New piece up on thalo:
Snow By Night is an independently published comic (as seen in photos 1 – 3) about a fantasy alternate history. Instead of being set in a generically medieval, Euro-ish kingdom, though, Snow’s alternate history takes place in a frontier town, populated by historically accurate French fur-traders as well as fantasy magic users. The beautifully illustrated story follows the adventures of thieves, a corporeal water-spirit, a salon girl, and other characters in the small town of Sherboug. I caught up with Eric Menge, the comic’s writer, to ask about this unusual storyline.
thalo: ‘Snow By Night’ is set in a well-researched historical setting… with fantasy elements. What led you to this particular time and place as a fantasy setting?
Eric Menge: I grew up in St. Augustine, Florida, which is an old Spanish colonial town so there was always that era lurking behind everything in town, whether it was the Castillo de San Marcos or Ponce de Leon’s search for the Fountain of Youth. When I moved to Virginia, I found even more colonial influences up here with Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Alexandria. Most fantasy is set in a pseudo-medieval setting, probably stemming from the influence of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons on the genre. But I thought we could find the fantastic here in the New World. North America is rich with conflicting cultures, folktales, and drama. Furthermore, not too many webcomics use this setting. Like the northeastern woodlands, colonial fantasy is all virgin wilderness.
via Snow By Night: Fur-Traders and Magic in the Frozen North / thalo Articles.
