SansPoint

Okay, disclaimer: I helped get this book made, as part of the pre-order project. I even sprung a bit extra for a commission.^[1] I wouldn’t have bough it if I didn’t think it was something impressive and amazing. Keep this in mind.

Templar, Arizona is an amazing webcomic that invents a plausible alternate reality for its setting with lavish detail. Described as “a slightly irregular Arizona that fell off the back of a truck somewhere, and now all the power outlets are a weird shape and a couple of wars never happened,” the titular city is a character in itself. Though it largely takes a back seat in the first chapter of the story—better to introduce the humans first—it pervades every aspect of the narrative. Templar has its own history, its own geography, and its own unique subcultures, religions, and quirks. It feels genuinely real.

The first print collection has the same lavish attention to detail. Beyond a remastering of the comic to fix errors in the online version, there is also the comic’s first intermission, copious annotations for both the main story and the intermission, and eight pages of sketches detailing the visual evolution of the comic. Oh, and the art is spectacular. Such a thing is required to be said. If there’s any shortcomings here, it’s in this being only part of a whole that is still in progress. As of this post, the webcomic is in Chapter 3, and the print edition of Chapter 2 is being fundraised for. It really leaves the reader wanting more.

It’s actually very difficult to say anything about Templar, and about this first collection that hasn’t already been said. If you’ve never read Templar, Arizona, start now. Pick up the book, if you like. This is something that is going to be very important.

1. The commission is of the band POLYSICS, and it is awesome. ↩