Following a successful kickstarter, Pegamoose Press has published Halls of the Turnip King, an original high fantasy graphic novel series created by Canadian comic artist Brenda Hickey (My Little Pony, Ward’s Valley).
A tale told in four parts, the Halls of the Turnip King series follows Elf prince Tatian Elfiore as he embarks on a journey to establish a military alliance with a Dwarven mine kingdom. Sent on this trek as punishment by his father, king of the Elf kingdom Elvania, Tatian finds himself in a sticky situation and is faced with a tough decision that would determine the fate of his people.
As the story progresses, we learn that the Dwarves have a gastronomic kryptonite: turnips. This sought-after root vegetable is a key motivator for the Dwarves, and there’s no telling what they’ll do for them. . .
When asked where the inspiration for this story came from, creator Brenda Hickey says the themes and characters were many years in the making.
“Well, it all sprung from characters and story ideas I came up with in high school,” says Hickey. “I liked Legend of Zelda and just one day doodled a wimpy looking elf character as kinda an antithesis of Link.
“I’d use the character of Tatian and his brother for my English & writing classes. The dwarf princess spun out from the scene of Lord of the Rings where Gimli is ranting that no one believes there are any dwarf women and Aragorn replies (in a whisper) ‘It’s the beards.'”
Hickey says she started this series just after working on her previous comic, In the Air, which she describes as “more of a drama.” Wanting to work on something a little less serious for a while, the author remembered those characters she had created in the past and ran with them.
“I reached back into the past and thought of my crazy fantasy characters and thought they’d be perfect to work with since they were so silly. The bones of the story were there from old notebooks I’d exchange with a good friend of mine, I just had to add some meat to it.
“Adding onto that it sorta became an accumulation of whatever I thought was funny at the time (for instance, my sister was playing Assassin’s Creed and kept running into bards, so bards got written in).”
But as for the turnips, the background on that detail is not so crystal clear.
“I honestly can’t even remember when the turnips became a thing. I think it was a small detail that just got out of hand the further along the project went.
The script changed a lot over the years it took to draw the pages. The whole process was very organic to fit the needs of the story. It was definitely a lot of fun to indulge in the slap stick comedy and crazy expressions and posing and I hope that that shines through and makes it a fun book to read as well.
This won’t be the last comic we see from Hickey. She says she has ideas for at least two more books, including a collaboration with her partner, Troy Little (Angora Napkin, Rick & Morty vs Dungeons and Dragons, Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas).
If you hadn’t already purchased your copy of Halls of the Turnip King via the kickstarter it is currently available at both Lightning Bolts Comics and The Comic Hunter in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.