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12 Days of Classic Comics Christmas - Day 11
It's the penultimate pick for favorite short-run comics series! See what other people chose here:
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?437017-The-Eleventh-Day-of-Classic-Comics-Christmas-2012
and my choice is...
2. Empire Lanes
(4 issues, 1986-1987)
The "black & white boom" of the 1980s produced an awful lot of junk, but also some real gems. One of the best was Peter Gross' Empire Lanes. A group of stock fantasy adventure characters straight out of a Dungeons & Dragons game (the exiled princess, the stoic paladin, the grumpy dwarf, the impish halfling, etc.) are forced to jump through a magical portal, and wind up in modern-day Chicago. They set up shop in an old bowling alley (the "Empire Lanes" of the title) and try to fit into to this strange new world, while trying to figure out how they can safely return home, and staying on guard for the enemies who are still searching for them. The familiar fantasy archetypes turn out to have a surprising amount of depth as we learn more about them. Gross is a fine writer, and his heavily-textured black and white artwork is beautiful. Gross went on to do a lot of work for DC/Vertigo, and he talked a few times about possibly returning to this series, but nothing ever came of it. Maybe someday...!
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?437017-The-Eleventh-Day-of-Classic-Comics-Christmas-2012
and my choice is...
2. Empire Lanes
(4 issues, 1986-1987)
The "black & white boom" of the 1980s produced an awful lot of junk, but also some real gems. One of the best was Peter Gross' Empire Lanes. A group of stock fantasy adventure characters straight out of a Dungeons & Dragons game (the exiled princess, the stoic paladin, the grumpy dwarf, the impish halfling, etc.) are forced to jump through a magical portal, and wind up in modern-day Chicago. They set up shop in an old bowling alley (the "Empire Lanes" of the title) and try to fit into to this strange new world, while trying to figure out how they can safely return home, and staying on guard for the enemies who are still searching for them. The familiar fantasy archetypes turn out to have a surprising amount of depth as we learn more about them. Gross is a fine writer, and his heavily-textured black and white artwork is beautiful. Gross went on to do a lot of work for DC/Vertigo, and he talked a few times about possibly returning to this series, but nothing ever came of it. Maybe someday...!