Jolly Randall Blackburn is an American publisher and cartoonist who is best known as the creator of the comic strip and identically titled magazine Knights of the Dinner Table.
As a child, Jolly Blackburn enjoyed playing Monopoly, Life, Sorry and many other board games.[1] At age 15, he was introduced to the Avalon Hill wargame Luftwaffe, and soon owned several other wargames. While perusing wargames at the local games shop, Blackburn was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons,[1] and he eventually created his own campaign world called Alderac.
Following high school, Blackburn entered Ball State University[citation needed] where he majored in anthropology, history, and classical cultures.[2]:120 Jolly married his wife, Barbara after college.
Shadis
After graduation, Blackburn enlisted in the Army, along with his wife, Barbara under the Married Couples program.[citation needed] Blackburn had always wanted to be a writer,[1] and while he was posted in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he and Barbara launched a gaming magazine titled Shadis.[1] He also created Alderac Entertainment Group, named after his D&D campaign world.[2] (Shadis was the name of one of the moons that circled Alderac.)[3]:262
Shadis was a black-and-white digest that featured gaming articles usually written by Blackburn, as well as several fictional works by Blackburn, collectively referred to as the "Alderac Anthology", since they were set in Blackburn's Alderac world.[3]:262
In the second issue, faced with a blank last page, Blackburn drew a roughly drawn comic strip titled Knights of the Dinner Table that featured a group of gamers seated at a table playing a fictional role-playing game called Hackmaster. As Blackburn told Allen Varney, "I had been a great fan of J.D. Webster's Finieous Fingers from the early Dragon Magazine, and I wanted something similar. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone willing to do a strip. Finally I sat down and drew out a very crude cartoon showing a gamemaster and a player sitting around a table arguing over a rules call."[2] Blackburn based the comic strip's players on his gamer friends, and the gamemaster B.A. Felton on himself.[2] Blackburn continued to draw the cartoon for Issues 3 to 5, but in Issue 6, believing that his readers wanted better artwork and a more involved storyline, Blackburn replaced his own comic strip with more professional cartoon strips. However, his readers' outcry convinced him to immediately return to Knights of the Dinner Table in the very next issue.[3]:262
Blackburn had to put both Shadis and Knights of the Dinner Table on hold for 18 months in 1991–1992. He was still working as a sergeant in the army, and during Operation: Desert Storm, Blackburn was involved with activating reservists for remedial training prior to deployment, a job that required him to work working seven days a week for up to 16 hours a day.[1] Following the end of the conflict, Blackburn returned to writing.[3]:262
Knights of the Dinner Table
In 1994, Alderac published a Knights of the Dinner Table comic book, and followed up with two more issues. But by the following year, Blackburn felt that his plans for the future had diverged from his partners John Zinser and David Seay — they wanted to expand Alderac and look for success in the collectible card game industry while Blackburn wanted to keep the company fun and small and focus on Knights of the Dinner Table.[3]:263 Blackburn sold his share of Alderac to his partners — keeping the rights to Knights of the Dinner Table — and also sold Shadis after Issue 21.
Blackburn believed that he could produce a monthly Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, and started up KODT Enteractive Facktory with that in mind.[3]:309
While he was working on getting that new company together, Blackburn received a call from the editor of TSR's Dragon magazine, asking if the Knights of the Dinner Table strip was now available; although Blackburn originally planned to continue the strip in Shadis, he accepted the offer and Knights of the Dinner Table appeared Issue 226 of Dragon (February 1996). Blackburn's comic suddenly reached ten times the audience that it in Shadis,[4] and Blackburn was surprised at the overwhelmingly positive response. He later recounted "I think that's when the light bulb went on over my head. I was shocked by the interest and the apparent appetite for more." Knights of the Dinner Table would continue in Dragon until Issue 269 (March 2000), when it was replaced by an expanded Nodwick strip.[3]:309
After he and Barbara finally published Knights of the Dinner Table #4, Blackburn questioned whether they could make it work on their own. In November 1996 when David Kenzer and some of his Kenzer & Company staff of met Blackburn at a local con, Kenzer asked Blackburn to join his company.[3]:309 Blackburn decided that Kenzer had the sort of business sense and integrity that he was looking for in a partner, and he agreed to become a shareholder.[1] Kenzer reprinted Issue 4 of Knights of the Dinner Table that the Blackburns had produced on their own. Starting with Issue 5 (February 1997), Knights of the Dinner Table was the work of the "KoTD Development Team" which consisted of Jolly Blackburn, David Kenzer, Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson.[3]:310
Knights of the Dinner Table increased in popularity, and Blackburn was invited to be the guest of honor at several conventions, including U Con (November 1998),[2]:110 Key Con (April 2003)[5] and Gencon (August 2004).[6]
In 2022, Knights of the Dinner Table published its 301st issue, becoming the longest comic book series by a single creator (passing the 300 issues of Cerebus the Aardvark created by David Sim).[4]
In 2023, Blackburn announced that Knights of the Dinner Table would be moving to an expanded format, but only once every two months, citing the short turnaround times for a monthly magazine and increased production costs.[4]
Hackmaster
As early as 1995, Blackburn toyed with the idea of creating a one-off joke role-playing game called Hackmaster, based on the fictional role-playing game being played in Knights of the Dinner Table. However, Jim Kenzer urged him to wait, believing that it could become a serious product. In 2000, using Wizards of the Coast's Open Game License, Blackburn and Kenzer created Hackmaster, based on the rules for D&D.[1]
Several years later, Blackburn made the decision to break away from the D&D game system and create an independent role-playing system for Hackmaster. This enabled him to include many items and ideas from the Knights of the Dinner Table comics.[1]
Reception
Writing for Black Gate, John O'Neill noted that the artwork is not what draws readers to Knights of the Dinner Table, commenting, "Jolly has never claimed to be an artist, and in truth the art isn't where this strip shines anyway. Jolly's true gifts are as a writer, and the writing in KoDT is top notch."[7]
Awards
Blackburn has received a number of awards for Knights of the Dinner Table, including:
Origins Awards for "Best Professional Game Magazine" of 1998 and 1999.
Origins Award for "Gamer's Choice: Best Periodical of 2003".[8]
Origins Award for "Best Game Accessory of 2009".[9]
Related Research Articles
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, along with Dungeon.
Dork Tower is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of Madison, Wisconsin. Topics have included role-playing games (RPGs), comic books, video games, and fandom in general. The comic strip began in January 1997 and has made appearances in publications like Dragon magazine, Shadis, and Comic Shop News. Starting in 2000, the strip began web publication roughly three times a week and is featured in Pyramid. The bimonthly comic book made its first appearance in 1998 and features continuing storylines. It has recently gone to full color with issue #32, and it is collected in trade paperback.
Knights of the Dinner Table (KoDT) is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result in unfortunate, but humorous consequences in the game. The name is a parody of King Arthur's Round Table reinforced by the truism that roleplaying aficionados often end up sitting round their host's dinner table as it is the only one large enough to accommodate the party.
HackMaster is a fantasy role-playing game produced by Kenzer & Company. It began as a fictional game, a parody of Dungeons & Dragons played by the characters of the Knights of the Dinner Table comic strip by Jolly R. Blackburn. The characters in the comic began playing fictional HackMaster 3rd Edition, which was updated and published in 2001 as a numerously revised 4th edition. It has been hinted the name of the game was originally changed for copyright reasons.
Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) is a publisher of family board game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993. Blackburn left the company in 1995 and the majority of the company is now owned by President & CEO John Zinser. The company is virtual and does not have a physical headquarters but it is legally domiciled in the city of Henderson, Nevada.
Shadis is an independent gaming magazine that was published in 1990–1998 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). It initially focused on role-playing games.
Fuzzy Knights was an online comic created by Noah J.D. Chinn and published by Kenzer & Company. It starred stuffed animals who enjoy role-playing games such as HackMaster and Dungeons & Dragons. What started out as a simple one-shot tribute to the Kenzer gamer comic series, Knights of the Dinner Table, turned into a cult hit that continues to gain new fans. Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, was an admitted fan of the Fuzzy Knights and wrote a promo for the trade paperbacks.
Kenzer & Company (KenzerCo) is a Waukegan, Illinois based publisher of comic books, role-playing games, board games, card games, and miniature games.
David A. Trampier was an artist and writer whose artwork for TSR, Inc. illustrated some of the earliest editions of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Many of his illustrations, such as the cover of the original Players Handbook, became iconic. Trampier was also the creator of the Wormy comic strip that ran in Dragon magazine for several years.
The Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game has been adapted into many related products, including magazines, films and video games.
Robert J. Kuntz is a game designer and author of role-playing game publications. He is best known for his contributions to various Dungeons & Dragons-related materials.
Knights of the Dinner Table Illustrated is a comic book created by Jolly R. Blackburn and is published by Kenzer & Company. It portrays many of the same stories as Knights of the Dinner Table (KODT) but from the point of view of the player characters.
Jeff Martin is an American game designer and entrepreneur best known as the founder of True Adventures and President of Dwarven Forge from 2004 to 2014.
The Complete Fighter's Handbook is a supplemental rulebook published in December 1989 for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Accompanying manuals are The Complete Thief's Handbook, Priest's Handbook, and Wizard's Handbook.
The Complete Thief's Handbook is a supplemental rulebook published in 1989 for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Accompanying manuals are The Complete Fighter's Handbook, Priest's Handbook, and Wizard's Handbook.
Jason Holmgren is an American cartoonist, art director, and role-playing game designer.
David S. Kenzer is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Bubblegum Crisis is a near-future cyberpunk role-playing game published by R. Talsorian Games in 1996 that is based on the anime television series Bubblegum Crisis.
John Zinser is an American game designer who has worked primarily on collectible card games and role-playing games.
The Kingdoms of Kalamar is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting published by Kenzer & Company in 1994 that is compatible with the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons published by TSR. Several other editions of the game were subsequently released as new editions of Dungeons & Dragons were published.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
