Latinx fantasy comic Helm Greycastle mixes Lord of the Rings with "rich, bloody history of Mexico"

Helm Graycastle — (Image credit: Rahmat M. Handoko)

The 'sword & sorcery' subgenre of comics is growing, with a new Latinx fantasy series imagining the Aztecs and Mayans as magic and sword-wielding warriors fighting back the Spanish invasion of Mexico. In the upcoming series Helm Greycastle, writer Henry Barajas and artist Rahmat M. Handoko imagine people like themselves represented - and empowered - in the fantasy world.

"I love playing Dungeons and Dragons with my best friends and I grew up loving Peter Jackson's take on JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings," says Barajas in the announcement. "But I never see people like myself in the fantasy world. I want to show the rich, bloody history of Mexico while bringing Latinx characters into the fantasy realm."

Here's a preview:

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Helm Greycastle preview

"I'm excited to reclaim another narrative we're used to seeing about Mesoamerica that is often told by white scholars and storytellers - and simultaneously introduces Latinx characters in the fantasy realm," Barajas tells Newsarama.

Barajas is currently using Kickstarter to raise $10,000 for the project, which includes a role-playing game, dice, and even instructional guides on running your own Kickstarter by Barajas, who has managed 10 successful crowdfunding campaigns before this.

Here's a preview of Barajas' instructional material on being successful with Kickstarter:

The Helm Greycastle one-shot goes on sale February 2021.

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Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)