Back in 2005, I had my first Comic Con adventure in San Diego. It was filled with tons of comics, fish tacos, gorgeous weather, people dressed in costume, a jaunt down to Mexico, more comics, a visit with an old high school friend of mine on artist row (Scott Kolins—we used to draw superheroes in art class), a photo op with Orson Scott Card, lots of swag . . . a literal nerd fest.
Amidst the numbing masses of people and hundreds of booths, I stumbled across Alexis Fajardo, author and illustrator of Kid Beowulf. Of the armloads of comics I brought home with me (I actually had to leave clothes behind to make room for them all in my suitcase), Alexis’s graphic novel was one of the few that stuck with me.
If like me you’re a fan of Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker trilogy, you’re probably a fan of alternative history, stories using the events and people from the past as a framework but adding some creative twists. In Kid Beowulf, Alexis tells the tale of a young Beowulf and his twin brother Grendel (his twist on characters from the classic tale of Beowulf) as they travel throughout Europe and meet some of the epic heroes from the middle ages. If all history lessons were told using Alexis’s sense of humor while presented in his fun, comic illustrative style, more people would pay attention to their history lessons.
Now to get things up to date, a few months back Alexis told me of his KickStarter project to help pay for the re-issue of volume one of Kid Beowulf while also printing volume two and three. I just had to get in on the action and throw my support to someone who was creating stories that I thoroughly enjoyed. Well, just days ago, I received my rewards for that support: three personally signed copies of the first three Kid Beowulf graphic novels along with some swag.
I’ve already plowed through volume on, The Blood Bound Oath, and am currently digging into The Song of Roland. Truly appreciate the lucky happenstance that led me to meeting Alexis all those years ago as it’s provided me with some fantastic reads. Best of luck to him and Kid Beowulf!