Mage: The Hero Denied #0 (Cover) by Matt Wagner

Mage: The Hero Denied #0 (Cover)
by Matt Wagner (1961-)
13 x 17 in, ink on board

In between Mage: The Hero Discovered (Feb 1984 – Dec 1986) and Mage: The Hero Defined (Jul 1997 – Oct 1999), creator Matt Wagner published two Interlude stories. I have 5 of the 16 painted pages from Interlude 1, wishing I had all 16.

The third Interlude story comes just before the start of the third book, Mage: The Hero Denied (Aug 2017 – Feb 2019), in July 2017.

Thirty-five years in the making, The Hero Denied is the conclusion of the tale of Kevin Matchstick, who, after encountering a wizard, discovers he is the reincarnation of the legendary Pendragon and able to wield the power of the mystical weapon, Excalibur.

This third Interlude story picks up several years after the end of The Hero Defined, with the introspective Kevin Matchstick pondering his life, his actions, and his destiny.

The story is 12 pages long. I am pleased to have the art from the entire book in addition to this cover.

Matt Wagner: “The main character of Mage is Kevin Matchstick, a somewhat cynical everyman when the story first begins, he eventually meets a wily street wizard (the title character) who reveals that he is heir to a legendary power and destined to become the hero he never imagined himself to be.”

“The three stages of his journey make up the three books of the Mage trilogy—The Hero Discovered, The Hero Defined and the current series, The Hero Denied. The second series ended with some significant developments in Kevin’s role as a hero and his proposal to his beloved Magda. The latest and final series - Denied - begins with a #0 issue, which is a motif I’ve used throughout the saga to bridge the gap between each book of the trilogy. Here, we find Kevin still going through the motions of tracking down and hunting supernatural menaces but feeling somewhat out of place and disconnected from his role. The actual first issue of The Hero Denied skips ahead a few years to find Kevin and Magda settled down with a family and effectively retired from the world of magic and monsters that had become his reality. Unfortunately, those same familiar mystical threats soon reemerge to threaten their peaceful life.”