Homage 1979
Here's the cartoon homage that was drawn during Episode 7.
For the show focusing on 1977 I DIDN’T do an homage to the Monster Manual. For 1978, I DIDN’T do the cover of the Player’s Handbook (though I did choose a piece of interior art from the book). So as we came to the show focusing on 1979, some folks thought there was no way I’d choose the cover of the original Dungeon Masters Guide … but SURPRISE! That’s' exactly what I DID choose!
I’m a mystery, wrapped in an enigma.
One reason I made that decision is that for as iconic and memorable as Dave Sutherland’s painting of adventurers taking on an efreet is, I’ve rarely seen other artists do homages to it … and I’d certainly never done one myself.
One reason was because it’s seems relatively plain—no setting, no background, just the characters. Which was really weird because the book’s BACK cover is ALL ABOUT the setting—looking off a balcony at the City of Brass floating in the clouds over a sea of flame!
It was an embarrassingly long time before I realized that the whole thing was one big wrap-around cover painting.
So for this week’s cartoon homage, I decided to tip my artistic hat to BOTH sides of the book/painting.
In the end, I’m not sure that this experiment is a success. For example, by merging the two it pulls aways from some of the details that each has individually—the efreet’s lightning bolts, the details of the city, and that cute salamander. Also, just to keep the image balanced, I added a SECOND cloud city (the “Suburbs of Brass”?) that may bother some traditionalists. But truth be told … it works for ME, and that’s got to be may basic measure of success.
Hopefully, you like it, too. If you like it enough, at the end of the month you’ll have an opportunity to purchase a signed print of this image. (And paying subscribers get discounts on those prints … just sayin’.)
Remember, that as a subscriber of ANY sort, you’re seeing this image three days before the general public. So you can lord that over your friends … OR you could recommend that they subscribe to the newsletter too. Go on … be a pal!