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Pathfinder Comics Return with Wake the Dead!

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Dynamite Entertainment is proud to debut the long-anticipated next Pathfinder comic book series! Tabletop RPG connoisseur and fan-favorite writer Fred Van Lente is revving up an all-new party and campaign for Wake the Dead, kicking off this May!

Pathfinder Wake The Dead: The pathfinder Iconics fighting their way through a hoard of undead that have them surrounded on all sides


It's a new creative team, a new party of Iconics, new lands of Golarion to explore, and unforgettable moments galore in the brand-new adventure. Paizo and Dynamite are teaming up once more to offer not only a thrilling tale, but also extra features that players can bring right to their next game nights! It's been nearly five years since the last major Pathfinder saga in comics, the critically acclaimed Spiral of Bones from writer Crystal Frasier. Since then, the world of Pathfinder in-game and in real world popularity has exploded even more. With recent record-smashing sales of sourcebooks and more, it's the perfect time for fans of the game to experience this classic alternate avenue of adventure!

"I'm thrilled to be back writing Pathfinder comics, and even more exciting to be writing a whole new party of Iconics meeting and adventuring together for the very first time," said writer Fred Van Lente.

Pathfinder Wake The Dead by Dynamite comics : Quinn the iconic investigator fends off two undead with a sword in each hand


In Wake the Dead, the tantalizing prospect of a rendezvous with a Gebbite defector in possession of priceless secrets from that undead nation draws together a diverse group of adventurers in the Nexian metropolis of Ecanus. Van Lente has assembled an all-new party, spotlighting Iconics who, before now, have only graced the four-colored pages as guest stars. Readers will get to hang out with Quinn the investigator, Sajan the monk, Lem the bard, and Seelah the champion, while readers of the original hit series by writer Jim Zub and others get reacquainted with Harsk the dwarf ranger! When they all find themselves cornered by the city's remorseless Deathsealers, can the Iconics band together for survival and escape a city full of hostile wizards alive?

Fred Van Lente has been playing tabletop RPGs for years, going back to the classic "red box" basic sets, which he received as a kid like many his age. Eventually, he was introduced to the world of Pathfinder and played regularly for years. Recently, he wrote the epic comic spotlighting Fumbus the alchemist, available initially on Kickstarter. He's been contributing prose stories to the mythos on the Paizo site for a while too. Beyond the world of roleplaying, Van Lente is beloved for his work on hallmark comics titles like Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hercules, Marvel Zombies, Archer & Armstrong, The Comic Book History of Comics, and more.

Pathfinder Wake The Dead by Dynamite Comics : Sajan the iconic Monk stands in front of the other Iconics in the foreground with a large skull looming in the background


For this new series, Van Lente is joined by artist Eman Casallos, who will bring his dungeon master-esque storytelling to the page. Artists Steve Ellis and Biago d'Alessandro also contribute covers to issues, in addition to Casallos. d'Allesandro's covers for each issue of the series will also connect to form a larger image when collected together.

Each issue of Pathfinder: Wake the Dead features premium cardstock covers, making a top tier product for collectors and something durable that will survive the rigors of the gaming table. Issues also come with bonus material useful for players of the game. These will include playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah, new character options for inhabitants of the magical military city of Ecanus, and more. And all of these extra features are officially sanctioned by the Pathfinder Society!

Paizo and tabletop fans can stay tuned too, as the first ever Starfinder comic series is right around the corner too! More information about that series will be revealed soon!

Guest blog by Vincent Faust of Dynamite Entertainment

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Iconics Pathfinder Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Pathfinder Second Edition
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2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

I've only ever bought the hardcover collections after the fact. What's the normal way of getting these at release? I didn't see a subscription line for them, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

They wouldn't fit too well in a regular subscription line, because many (most?) of the comics come with a choice of covers (not necessarily all at the same price, IIRC).

I generally bought two copies of each comic, and buying them individually let me pick just which two cover variants I wanted. It would be a significant effort to offer that level of flexibility on a subscription.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
9 people marked this as a favorite.
NielsenE wrote:
I've only ever bought the hardcover collections after the fact. What's the normal way of getting these at release? I didn't see a subscription line for them, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.

When they used to come out more regularly, we had a subscription for them, but that's been retired to reduce the number of dead subscription options available to customers. We will have the issues available on the webstore, both for preorder and after the fact.

You can also buy them digitally on a number of platforms, as Dynamite is pretty good about getting their content out wherever comics are sold.

Finally, we encourage anyone with a local comic book store to talk to them about setting up a subscription/pull box for Pathfinder comics if possible. This greatly increases the reach of the line, as most comic stores also order shelf copies of titles that subscribers request. It could be the difference between them passing on carrying the title at all and getting enough that casual customers can stumble across it on the weekly racks.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Excited for this. Shame the pull out maps didn't make a return
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

oh hey return of comics :O Nice, do the rpg content return as well?
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
CorvusMask wrote:
oh hey return of comics :O Nice, do the rpg content return as well?

Yes,

"Each issue of Pathfinder: Wake the Dead features premium cardstock covers, making a top tier product for collectors and something durable that will survive the rigors of the gaming table. Issues also come with bonus material useful for players of the game. These will include playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah, new character options for inhabitants of the magical military city of Ecanus, and more. And all of these extra features are officially sanctioned by the Pathfinder Society!"
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Mark Moreland wrote:
NielsenE wrote:
I've only ever bought the hardcover collections after the fact. What's the normal way of getting these at release? I didn't see a subscription line for them, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.

When they used to come out more regularly, we had a subscription for them, but that's been retired to reduce the number of dead subscription options available to customers. We will have the issues available on the webstore, both for preorder and after the fact.

You can also buy them digitally on a number of platforms, as Dynamite is pretty good about getting their content out wherever comics are sold.

Finally, we encourage anyone with a local comic book store to talk to them about setting up a subscription/pull box for Pathfinder comics if possible. This greatly increases the reach of the line, as most comic stores also order shelf copies of titles that subscribers request. It could be the difference between them passing on carrying the title at all and getting enough that casual customers can stumble across it on the weekly racks.

is there a release date?

Exo-Guardians
1 person marked this as a favorite.

"playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah"

What does that mean? Isn't she already a pregen?
Time traveler wrote:

"playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah"

What does that mean? Isn't she already a pregen?

The Hollow Mountain comic backmatter presented 5th-level statblocks for Seltyiel, Damiel, Oloch, and Meligaster (in PF1e, of course), and were built differently from their other pregens.

So Wake the Dead will likely give us a Seelah around 5th-7th level, and presumably in PF2e.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
7 people marked this as a favorite.
Time traveler wrote:

"playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah"

What does that mean? Isn't she already a pregen?

The comics will present the pregen stats for the iconics to potentially new audiences, and give readers a chance to glimpse their stats and abilities without needing to go to Paizo.com to download something else.

The pregens presented in this comic series will be 1st level.
CorvusMask wrote:
oh hey return of comics :O Nice, do the rpg content return as well?

Fully agree. Those maps were an extremely significant selling point and I use them frequently.

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Very cool, loved the comics! Will have to pick these up, might have to see if I can get a couple of my local shops to stock them.

So...next up: return of the Tales novels? ;)
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I am beyond excited for new comics. I have them all, and have read them all multiple times. I can't wait to explore new stories with new iconics!
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Fred Van Lente is awesome! Very funny and talented writer.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Mark Moreland wrote:
Time traveler wrote:

"playable character stats for the iconic paladin Seelah"

What does that mean? Isn't she already a pregen?

The comics will present the pregen stats for the iconics to potentially new audiences, and give readers a chance to glimpse their stats and abilities without needing to go to Paizo.com to download something else.

The pregens presented in this comic series will be 1st level.

Oh, well, that wasn't the answer I was looking for.

4 people marked this as a favorite.

Dope! The return of comics is awesome. Now if we can get the novels back that'd be even better haha.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Really happy to see Quinn! I hope to get some of his personality finally. He's long been my favorite iconic design. (Though, like for most of them I prefer the PF1e rendering... but his is only nominally changed.)

EDIT: I guess I missed Runescars?!
Shadow Lodge
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber
Mark Moreland wrote:
NielsenE wrote:
I've only ever bought the hardcover collections after the fact. What's the normal way of getting these at release? I didn't see a subscription line for them, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.

When they used to come out more regularly, we had a subscription for them, but that's been retired to reduce the number of dead subscription options available to customers. We will have the issues available on the webstore, both for preorder and after the fact.

You can also buy them digitally on a number of platforms, as Dynamite is pretty good about getting their content out wherever comics are sold.

Finally, we encourage anyone with a local comic book store to talk to them about setting up a subscription/pull box for Pathfinder comics if possible. This greatly increases the reach of the line, as most comic stores also order shelf copies of titles that subscribers request. It could be the difference between them passing on carrying the title at all and getting enough that casual customers can stumble across it on the weekly racks.

So if I *had* a comics subscription (which I did), it is gone and won't reactivate?

Community and Social Media Specialist

That is correct, that sub is no longer active.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Regardless of the additions to it, I'm excited for them.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Will these be available on this site?
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Starfinder comic on the horizon…
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Zaister wrote:
Will these be available on this site?

Yes. From Mark Moreland, "We will have the issues available on the webstore, both for preorder and after the fact."

Verdant Wheel

I've just called my Local Comic Book shop in London to get this on my pull list. Can't wait to pick up the singles, I prefer them to trade paparbacks
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Glad to hear the comics are returning. I will definitely be getting them.
Out of curiosity is the Fumbus comic ever going to come to the site? I missed the kickstarter.

Can I anticipate that we would see the new volume of Pathfinder: Goblins! finally?
Liberty's Edge

I hope the new options will end up on AoN.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

AWESOME!

I'll probably still wait a year for the hardcover version but I'm very happy to see this line isn't abandoned.

Great news.

I wish I liked my LCS more and trusted them to deliver the book if I put it on my pull list.
Director of Marketing
2 people marked this as a favorite.

INTERVIEW: FRED VAN LENTE chats about creating PATHFINDER WAKE THE DEAD
Director of Marketing

Early Access to PATHFINDER: WAKE THE DEAD

Here is the link for the Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dynamiteent/new-starfinder-pathfinder- and-worldscape-graphic-novels?ref=bg3qlm

I look forward to see how the story develops, I like how it starts.

Do we know if the background and equipment from the comic be available for PFS?
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