ECCC 2017: Matt Wagner Announces Mage: The Hero Denied

At Emerald City Comic Con, Matt Wagner and Image Comics announced the long-awaited third volume of Mage will finally see print.

For fans of Matt Wagner, Mage: The Hero Denied had become the great white whale of their existence.

The third and final volume of Wagner’s Mage trilogy has been mentioned, teased and talked about in hushed whispers for a decade. Every time Wagner did an interview, Mage would be mentioned. Any time Wagner worked on any project, invariably someone somewhere would ask if readers would ever see the third volume of Mage.

And every time, Wagner would tease and say “Yes, it’s coming.” without any concrete information.

Fans of Kevin Matchstick can be forgiven if we seem a bit obsessed. The first volume, Mage: The Hero Discovered was published way back in the mid-eighties by Comico. It featured a retelling of the legend of King Arthur as only Wagner could do it and was brilliant to the extreme.

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It also introduced the world to the genius of Matt Wagner.

The sequel, Mage: The Hero Defined, was supposed to follow after a short time. That “short time” lasted more than a decade and the series finally became a reality in 1997 and was published by Image. The raw talent of a young writer/artist was replaced by the sure-handed ability of a creator who had long since come into his own.

And now we are finally getting the conclusion.

Announced at Emerald City Comic Con during the Image panel on Thursday, Mage: The Hero Denied will hit stands during the summer of 2017. The series will once again be 15 issues with a double-sized finale and will of course be written and drawn by Wagner.

In addition, the two previous Mage volumes will be re-released in trade paperback with all-new covers by Wagner.

From the Image press release:

"Matt Wagner returns with the highly-anticipated conclusion to MAGE.MAGE: THE HERO DENIED is the long-awaited conclusion of Matt Wagner’s epic fantasy trilogy. MAGE follows the adventures of the reluctant everyman hero Kevin Matchstick who, after encountering a shaggy and beguiling wizard, discovers he is the reincarnation of the legendary Pendragon and able to wield the power of the mystical weapon, Excalibur.MAGE will hit stores this Summer 2017 from Image Comics."

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I don’t know about anyone else, but I plan to go to my comic shop and reserve my copy now. I suggest you do the same.