Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (comic)

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
AD&D Comic Book issue 1.jpg
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Format Ongoing series
Publication dateSeptember 1988 – September 1991
No. of issues36 issues
Creative team
Created by Jeff Grubb, Rags Morales

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is a comic book that was produced by DC Comics under license from TSR.

Contents

Publication history

From 1988 to 1991, DC Comics published several licensed D&D comics, including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance , Forgotten Realms , and Spelljammer . [1] Advanced Dungeons & Dragons debuted in October 1988, after the Dragonlance series.

Dan Mishkin was the primary author during the title's three year run. [2]

Creator Jeff Grubb also wrote four fill-in issues. [3] Michael Fleisher also wrote for the series. Jan Duursema was the primary artist for the comic book series for three years. [4] Duursema drew issues #1-22, 24-30, 33-36, and Annual #1 (1988–91), while Ron Randall also provided artwork for issue #8, and Tom Mandrake illustrated issues ##23, 31-32, and Annual #1 (1990-1991).

Elliot S. Maggin served as an editor for DC from 1989 to 1991 and oversaw the licensed TSR titles, including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

In October 1991, the TSR license expired, with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ending at issue #36. [5]

Plot

The series follows the exploits of a group of adventurers in the Forgotten Realms city of Mystara. The main arc is broken into shorter stories 2-4 issues long.

The Gathering. #1-4
An ancient evil rises and threatens the Realms, only a motley band of adventurers can stop it.
The Spirit of Myrrth. #5-8
The party investigates the Jester's Guild in Waterdeep, and confronts the spirit of a long dead Jester King.
Catspaw. #9-12
Timoth the Centaur takes a job as a courier. His first assignment draws the attention of Waterdeep's organized crime, headed by Xanathar the Beholder.
Spell Games. #13-16
Vajra confronts her past as a slave and gladiator in the Arena of Blood. Meanwhile, a boy under Connor's protection is kidnapped.
Kyriani's Story. #17-18
The story of Priam's half-sister (and half-elf): Kyriani.
Phases of the Moon. #19-22
Selune, goddess of the moon, has arrived at Waterdeep. Ties in with the Avatar novels by Richard Arlinson.
Lawyers! #23
Onyx the dwarf owes a debt to the mysterious Lawyers and not even the mighty wizard Khelben and the Lord of Waterdeep himself, Peirgeiron, may be able to help him.
Scavengers. #24-26
After a vicious battle with a band of savage orcs, Timoth is badly wounded and will die soon if he cannot reach a healer. Vajra, also wounded, must somehow trek through the merciless blizzard with her centaur friend in tow if they are to survive to fight another day.
Death and the Dragon's Eye. #27-30
Kyriani is on the run from the law, accused of a murder she did not commit.
Pillar of Gold. #31-32
Onyx the Invincible is reunited with his long thought dead father. They embark on a quest to unearth a lost treasure said to be located somewhere in the bowels below Waterdeep.
Summer in the City. #33
When the warrior, Vajra, and the centaur, Timoth, engage in a friendly arm-wrestling bout the stakes become even greater than anyone could have hoped to realize.
Rites and Wrongs. #34-36
Conner returns to Waterdeep with the scam to end all scams. Against her friends' better judgement, Vajra embarks on this one last quest with the rogue who has both betrayed and saved her life time and again. Timoth and Onyx mount a desperate rescue attempt to save Kyri.

Characters

Main characters

Priam Agrivar
A human paladin with a past addiction to alcohol.
Vajra Valmey Jar
A female human fighter and former slave gladiator, who survived the Manshaka Arena of Blood.
Onyx the Invincible
Male dwarf fighter/thief and best friend of Timoth.
Timoth Eyesbright
Male centaur fighter and friend of Onyx.
Cyriana of Shadowdale
Half-Elf magic user.
Connor
Human rogue with a shady past.

Other characters

Kyriani
Female half-elf/half-drow, half sister to Priam.
Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun
He appeared in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comic book as a friend, ally and occasional manipulator of the Waterdeep-based main characters.
Selûne
Minor goddess, she appeared as a supporting character in the series, masquerading as "Luna", the proprietor of an inn called "Selune's Smile". Appearing mostly as a background character and occasional deus ex machina for the main story, her true identity was eventually discovered by all of the series' primary characters. In the series' finale, Luna fully reclaimed her godly might (hidden behind an attic door within "Selune's Smile"), and ascended to the realms of the gods, bequeathing ownership of her inn to one of the series' leads. [6]

Related Research Articles

Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, it was published for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, in addition to novels, role-playing video game adaptations, comic books, and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

<i>Spelljammer</i> Dungeons & Dragons fictional campaign setting

Spelljammer is a campaign setting originally published for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, which features a fantastic outer space environment. Subsequent editions have included Spelljammer content; a Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition setting update was released on August 16, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drow</span> Dungeons & Dragons fictional creature

The drow or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil spider goddess Lolth. However, later editions of Dungeons & Dragons have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSR, Inc.</span> Former company, publisher of "Dungeons & Dragons"

TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for D&D, a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so he founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. Dungeons & Dragons is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular D&D as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his other son Kevin, making the two Blume brothers the largest shareholders in TSR Hobbies.

Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job interview. Tracy Hickman met his future writing partner Margaret Weis at TSR, and they gathered a group of associates to play the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The adventures during that game inspired a series of gaming modules, a series of novels, licensed products such as board games, and lead miniature figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Greenwood</span> Canadian fantasy writer and game designer

Ed Greenwood is a Canadian fantasy writer and the creator of the Forgotten Realms game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for Dragon magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold the rights to the setting to TSR, the creators of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, in 1986. He has written many Forgotten Realms novels, as well as numerous articles and D&D game supplement books.

Jeff Grubb is an author of novels, short stories, and comics, as well as a computer and role-playing game designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on the Dragonlance campaign setting under Tracy Hickman, and the Forgotten Realms setting with Ed Greenwood. His written works include The Finder's Stone Trilogy, the Spelljammer and Jakandor campaign settings, and contributions to Dragonlance and the computer game Guild Wars Nightfall (2006).

Mystra is a fictional goddess in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Yale</span> American comic book writer and editor

Kim Yale was an American writer and editor of comic books for several publishers including DC Comics, Eclipse Comics, First Comics, Marvel Comics, and WaRP Graphics.

Elf (<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>) Fictional humanoid race

The elf is a humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, one of the primary races available for player characters, and play a central role in the narratives of many setting worlds of the game. Elves are described as renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the bow and sword. Becoming physically mature by the age of 25 and emotionally mature at around 125, they are also famously long-lived, capable of living more than half a millennium and remaining physically youthful. Possessed of innate beauty and easy gracefulness, they are viewed as both wondrous and haughty by other races in-universe; however, their natural detachment is seen by some as introversion or xenophobia. They were usually portrayed as antagonistic towards dwarves.

<i>Dragons of Autumn Twilight</i> 1984 novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game modules. It was the first Dragonlance novel, and first in the Chronicles trilogy, which, along with the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, are generally regarded as the core novels of the Dragonlance world. Dragons of Autumn Twilight details the meeting of the Companions and the early days of The War of the Lance. The novel corresponds with the first two Dragonlance game modules, Dragons of Despair and Dragons of Flame, but with a different ending. It introduces many of the characters that are the subject of later novels and short stories.

Centaur (<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the centaur is a large monstrous humanoid. Based upon the centaurs of Greek myth, a centaur in the game resembles a human with the lower body of a horse.

The Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game has been adapted into many related products, including magazines, films and video games.

<i>Dragons of Despair</i> 1984 book by Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Despair is the first in a series of 16 Dragonlance adventures published by TSR, Inc. (TSR) between 1984 and 1988. It is the start of the first major story arc in the Dragonlance series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game modules, a series of ready-to-play adventures for use by Dungeon Masters in the game. This series provides a game version of the original Dragonlance storyline later told in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels. This module corresponds to the events told in the first half of the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Its module code is DL1, which is used to designate it as the first part of the Dragonlance adventure series.

<i>Forgotten Realms</i> (comics)

Forgotten Realms is a fantasy comic book set in the Dungeons & DragonsForgotten Realms campaign setting, that was written by Jeff Grubb and illustrated by Rags Morales and Dave Simons.

<i>Spelljammer</i> (comics) Comic series based on role-playing game

Spelljammer is a licensed comic book series published by DC Comics starting in 1990 that is based on the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, specifically the steampunk campaign world Spelljammer created by TSR.

<i>Forgotten Realms Adventures</i> 1990 tabletop role-playing game supplement

Forgotten Realms Adventures is an accessory for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The book, with product code TSR 2106, was published in 1990, and was written by Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood, with cover art by Clyde Caldwell and interior art by Steven Fabian, Ned Dameron, Larry Elmore, Caldwell, and Jeff Easley.

<i>Dragonlance</i> (comics)

Dragonlance is a comic book that was produced by DC Comics under license from TSR. It featured new characters and stories in the world of Krynn, with appearances by some of the original characters from the Dragonlance books. The stories take place prior to the events of Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

References

  1. "Dungeons & Dragons FAQ". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  2. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 21. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. Varney, Allen (May 1998). "Profiles: Jeff Grubb". Dragon (#247). Renton, Washington: Wizards of the Coast: 120.
  4. Jan Duursema at the Grand Comics Database
  5. Hughes, Bob. 1990-1995. October 01, 2006. DC Timeline.
  6. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #1-36 & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Annual #1, DC Comics, December 1988-December 1991