Broken Frontier

Ape Entertainment s hard at work assembling a fine collection of talent to fill its upcoming collection of original fantasy stories, titled The Fablewood Anthology . BF asked Ape founders Brent Erwin and David Hedgecock about the decision to put out a new anthology and then turned to anthology creator and editor William Ward for the full lowdown on the project.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Ape’s had a bit of a tradition going with the Ape Omnibus anthology some time ago. What made this the opportune moment to put another collection of stories together?

BRENT ERWIN: When we where approached by William about Fablewood to say that we where impressed by the quality of the project is putting it mildly.  We have one goal here at Ape Entertainment; we want to publish interesting and diverse projects that maintain high quality and are well written and well drawn.  The stable of talented creators and the amazing stories in Fablewood hit every mark of our goal and made it an easy choice for us to make.

DAVID HEDGECOCK: We’re big fans of the anthology format here at Ape. The idea of doing them never really left our minds. We simply needed to find some dedicated people willing to handle the projects and a format that was going to do the projects justice. When William Ward came to us with a beautiful project already well on it’s way to completion, we jumped at it.

BF: How did you become involved, William, and what’s your duty besides making sure participating creators submit their work in due time?

WILLIAM WARD: Fablewood was actually a submission package sent to Ape Entertainment. Originally just an attempt to self-publish a smaller book, the concept of Fablewood seemed to resonate with the writers and artist as I recruited for the project. Eventually growing in size and quality to the point that I thought this was ready for a publisher. Outside of making sure creators stay on task (including myself), I suppose that the balance of stories and maintaining the classic fantasy theme has been my major duties.

Ape Entertainment has been very supportive in this task, having allowed me to continue to accept submissions after they picked up the project and offering a lot of good advice on how to use these new submissions to enhance the project.

BF: The book will feature both new and up-and-coming talent. Can you walk us through the full roster?

WW: Fablewood compiles the talents of newcomers like Chris Studabaker and Dusty Neal (Howard E. Day Prize nominees), J.P. Ahonen (Flight 4), and Kevin Crossley (Event Horizon) with up-and-comers like Ryan Ottley (Invincible) and Manny Trembley (Sam Noir).

We also have web comic creators Andrew Kaiko (Norm and Cory); Dean Kotz, Garry Henderson, and Myself (Stoneteller); JJ Naas and Elanor Cooper (The Broken Mirror as a team and Desert Rocks by JJ Naas). We also have a number of creators who come from self-publishing, or who have their first published work in Fablewood.

“Die a Hero” Steve Kinder, Kevin Crossley
“Jack Magic” Andrew Kaiko
“The Apprentice” Garry Henderson, Dean Kotz
"Our Endless Numbered Days" Chris Studabaker, Aaron Minier, Jeremy Mohler
“Solace” JP Ahonen
“A Vicious Circle” JJ Nass, Elanor Cooper
“Thistleheart” John Schlim, JP Dupras, Freddy Lopez, Jesse Hansen
“Blessings” Ryan Ottley, Manny Trembley, William Ward
“Under the Midnight Sun” Chris Studabaker, Dusty Neal

BF: Are all the stories featured in Fablewood hardcore “swords and sorcery” fantasy, or have some of the creators opted for a broader interpretation of the term?

WW: Swords and Sorcery is certainly represented in Fablewood, but many of the creators have opted to tell different types of stories. JJ Naas’s and Elanor Cooper’s story “A Vicious Circle” is a slice-of-life story that just happens to take place in a fantastic setting. “Die a Hero” written by Steve Kinder and illustrated by Event Horizon alum Kevin Crossley delves into politics and the way we think about other cultures.

We also have the very original Howard E. Day Prize nominate “Under the Midnight Sun” from Chris Studabaker and Dusty Neal. “Under the Midnight Sun” tells the story of Cail, a young shadow who dreams of seeing the sun, and the challenges he faces in trying to accomplish an impossible dream.

BF: How much of a tribute to fantasy masters like JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and Robert Howard is this anthology? Why settle on this genre in particular?

WW: There are a lot of influences, including the ones you named, that made fantasy a natural choice for this anthology. Artesia, Conan the Barbarian, 300, Heavy Metal, Mouse Guard, Sandman, Raven’s Children, Swamp Thing, Elfquest, Castle Waiting, Pan-Gea, and Bone are just a few comics that come to mind.

BF: You’ve also opened a call for submissions. What kind of stories do you think will add some extra layers to the total package you’re assembling?

WW: Fablewood seeks to be a return to classic fantasy: monsters prowling forests, Lovecraftian gods, beautiful women in castles, hedge mazes and classical sculpture, bumbling servants, mysterious strangers on lonely roads, magic and its repercussions, and actual romance are all archetypal elementals of fantasy, but are just the beginning of the full power of the fantasy genre.

I think any of these stories would add to Fablewood. I also encourage people to be creative, many of the best stories in Fablewood were stories I did not expect. We will be accepting stories until July 10th, 2007.

For more on the project, visit its official website at http://www.fablewoodcomic.com.