The Fade is a magical coming-of-age adventure from Dimension 20’s Aabria Iyengar
Aabria Iyengar, known for her work in the gaming world with Critical Role, Dimension 20 and Worlds Beyond Number, is teaming up with webcomic Mari Costa for a brand new project. The fading is a magical coming-of-age story that revolves around the challenge of entering a fantasy world.
“The Fade was the brainchild of a dozen dozen conversations I’ve had with friends about what makes isekais such compelling stories,” Iyengar told Polygon via email. “What makes us fall in love with the idea of falling into other worlds in the fiction we consume? Why do we want to escape so badly? From there, a story about having a foot in both worlds naturally emerged!”
The official summary is as follows:
Once a fearless high school student, Jeannie was unprepared for the aimless feeling of a freshman year, but that’s about to change! Mirror myths are revived in the modern age as countless people claim to have been transported to a realm called “The Fade” in their dreams via a viral internet sensation, but what awaits Jeannie and her best friend Arno on the other side? Royale missions, ancient prophecies, or something far more dangerous…?
The character lineup has some great designs. It’s funny to see a regular freshman in a hoodie up there with some great characters.
“Aabria gave me SUCH strong visuals that I immediately fell in love with the characters and the world,” Costa wrote to Polygon in an email interview. “I desperately wanted to put my own brand of self-indulgent nonsense into the designs, so I ended up putting a LOT of old fantasy manga/JRPGs and high fashion aesthetics into the characters. Especially the fairies. I have an insane (digital vision) board with collected references for everything.”
There is no way to dance about how much A court of fairies and flowers influenced the vibes of this story!” Iyengar added. ”There’s something about the over-the-top romance and grandeur and adventure in modern fairy tales that just draws me in… it’s like taking an entire fantasy realm and boiling it down on the stove into a thick syrup of drama! Visually, I just wanted to give Mari the power to push every slider to its limits! There’s nothing more fun than just screaming ‘DO THE MOST! EVERYTHING HERE IS BUCKWILD!’ and being amazed at what an absolute genius throws back at you!”
The first issue hits comic book stores on November 6th, but can be pre-ordered early. Digital copies are available on Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, and more. Check out the main cover and Stephanie Han’s variant below.
