Arvid Nelson's Fantastic World
By Melissa Karen Sances | Photos by Nikki Gardner Studio & Art by Oren, Crowfire Studios
Published In Northampton Living | October 2026
Twenty years ago, at a Chevy’s Fresh Mex in Times Square, Arvid Nelson had a spiritual experience.
After attending the inaugural New York Comic Con, which now draws hundreds of thousands of fans annually to the city, the already acclaimed writer scooched into a sticky booth at the chain Mexican restaurant. Located in the heart of the Theater District, Chevy’s featured its own Mariachi band, and Nelson, who had already navigated the cacophony of the city, felt overwhelmed by all the noise. So, naturally, he popped in his earbuds and blasted Five Finger Death Punch while he waited for Chevy's signature nachos bathed in taxicab-yellow cheese.
And then it came to him – a feeling, a fantasy story, the beginning of “The Band of the Crow.” There would be frost giants who threatened humanity. There would be dynamic women, sorceresses, who used their powers to fight back. There would be an awkward teenage boy with a quest that seemed beyond him.
At the time, Nelson, who now lives in Northampton with his wife and two children, was invested in “Rex Mundi,” a series published by Image Comics and Dark Horse that sparked talk of a movie featuring Johnny Depp. (The “murder-mystery story about Jesus,” as Nelson puts it, didn’t sound so farfetched after Dan Brown published “The Da Vinci Code” a year after the comic debuted, but the movie never materialized.)
But in that moment when Nelson tuned everything out to turn inward, he became aware of another world. He wanted to take readers there, in the same way he felt transported when he watched “Star Wars.”
“When I think about [the original trilogy], it’s like a fragrance,” he said. “It just takes me back there. Great stories have that quality – they make you feel a certain way.”
Origin Story
Nelson, who graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s in creative writing, was once an aspiring musician. In a band with his college roommate, his “golden baritone” was accompanied by his friend’s guitar. But after creative differences, Nelson fell in “with another disreputable group” whose passion was for the page.
“We thought we could all move to Brooklyn and start a comic book empire,” he said.
That wasn’t meant to be.
Nelson went his own way, and after a brief stint in film, found himself in Paris marveling at the architecture and dreaming up “Rex Mundi.” He’d go on to work with Marvel Comics and Legendary Entertainment.
The writer met his wife, Robyn, while they were both living in Queens, and they had their sights set on eventually living in Northampton. After deciding to try out an apartment for a year, they settled permanently in Paradise City, where they are joined by their two children, Isaac and Aurora. The family enjoys the local orchards and the Valley’s hiking trails. Nelson’s wife, he said, is “mercifully, not a moody, creative type like me” and works in education, while his children are all about “Pokemon.”
The Band of the Crow
Eventually, when Nelson could focus all his energy on that Chevy’s-inspired vision of "his next series" he found himself nitpicking world-building. In the spirit of humanity’s new enemies, he decided that he “just needed to wipe it all out with frost giants.” Soon he began a search for an artist, and he found Mokhzani Ariff, known as “Oren,” an illustrator from Malaysia who is now his creative partner at Crowfire Studios.
The cosmic connection, which began on Oren’s birthday, led to the two poring over classical paintings by John William Waterhouse, which inspired tastefully dressed female characters, not unlike Princess Leia before she was forced into a metal bikini. Book One was self-published in May 2025 after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Nelson has found himself sympathizing with all the characters he created, particularly the teenage Therial, an outsider facing the loss of his father who also encounters literal trolls. “I have empathy for all of them – they’re all sort of weirdos,” he said, noting that writing is itself an act of confession, a way of outing an author’s own messiness. That way everyone is on an equal playing field, and the reader is invited to feel their way into a world where everyone has always belonged.
In other words, said Nelson, "I want them all to be with me at Chevy's."
Learn more about "The Band of the Crow" and sign up for notifications at thebandofthecrow.com. Book One will be available when Book Two drops next year.
Other Articles from this Issue…
