The Guild

Written by Felicia Day
Art by Jim Rugg

I was rather late coming around to watching The Guild, but when I finally did give Felicia Day's web television show a try, I was hooked.  I knew that there had been a mini-series (I'd tracked down the issues for a friend who doesn't buy comics), but had paid it no mind, despite being drawn by Jim Rugg (of Street Angel and Afrodisiac fame).  I did start to buy the various one-shots that Day was writing with the various actors from the show, but it wasn't until this week that I got around to reading the original comic, collected in trade.

The web show follows the on- and off-line tribulations of a group of total strangers who met playing a fantasy MMORPG, and began spending all of their free-time together.  When the show opens, they've not met, or even know each others' real names.  That doesn't last past the first episode, as their worlds collide in a number of ways that make them very uncomfortable.

In writing this comic, Day decided to share the 'secret origin' of the Knights of Good, by showing us what led Cyd (Day's character) to abandon the real world and move into the on-line one.  She has always been wracked with uncertainty, and we watch as her boyfriend Trevor alternately uses and ignores her.  Seeking some sort of personal connection, she tries out this new videogame, and it's not long before she's met all the other main characters of the show.

As this is written by Day, who also writes the show, the characters' voices are spot on.  Jim Rugg is a good choice for the art - he uses his standard style to show the everyday world, and has also developed a more Frazetta-esque, digitally painted style for the in-game scenes, which are more detailed than they could ever be on the show. 

Reading this has left me yearning for more Guild; too bad it doesn't look like the show will be returning.