Kevin Matchstick is just your average guy. Average meaning the current reincarnation of the Pendragon, (who's also been known through time as Arthur) and who fights supernatural monsters with an enchanted baseball bat.

The creation of Matt Wagner, Mage is the classic story of the hero of myth. But wait - before your eyes get all glassy like they did in literature class, let's lay the ground rules. Mage is classic myth all right, but told in an entirely fresh manner.

"Mage is an allegory of heroic fiction through the eyes of everyday, urban Gen X-hood," says Matt Wagner. "In both the first series and this one, we deal with a fantasy setting where legendary heroes from the past are reincarnated in the persons of everyday guys in ratty T-shirts. I've taken the ancient myths of the past and tried to filter them through the consciousness of people who might be reading comics today. I've also tried to reinvigorate what made them mythic in the first place, which was that they appealed to the contemporary heart, or the everyman, no matter in what time period they were told."

But the main thing that makes Mage strike such a strong chord with fans is the creator's attachment to his lead character. Sure, other creators will tell you that they see themselves as Captian Wonderous, but Mage goes way beyond that. Matt Wagner is Kevin Matchstick. No, really. Wagner has publicly stated on many occasions that the Mage trilogy is autobiographical. But wait - that doesn't mean Wagner carries around a baseball bat or fights make-believe creatures.

"The stories are all allegories," Wagner says. "The baseball bat is a symbol of my 'power.' I'm not so far gone that I imagine that I've fought goblins or ogres on the streets of modern-day cities, but I've fought those goblins and ogres in a very metaphorical sense in my own mind as the various stresses and conflicts that you come into contact with in everyday life. I tend to take something that has happened to me, either a trauma or emotional development, and turn it into a myth. Again, that's what great myths tend to do is describe the everyday-ness in all of us."

While this level of personal attachment is something that you'd expect to see in an independent comic rather than an Image superhero-looking book, you shouldn't wig out over it. Wagner's connection to the book is a quality that's hard to put your finger on, but it's there on every page. By basing his lead character on himself, Wagner puts something intensely personal into his work, something that is rarely seen in most comics.

The long and the short of it is that Kevin is real. For the most part, he reflects Wagner's easy-going, guy next door personality, Kevin is extremely human. Like all of us, he makes wrong decisions, thinks with his heart rather than is head, and on occasion, does stuff he just outright knows he shouldn't be doing.

Along with Kevin, Wagner bases all the characters in his book on people he knows or on combinations of a few of his friends. "People who are close to me and know the sources of my inspiration get a big kick it," Wagner says. "But even if you don't know me, the fact that there are real models for the characters tends to impart a lot of character and personality into their behavior, as opposed to a demographic dossier that makes up many characters in other books. These are based more around personalities and the exactitude of their powers and characters are revealed through their personalities and actions as opposed to expository speeches or captions right of the bat." **BREAK Wagner's approach works and works well. The book has a richness of character and dead-on dialogue that you just don't find in other comics on the shelves today. Also, by spilling his guts on the page, Wagner has been able to ditch more than a few personal demons. "It's definitely therapy," Wagner says. "It's not only cheaper than going to an office and lying on a couch, it's more cathartic, because I don't just talk about what's happened to me. I take what's happened to me, and create something new and different out of it, which may be a little healthier than just rehashing past events."

Enough with the behind the scenes stuff. Where did all this begin?

It all started way back in February of 1984. Reagan was in the White House, Van Halen rocked, and nearly everybody still used a blow dryer on his or her hair. Enter Matt Wagner, a young guy just getting into comics at an equally young comic publisher, Comico. It was a bold, experimental time for comics published outside of Marvel and DC. A perfect time for Mage: The Hero Discovered to hit the stands.

Announced from the get-go as a 15-issue limited project, Mage was already experimental in that it was playing with the relatively new format of the maxiseries. But Mage: The Hero Discovered was more than just a maxiseries. It was a chance to see the development of one of today's most talented artists. With each episode of The Hero Discovered, Wagner was more confident of his writing and his art, so much so that when it was all said and done with #15, you had something much different than what you started with back in #1.

So what's it all about?

The story started when Kevin Matchstick, just another urban nobody met Mirth, the World Mage. Mirth told Kevin a wondrous story of heroes, destinies and epic battles, and Kevin bought none of it, but hung around with Mirth anyway. After a series of attacks by ferocious supernatural beings, Kevin gave a bit more credence to Mirth's stories, and realized that the strange guy just might be onto something.

Along the way, Kevin met up with Edsel, his sword bearer from a former life, and Sean Knight, a public defender who was actually was a ghost, but just hadn't realized it yet. Together with Mirth, the three set out against the forces of the Umbra Sprite, including Grackleflints (the nastiest of which a guy named Emil), Red Caps, as well as a ton of evil beings from the realm of Faerie. Appropriately enough, the Umbra Sprite was holed up in the Styx Hotel and Casino (told you it was mythological!).

The Umbra Sprite was trying to locate the Fisher King, a being of incredible power. With the Fisher King's blood, the Umbra Sprite would be able to cast the world into an era of darkness that he would rule. In an epic battle that saw both Edsel and Sean give their lives for Kevin, Kevin finally (after 13 issues) accepted his destiny as the Pendragon. Fully realizing his identity and role, Kevin assaulted the Styx on his own, full of power and confidence.

Kevin fought threat after threat in the Styx, but thanks to the traitorous actions of the Grackleflint Emil, the Umbra Sprite was already dead. Without the Umbra Sprite's power to support it, the Styx collapsed, dispersing the evil within. Mirth and Kevin hit the road, intent on wiping out the supernatural evil that they knew was out there.

And then there was nothing.

Well, okay, not nothing. There was a four-part Mage back up story in Wagner's Grendel #16-#19, a story that showed Kevin and Mirth fighting supernatural baddies in Paris. But after that story, appropriately called 'Interlude,' there really was nothing. **BREAK For 10 years. Not a word of Mage.

That all changed with last summer's debut of Mage: The Hero Defined #1 from Image. Since coming back, we've caught up with an older and maybe a little cockier Kevin, still intent on cleaning up the darkness from the world. Joining him this time around are Joe Phatt (a speedster), Kirby Hero (your basic mythological strong guy), and the crazy Wally Ut, who claims he's Kevin's next Mage.

Together, Kevin, Joe, and Kirby have battled their way through threat after threat, and of late, have been finding themselves drawn northward into Canada. They're not along in this feeling however, as the get to Montreal, they find that several other reincarnated heroes have felt the call as well. But for what? Ah, but that's the joy of monthly storytelling - Wagner hasn't let us in on the secret just yet.

Behind the scenes is a mystery guy (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Emil Grackleflint) has been putting together a golem, basically a human husk that has to be animated by magical forces. Of course, as bad guys always do, he's planning something, and Kevin's death currently tops his list.

While Mage may sound like it's top heavy in mythology, well, it might be, but it's mythology the way it was meant to be - simple stories of good and evil told in a manner to keep them real to the everyday reader. In the course of the series, Wagner will throw more names of mythological characters at you than you can shake a stick at, but in a manner than doesn't overwhelm. Without sounding too high-falootin', Wagner introduces you to new characters, or reincarnations of mythological characters in each issue in a way that makes you curious as to just who these folks were in the first place. Go on try it - you'll want to grab a copy of Bullfinch's Mythology after you've read an issue or two.

So where're things headed in the series? Following #6's fight with the Dragon Slayer, Kirby Hero's sister shows up, along with a couple of witches, one of which who has her eye on seducing Kevin, who's got to save the world and obviously has no time for love. As more and more reincarnated heroes gather in the northern lands, Kevin gets stronger and stronger feelings that something is definitely up, and that something is after him, which is putting all his friends at great risk.

We'll also see Wall Ut's bizarre ramblings begin to make more sense and the mystery guy will send his golem (powered by Kevin's stolen magic) out to kill the whole gang. And then - things will really start building as the series nears its climactic issue #15.

And after The Hero Defined? Mage: The Hero Denied of course, the third and final chapter of the Mage trilogy. What stories will it tell? Will the Pendragon of our age find his Guinevere, or will Wagner's story have a sad ending? "Oh, you'll just have to wait and see," Wagner says. "In a sense so will I. Since Mage is autobiographical, I'm living parts of the story that will make it into The Hero Denied right now, so I'm not entirely sure of how the story will play out. One thing I am sure of is that it won't take ten years for the next Mage series to see the light of day."

Mage Pick Hits:

Mage: The Hero Discovered #10-#11 - The assault on the Styx Hotel and Casino. Sean, Edsel and Kevin dress up, sneak in, and try to take the Umbra Sprite down.