Dragon Age: A Foreword by David Gaider
Most people don't know this about me, but once upon a time I wanted to be a comic book artist. I was a huge comics fan, cutting my teeth on John Byrne's "X-Men" run before I moved onto books like "Watchmen", Dave Sim's "Cerebus" and Neil Gaiman's "Sandman". I was that guy doodling in the back of my high school class and I even made a few comics of my own (which I take out now only to laugh at). I lacked the ambition to get formal training, however, and in the end I realized it wasn't the drawing of comics that interested me so much as the storytelling. I loved the blend of the cinematic and narrative elements, the visual composition, and how it all lent itself to telling that story in such a dramatically different manner from a novel or a movie... or a video game.
Video games are where I ended up, obviously, and I've always enjoyed the challenge. As with most things, writing for video games is harder than it looks. Not only do you have to contend with interactive elements and restrictions you don't find elsewhere, the sheer difficulty of constructing branching dialogue and narrative itself can be daunting. It's a skill all its own, belying the idea that most people have about "writing" as consisting solely of thinking up a story and jotting down sentences. Writing novels is the same way (something I've also had the good fortune to do for Dragon Age), and required me to use storytelling tools in a completely different manner from what I've become used to at BioWare. Even so, I enjoyed the challenge of trying something new.
So both these things meant I was incredibly excited when Dark Horse approached BioWare about doing a new Dragon Age comic series. What's that, you say? The chance to work in the medium I grew up loving? You'd like to explore parts of Thedas that we might never get to inside a game? You'd like me to bring in some familiar faces from Dragon Age's past and reveal lore the fans will be dying to know? You were wondering if I, the lead writer for Dragon Age, might be interested in doing that? Can I play coy and tell you I'll mull it over, or did the ear-splitting squeal I uttered over the phone give me away?
I adore Dark Horse. These are guys who were thrilled at the idea of making a Dragon Age comic that Dragon Age fans would actually be interested in, not just because it might make them money (here's hoping) but also because it might be fun. I know I certainly enjoy it, the challenge and the sheer joy of collaborating with people like Alex and Chad both, and I hope you all do as well.
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