~ by Ian T. Wilson

When I began the writing process for my webcomic Legend of the Sword Bearer I didn’t expect it to take over my life the way it did. I didn’t even expect it to be the first thing I published online. I think it must’ve started when I was in my mid-teens. I had been mesmerized by tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The idea of a long-ago age of ideal kings and noble knights riding on horseback through an English countryside filled with monsters, elves and witches absolutely captivated me. I wanted to delve deeper into the legend; rediscover the “original” king Arthur, untouched by French embellishments. I even wanted to write my own version of King Arthur; the “real” King Arthur.

At the time, though, I was more interested in superhero comics. I had created a team of characters similar to Marvel’s Avengers or DC’s Justice League. They were heroes from all over the world; except Britain. I hadn’t yet created a British superhero, and I was wracking my brain for ideas. Then I decided to create a character based loosely off of Marvel’s Thor; but instead of a magic hammer, I gave him Arthur’s mighty sword. He was the Sword Bearer, successor of King Arthur.

I kept coming up with new ideas and adventures for this character, but the trouble was, they didn’t fit within the world I had already created. All fictional worlds have rules by which they operate. I had already established rules for my Superhero world, but the Sword Bearer kept breaking them. So I gave him his own world with its own rules.

Now that I had a brand new world, without the constraints of trying to make it “realistic” (as realistic as a superhero comic can be) I could basically do whatever I wanted. Like all writers, I went through several plot revisions before deciding on a plot that I liked. And there it sat, on my computer for who knows how long, doing absolutely nothing. My plan was to get my superhero comics published first and the fantasy series would get published later. Then I discovered the wide world of independant webcomics. These days, you can publish a webcomic for next to nothing. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) my superhero comics were not yet ready for publication. The Legend of the Sword Bearer, however, was ready, or nearly ready, anyway. Furthermore, that’s what the public wanted. Fantasy comics were, and continue to be incredibly popular on the internet. So I decided I would just do it. I would publish The Legend of the Sword Bearer, and put my superhero comics on the shelf for a while.

In their novels, C.S. Lewis and Stephen Lawhead wrote about the ideal Arthurian Kingdom called Logres. Logres was a kingdom where sovereignty and freedom existed side-by-side; without tyranny on the part of leadership, and without resentment on the part of the citizen. I believe Logres still exists in those whose hearts long for justice and goodness.

Arthur was an ordinary man; an ordinary teen, really, but in his chest beat the heart of a warrior king. I wanted to capture that in my character Bran McNeill. He isn’t perfect, but he his heart is in the right place. I believe very strongly in the power of individuals to influence the world for good. This belief underpins all of my work. And anyone can be a hero. Arthur’s knights came from all backgrounds. Anyone can rise up out of the sea of mediocrity and inspiration others to do the same. That, I believe, is part of the message of Camelot. And that is the message I try to convey in Legend of the Sword Bearer.