Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called "domains", brought together by a mysterious force known only as the Dark Powers. Each domain is tailored to and mystically ruled by a being called a Darklord who is forever trapped and surrounded by magical mists surrounding the domain. Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire in the original AD&DRavenloft I6 module released in 1983, became the first Darklord, both ruler and prisoner of his own personal domain of Barovia. The story of how Count von Zarovich became Darklord of Barovia was detailed in the 1993 novel I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire. As originally established in the Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set known as "the Black Box" released in 1990, the Ravenloft campaign setting was located in the Ethereal Plane. As a physical manifestation of that plane, lands, monsters and even people were created out of the mysterious mists, and the realm acted as a prison where one could enter or be transported, but means of escape were few. Other Ravenloft Domains and Darklords were eventually added in various AD&D 2nd edition products establishing a core continent attached around Barovia which could be traveled to by others if their respective lords allowed entering or leaving their borders; while some Domains remained isolated in the mists and were referred to as Islands.
The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibson, The Shadow has been adapted into other forms of media, including American comic books, comic strips, serials, video games, and at least five feature films. The radio drama included episodes voiced by Orson Welles.
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers. The character has been adapted into three live-action feature films – two starring Ron Perlman in 2004 and 2008 in the title role, and the 2019 reboot which starred David Harbour, as well as two straight-to-DVD animated films, again starring Perlman, and four video games – Asylum Seeker, The Science of Evil, as a playable character in Injustice 2, and Web of Wyrd. A fourth live-action film and second reboot, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, will star Jack Kesy as the character.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared in Archie's Madhouse #22. Storylines of the character at elementary-school-age also appear under the title "Sabrina -- That Cute Little Witch" in almost all of the Little Archie comics.
Mike Grell is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Green Lantern/Green Arrow, The Warlord, and Jon Sable Freelance.
Swordquest is a series of video games originally produced by Atari, Inc. in the 1980s as part of a contest, consisting of three finished games, Earthworld, Fireworld and Waterworld, and a planned fourth game, Airworld.
The Keep is a 1983 supernatural horror film written and directed by Michael Mann and starring Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson, and Ian McKellen. Set in Romania during World War II, it follows a group of Nazi soldiers who unleash a malevolent supernatural force after setting up camp in an ancient stone fortress in the Carpathian Mountains. It is an adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same title by American writer F. Paul Wilson. The musical score was composed by Tangerine Dream.
Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a rejected Kull story.
Dungeon is a series of comic fantasy comic books created by Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim, with contributions from numerous other artists. It is originally published in France since 1998 by Delcourt as a series of graphic albums; English editions of a large amount of stories have been released by NBM Publishing between 2002 and 2023 in translations by Joe Johnson, first in a black-and-white periodical version and then as several color graphic novels.
Ronin is an American comic book limited series published by DC Comics between 1983 and 1984. The series was written and drawn by Frank Miller with artwork painted by Lynn Varley. It takes place in a dystopic near-future New York City in which a ronin is reincarnated. The six-issue work shows some of the strongest influences of manga and bande dessinée on Miller's style, both in the artwork and narrative style.
The Hour of the Dragon, also known as Conan the Conqueror, is a fantasy novel by American writer Robert E. Howard featuring his sword and sorcery hero Conan the Cimmerian. It was one of the last Conan stories published before Howard's suicide, although not the last to be written. The novel was first published in serial form in the December 1935 through April 1936 issues of the pulp magazine Weird Tales. The first book edition was published by Gnome Press in hardcover in 1950. The Gnome Press edition retitled the story Conan the Conqueror, a title retained by all subsequent editions until 1977, when the original title was restored in an edition published by Berkley/Putnam. The Berkley edition also reverted the text to that of its original Weird Tales publication, discarding later edits. Later editions have generally followed Berkley and published under the original title.
The Black Knight is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Avengers #47. Dane Whitman is the third character to use the codename of Black Knight. He is the descendant of the original Black Knight and is the nephew of the supervillain Black Knight. He inherited a mystical sword which carried a curse and took the Black Knight mantle to help restore honor. The character has also been a member of the MI-13, Avengers, Defenders, Ultraforce, and Heroes for Hire at various points in his history.
Dracula is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is based on the vampire Count Dracula from the novel of the same name by author Bram Stoker. After the initial run of the series The Tomb of Dracula, the character has been depicted primarily as an antagonist to superheroes in the Marvel Universe.
Shaman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a member of Alpha Flight.
Talisman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Black Crow is a fictional Native American superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Wong is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #110. Wong was unnamed until Strange Tales #119. He is a supporting character of the superhero Doctor Strange. He stems from a family of monks living in Kamar-Taj.
Donald F. Glut is an American writer, motion picture film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the novelization of the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back.
Red Sonja is a 1985 American epic sword and sorcery film directed by Richard Fleischer, and written by Clive Exton and George MacDonald Fraser. Based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, Red Sonya of Rogatino, who also inspired the comic book character of the same name.
Dungeons & Dragons is a series of comic books published by IDW Publishing, under the license from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, based on the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Since 2010, IDW Publishing has released two Dungeons & Dragons ongoing series, twelve Dungeons & Dragons limited series, three crossover series and an annual.
