Homage: 1998
Exclusive preview of the cartoon homage from Episode 26, just for subscribers to this newsletter.
There have been thousands of products D&D products published during the game’s fifty-year history, the vast majority of them featuring original cover paintings that have basically set the standard for what “fantasy art” is in the modern era. Certainly, D&D isn’t alone in that … but I think that it’s fair to say that it led the way, paving a creative path that other followed and aspired to. Some pieces (several of which have been subjects in earlier episodes of this show) have become true classics—touchstones not just of D&D but of fantasy art in general.
But with so many creat images, it’s easy for great individual pieces to get a little lost in the crowd—especially considering that sometimes multiple “classics” were released at the same time, and they were fighting for space on store shelves as well as in the hearts and minds of the fans. I think this is very much true for the painting that inspires this week’s cartoon homage—the cover of the 1998 adventure A Darkness Gathering.
In truth, I think that the “overlooked classic” descriptor could be given to the entire product. It was a 32-page core AD&D adventure, the first in a trilogy of illithid-centric adventures (a theme for products that year), and an early publication of fan-favorite designer Bruce Cordell.
I loved this adventure from the first time I read it … and I adored the Matt Wilson cover painting from the moment I laid eyes on it. It’s up there among my all-time favorite D&D covers, and from the moment I began this celebration of the game’s 50th anniversary, I KNEW this would be one of the images that I paid homage to. It’s got everything a great D&D cover should have—a terrifying monster rampaging through a clearly medieval-ish setting, and a group of brave, seemingly overmatched heroes trying to stop it with swords, shields, and arrows.
Over the years since it’s publication, I’ve been surprised and more than a little saddened that this image has not become an often cited classic. In fact I’ve been downright crestfallen at how few people—even people who were working in the industry (not to mention the company) at the time—have no recollection of it at all. It deserves more. Hopefully, by including it in this project, I can take a small step in rectifying that oversight.
I feel like my cartoon homage did a good job of capturing what it is I love about this image … while hopefully encouraging the viewer to seek out and enjoy the original. I believe they’ll find it well worth the effort.
As a subscriber to this newsletter, you’re seeing this art before it is released for general consumption. You also have the option to buy an art print of this or any of the cartoon homages (and if you’re a paid subscriber, you get a discount on those purchases).
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