Monday, August 31, 2009

It's the end of "the Path" as we know it...

...and I feel fine.

So, this is it, gang. The end of the road, so to speak.

Those of you who came to Wizard World Philly this June knew that this was coming. I know I was shy on the details, but I figure the "The Path: 1926" exclusive comic was a pretty good hint.

So, yes, Chance is alive. He's just been hurtled through time to 1916. "But Riot, why is it called The Path: 1926 then?" Well, because that's when the story picks up. There'll be flashbacks to times between 1916 and 1926, but the story on a whole picks up in 1926 and that's why the title. "1926" will pretty much revolve around Chance trying to live up to his title of "hero". It was mentioned in an earlier issue of The Path that Chance was never trained, and that he left the paranormal aspect of his life behind in hopes of living a normal life years ago. This, of course, was a huge mistake. Now, when Nyarlathotep came for him, he was totally unprepared and had his ass handed to him. "1926" will be Chance's...well...chance to get his ass in gear and start to learn whatever he can about being a warrior. Mythologically-speaking, there's going to be a pretty big emphasis on Japanese and other Asian mythoses, as the European ones have pretty much told Chance to sod off.
Not to mention a new mythical weapon, since Nyarlathotep has Excalibur, and what's a king without a sword?

The regular "The Path" will continue for a few issues without Chance. Issue 6 will concentrate on Astaroth, Wolf, and Edward/Merlin as they (along with the city of Arkham, Mass.) are dragged across the Atlantic towards the spot where R'lyeh will rise. So, honestly, if you wanted to just skip "1926" completely, it would work. You'd just wonder where the hell some characters came from at the end of the series.

I keep saying "end of the road", but what I should be saying is "end of this cycle". There are going to be three main cycles of The Path. This first one is basically "Return of the King", Chance getting his hero role thrust upon him and making the best of it. The second cycle will be what happens when the myth-world at large becomes aware that Chance is the "real deal" and turns to him to solve all their problems. The third, well, I'm keeping that one under my hat. But I can promise that it'll be HUGE.

Onwards and downwards (because, let's face it, there won't be many happy endings around here)!

-Riot!