If you saw my photos of the WAYWARD BOARD GAME from Gen Con and want to get your own copy, the first place you can get it is at Barnes & Noble!

IDW Games has a special exclusive with B&N, offering the Wayward Board Game first through their online store and retail outlets.

Order online and have it shipped to you, or you can order and then pick it up at your local B&N!
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/toys-games-wayward/33774566

The Wayward Board Game, designed by Jon Gilmour (Dead Of Winter, Dinosaur Island), is for 1-5 players. It’s a cooperative strategic game where you take on the role of a teenager struggling to understand their new powers as Yokai, the spirits and monsters of old Japan, try to destroy you before you take your rightful place in the new supernatural order.

• Five characters, each one with different abilities and upgrade trees.
• Five scenarios, each one with different victory conditions and style of play.

I know it’s been a long time coming but now, finally, Wayward is ready for your tabletop!

WAYWARD, BOOK 3: DELUXE HC
WRITER: Jim Zub
ARTIST / COVER: Steven Cummings, Tamra Bonvillain
MAY 22 / 320 pages / FC/ M / $39.99

Image Comics’s supernatural sensation concludes in this oversized hardcover collection that includes every stunning cover illustration, design sketches, extensive essay material on culture and mythology by monster scholar ZACK DAVISSON, plus a special poster of the 5-part WAYWARD connected cover illustration from issues #26-30!

The wayward are reunited at last, but is it too late? The Yokai have prepared a sacrifice that could change everything. This is war, and Tokyo is the final battleground. Fate burns as the past and present clash in this exciting finale!

Collects WAYWARD #21-30

Wayward Deluxe Book 3 (issues #21-30 plus extras) The wayward are reunited at last, but is it too late? The Yokai have prepared a sacrifice that could change everything. This is war and Tokyo is the final battleground. Fate burns as the past and present clash in this exciting finale! This oversized hardcover collection includes every stunning cover illustration, design sketche, and extensive essay material on culture and mythology, as well as a special poster of the 5-part WAYWARD connected cover illustration from issues #26-30!

PRE-ORDER Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Book Depository Chapters-Indigo

• ComicBook.com: 10/10 “…an elegant, beautiful finale that will give fans a lot to love — both in the first reading and in what is sure to be many re-readings to come. That’s the beauty of Wayward. It’s a story you will want to come back to, even knowing how it all ends.”

• Horror Talk: 10/10 “While I’m sad to see Wayward end, this finale is pitch perfect. This is truly an epic comic in more ways than one.”

• TM Stash: 10/10 “Wayward goes out in a blaze of glory – maintaining the high standards this series has set from the very beginning. That’s something that happens all too rarely in comics – glad to see that it happened here.”

IDW Games is proud to announce the Wayward Board Game – Signature Edition, based on the comic series world by Jim Zub (Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons) and Steven Cummings (Legends of the Dark Knight, Forager, Wayward), with new art by Cummings and game design by Jonathan Gilmour (Dinosaur Island, Dead of Winter). Wayward presents players with a highly thematic threat management game and multiple unique and challenging scenarios that push them to take risks, and, in return, grant their characters more powerful abilities and items.

Wayward is a cooperative board game for 1-5 players where each player takes on the role of a teenager with newfound supernatural abilities. The next generation of the supernatural has emerged in Tokyo, and these teens are fighting for their survival and to prevent the Weave – the hidden threads of power and destiny that guide our world – from unraveling. These “wayward children” threaten the old order and the creatures and spirits known as the Yokai are determined to eradicate them before they are usurped. Players choose one of five different scenarios to play, each with its own unique rules and challenges, to defeat the Yokai and destroy their places of power.

Jerry Bennington, IDW Publishing’s VP of New Product Development, says, “Being able to bring the fantastic world of Wayward to the tabletop has been a lot of fun. The art, miniatures, and game are a great way to experience the world that the comics have created.”

Jim Zub, writer of Wayward, says, “Jonathan Gilmour has put together the kind of fun and challenging game I love playing at the table with my friends. It has an intense strategic style that’s full of surprises. Win or lose, each play through is a blast to see through to the end.”

Wayward Board Game – Signature Edition will be available on Kickstarter for pre-order in February 2019 for $70.00 and will include exclusive upgraded packaging, miniatures, and bonus character with scenario. Prior to the campaign, fans attending PAX Unplugged (Nov. 30 – Dec. 2) will have the opportunity to demo the game at IDW Games booth #3148.

I sent Steven an email back in July 2013 proposing a story about supernatural stuff happening in Tokyo. The idea for it came from story bits I had been brainstorming about mythology in the modern world mixed with a cool illustration Steven had done years earlier in an art book called Vent.

Over five years later, here we are with thirty issues under our belt and a big crazy story about myth, destiny, and finding your way in a changing world.

I knew how the broad elements would come together for the finale but I wasn’t sure if it would end up being optimistic or something grim. Thankfully, a hopeful tone won out and, rereading it now, it feels right.

The unknown is scary, but it also carries great potential. Our past informs who we are, but it’s not the sum total of who we will be in the future.

Going on this journey with our creative team has been an incredible honor. Steven Cummings and I worked together on opposite sides of the world, keeping production going around the clock. I’d pop onto Google Hangouts late in the evening as he woke up to start another day of art production. We’d check in and encourage each other as we plugged away on each issue, each arc, year after year. Like any creative endeavor, it was stressful at times, but also a constant source of joy.

Tamra Bonvillain came on board to color Wayward at the end of our first arc and stuck with us until the end. Her ability to bring out the best in Steven’s line work and take it to a higher level with mood and atmosphere still makes me smile. She brought a distinct look to the series that kept us competitive with any other title on the stands.

Marshall Dillon has been with me on every creator-owned series I’ve done and with good reason. His work effortlessly enhances each page, keeping readers focused and moving through the story in a way that’s easy to take for granted. That’s what great lettering does.

Zack Davisson and Ann O’Regan brought their knowledge and research skills to the mix in a way that helped us stand out in a crowded field. Our back matter essays were educational without being preachy, fascinating and always relevant. The reference material they provided helped ground our supernatural story in the real world and brought added value to our single issues and collections.

Wayward gave me the opportunity to dig into my love of Japan in a way I hadn’t ever thought possible. It forged lifelong friendships, enabled trips around the globe and enriched my life, time and time again.

Thank you to my wife Stacy for her endless editorial support and love, to the crew at Image Comics for helping us every step of the way, and to the many retailers and reviewers who enthusiastically told people about what we were doing as we built our readership.

Thank you for supporting us. Every day I’m thankful I get to make comics and none of it would be possible without great people like you.

Right here, right now…Anything is possible.

Jim

I spoke to Nicole Drum at ComicBook.com about wrapping up Wayward after 30 issues, the way the characters evolved, and how we mixed real world locations with old world myths to build our story.
Check it out!