Holy Avenger
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Holy Avenger is a Brazilian comic book series. Arguably the most successful non-child-oriented Brazilian comic, it is set in the medieval fantasy world of Arton, part of the RPG campaign setting Tormenta. The series lasted for 42 issues (40 regular ones and a 2-issues "post-end" story), drawn with manga-inspired art. It ended only because authors wanted to give an ending to the plot, following the tradition of manga, which, unlike many U.S. comics (on which format most brazilian comics are shaped), have a beginning, a development and an end.
The success of the series can be seen in its spinoffs, which include special issues that portray each of the main characters individually, an audio CD with professional voice actors playing the characters, an RPG book based on events in the series, an artbook with original sketches, and even a new edition, which sends the comics back to newsstands, this time with new covers and more pages per issue.
The authors of Holy Avenger are writer Marcelo Cassaro and artist Erica Awano.
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History
Originally, Holy Avenger was an adventure for the AD&D game published in the RPG magazine Dragão Brasil, issues #44 to #46, in 1998. Positive feedback encouraged author Marcelo Cassaro to do something more with the characters and general idea of the published adventure. As he had already got a modest success publishing his own comic books, in 1999 he teamed up with Erica Awano to start an ambitious project – a brand-new ongoing monthly comic series, an idea that had almost no chance of surviving in the Brazilian market.
Initially, sales were highly unsatisfactory, but after about 10 issues the magazine's success took off. After 40 issues and a handful of spinoffs, an even more ambitious project is at a starting phase: a Holy Avenger animated series.
Plot
The plot revolves around a 19-year-old girl, Lisandra, a druid who was raised by wolves on a faraway island. She starts having dreams about the Paladin, a hero who mysteriously disappeared a few years ago. This Paladin had in his armour the Rubies of Virtue, twenty magical gems forged by each of the twenty most powerful gods of the world of Arton. The gems were scattered all over the world after the Paladin's disappearance, and, according to Lisandra's dreams, it is up to her to find them and return them to the Paladin.
Things aren't easy at all, tough, and the search for the Rubies will spawn a multitude of plot twists and flashbacks to Arton's past events.
A lot of elements in the series are taken from the Dungeons & Dragons game, including spells, character classes and the way magic is treated. However, there a number of idiosyncractic twists that give the medieval fantasy scenario a unique flavour.
Trivia
The English name Holy Avenger was given to the series because it can both refer to a famous D&D magical item and one of the main characters, the Paladin. A Portuguese name would have been gender-specific to indicate either the sword or the fighter, and thus wouldn't work the same way.
There are many references to anime titles on the issues. From anime theme songs being sung by the characters to anime characters hidden among the crowd.
External links
- Official Holy Avenger site (http://www.holyavenger.com.br)
- The twenty gods of Arton- excellent example of Awano's work (http://www.holyavenger.com.br/img/download/img-grandes/o-panteao.JPG)
