect!"

For Montgomery, as a fan of Fighting Fantasy for years, he wanted to play in this sandbox for a while,

"It's safe to say that Fighting Fantasy was my gateway into the larger world of fantasy storytelling. In my youth, I had a habit of dying in Fighting Fantasy books, and not seeing the end. Especially as the authors found ways to get around cheating. Trolltooth Wars gave me an adventure set on Titan which I couldn't fail to reach the end of."

And what makes the world of Titan and Fighting Fantasy so special?

"Titan is an odd one as far as fantasy worlds go, since it wasn't designed, so much as pieced together bit by bit as the books were released. As for what it offers, I think it's a fun story, but one in which the main antagonists aren't actually after the hero for once. They're more concerned with killing each other. The hero simply puts himself in the middle of this situation in order to try and control it somewhat, and prevent it spilling out into his home. It's definitely a more light-hearted affair than, say, Game of Thrones, and features an eclectic cast of creatures. I think people will enjoy it as a new way of enjoying a world that they, perhaps, haven't visited before.

As for why I chose to adapt it into a graphic novel, it's an idea I've been toying with for a while. I think fantasy storytelling like this lends itself well to comics. Thanks to the colourful characters and locations, the variety of different monsters you meet, the wizards throwing spells around, etc, it all translates very well to a visual medium, and while it's almost become a cliché to say it, comics don't have a budget. There's nothing holding you back. I'd wanted to play in the Fighting Fantasy sandbox for a while, and this simply seemed like the best way to do it."

I've had the luck of seeing a lot of the art as they work on this series, and what I have seen is looking amazing. The epic graphic novel promises to boast 130 pages of story, plus additional material, and all of this being launched on a Kickstarter for the project on March 3^rd 2015.

The Kickstarter project runs for 30 days, to cover production costs from art to printing and posting, so it's worth helping however you can to make this graphic novel happen, and bring a deep, colourful fantasy world to audiences old and new in a fresh new medium.

There are absolutely loads of fantastic perks, so you have tons of great options for loads of extras and wonderful treats and extra pieces for your support, alongside the book.

You can support Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars graphic novel adaptation by PJ Montgomery and Gavin Mitchell here!

Joe Glass is the creator and writer of LGBT superhero team series, The Pride, available on Comixology and The Pride Store. He also co-write Welsh horror comedy series, Stiffs, available now on Comixology and the Stiffs Store.