Curt Pires, known for his compelling work in titles such as Youth and Lost Falls within the Comixology Originals library, is making a much-anticipated return to Image Comics. His latest venture, Lost Fantasy, draws deep inspiration from the iconic JRPGs, particularly Final Fantasy VII, promising a thrilling fusion of Western comics and Japanese role-playing game elements.

Dive into the exclusive preview of Lost Fantasy #1 with our slideshow gallery below, showcasing stunning interior art from the debut issue and the creative process behind Jae Lee's captivating cover:

Lost Fantasy #1: Exclusive Preview Art Gallery

10 Images

Lost Fantasy marks a reunion for Pires with Luca Casalanguida, the artist behind Money. The debut issue boasts cover art by a talented lineup including Casalanguida, Alex Diotto, Darick Robertson, and Jae Lee. Adding to the excitement, the series will feature a serialized backup story titled Indigo Children: Exodus, a continuation of Pires' sci-fi saga, Indigo Children.

Image Comics provides the following official synopsis for Lost Fantasy:

In Lost Fantasy, a magical world lies beneath ours, and first contact was made over a hundred years ago between the two worlds due to a natural disaster, resulting in a schism that allowed monsters to break through. Since then, secret monster slayers, known as The Great Hunters, have been working with global leaders to police the border and to keep our world safe from the creatures that lurk in the shadows. But last night, something broke through, resulting in a mysterious mass killing in Montana, and causing things to shift in a way that will ripple through both worlds. Now it’s up to rookie monster hunter Henry Blackheart to stop it…

In an exclusive statement to IGN, Pires shared his enthusiasm: "I'm ecstatic to be back at Image Comics with Lost Fantasy—a series that merges my love of Western comics like East Of West and Something Is Killing The Children with the dense world-building and action of the JRPGs I grew up playing. Games like the Final Fantasy series—with our lead character's Snow White spikey hair and Giant Sword being a direct homage to Tetsuya Nomura's amazing character design for Cloud."

He further elaborated, "The 'Lost' in the title is also a homage—albeit a more subtle one—to the great Hironobu Sakaguchi's Lost Odyssey—which is his criminally underrated post-Final Fantasy masterpiece at Mistwalker. So the comic has a lot of JRPG love at its core."

Mark your calendars: Lost Fantasy #1 will hit the shelves on April 30, 2025.

For more insights into upcoming releases, explore what's on the horizon from Marvel and DC in 2025.