Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Rise of the Dungeon Master – the comic book about the birth of Dungeons and Dragons




As I have mentioned before in every form of communication I have ever had (speaking, forums, e-mails, Facebook… whatever) I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons, or some form of table top role playing game, since 1979. I had breaks 1989-1993 (US Navy with a few exceptions for 2ed Oriental Adventures and White Wolf’s Vampire), 2008-2010 (re-setting my own social life), and 2014-2016 (historical wargaming took over and I became very particular in the kind of RPG I wanted to play).

Many times either to myself or in actual discussion I have pined-away on how Dungeons and Dragons fits into my life, how important it was, and how that has manifested into the man I am today and who my peer group is.

Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygaxand the Creation of D&D is a graphic novel (aka comic book in larger format book form) just released in May 2017 that tells the tale, in comicbook form, of D&D and Gygax. Though the title does not suggest it, Dave Arneson (the other guy that created D&D) is credited and is given a good amount of time in the book.

“I already knew all this stuff…” might be an easy thing to say and I just said it and it’s true. I never read it in one medium though, never got the whole story from beginning to end. Also, my brain retains comic book art better then written word alone. This book was right up my alley! I’m also positive that there is contention out there regarding the veracity of the story, there always is and I can safely assume there is some here, I mean, it’s part of the lore itself.

Written by David Kushner (past credits include 3 books on video games) and art by Koren Shadmi who is a New Yorker cartoonist and has credits for books Abaddon, Mike's Place, and In the Flesh. The writing is straight forward but not dry. The art is simple and cartoonish and by that I mean in a good way. Not one image was a mystery and the story was very clear.

To be sure to not drop a spoiler, I will go no further into the history or mythology of Gygax, Arneson, TSR, Dungeons and Dragons … all that stuff. It’s interesting and I’ll let you find out about it yourself.

I will type about how this book provoked thoughts and how I felt after reading it.

Reading along this graphic novel I could easily place myself along the D&D timeline. This is a sense of my active part of this whole phenomenon. This is something new to me as I was not able to parallel my own course with the life of a product until later in life and having the internet. Reading through Rise of the Dungeon Master I could point out where I come in and what part I played in that. Gave me some of that emotional-investment so important to movies or TV shows.

A very poignant panel in the comic was the symbol of building blocks or corner stones, in this context corner stone of nerd-culture. The panel had stone blocks stacked upon each other and written on them were:
Star Trek
Comic Books
D&D

Some may think this is silly, honestly I do, but it’s true. True like Bruce Wayne is rich. Granted, there are plenty other corner stones of nerd-culture but those 3 work and are some of the ones known to non-nerd-culture as well.

The comic also delves into the Satanic-Panic surrounding D&D too. That affected me greatly in my own life so I felt a bit of co-misery there as well. I’ve heard multiple parents of friends of mine refer to my Mom as an “oriental sorceress” and me bringing Dungeons and Dragons into their homes via playing with their children as some plot. This is for real and not hyperbole. Grown fucking Americans, with jobs and homes and votes, literally called my Mom a sorceress and thought D&D was part of some big devil-plot. On top of that accusing me of living in a fantasy world…

… Anyways…

Like when I see a documentary film about punk rock or metal, or when I answer random Star Trek trivia question I have no idea how I know, or when I see an element in a Marvel Movie that I was first exposed to in a comic book I read in 1978, I feel like part of history. I also feel like an old man but in this context it’s in a good way. It’s good to feel like a part of something no matter how small your part in it was; a part of something that regardless of how dumb, innocent, or wasteful it was back then is part of an acknowledged history today.

Another interesting point made in the book was one small scene where Arneson is invited to play in another DM's game and he accepts. The DM then "kills" Arneson's character and starts to brag about it like he defeated some top gun. This little nuance I see at all the cons I have ever went to and it's a 50/50 mix of some old guy talking about showing up Gygax or Arneson. I always think, "Really? That's what your narrative is? That's your tale to share?"

Most Friendly Local Comic Shops have it though I hear stock is running low. Check there first before buying off Amazon. Amazon is buying Whole Foods for 100 Jillion Dollars right now so they don't need ALL YOUR DAMN MONEY. Give some to a local brick and mortar. I 'aint got anything against Amazon and I buy from them a few times a month but still, go to a local comic shop and buy stuff from them if you can.

*All images used in this post are ones used on the Amazon site for this comicbook

2 comments:

  1. I may have to check it out - I have no background in D&D/RPG, but since so many in our community (such as yourself) do have a history in the same, I would be interested in seeing what it is all about. And I agree an illustrated format would tend to have it sink in more readily. For the record, I am more of a TV/movie aficionado (at least growing up in the 60's and 70's) I don't much care for the stuff on these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think, as a person with no background in D&D, that this is the perfect option for you to learn about it. On another note Gygax and Arnesen were also major Grognards, D&D was born from the felted tables of wargaming. Like having a copy of Little Big Wars, having a copy of this might be a solid part of a Grognard's library.

      Delete