Gary Gygax's Comic Inspirations for D&D

Plus Mystic Punks & Axe Wielding Deathbringer

In the last two issues of the Critical Hit Parader newsletter, we talked about the intersection of music and comics via Marc Bolan’s music and thoughts on Appendix N characters. A recent ScreenRant article titled “Gary Gygax's Comic Inspirations for D&D Explain the Franchise's Dark Side” more directly covers the influence that comics may have had on tabletop roleplaying games.

The article focuses on the Appendix N authors who were also comic book writers. The article author, Nathan Cabaniss, initially focuses on Gardner Fox:

Fox was also instrumental in establishing the multiverse with his landmark “Flash of Two Worlds” story from The Flash #123. Fox casts a large shadow over modern-day popular culture, and his influence on D&D can be felt in that franchise’s own multiverse.

He then mentions other Appendix N authors who “dabbled” in comics:

Pulp author Manly Wade Wellman may not be as well known, but his fantasy and occult stories in publications like Weird Tales can also be felt in D&D, alongside his stories written for Shazam/Captain Marvel, Blackhawk, and The Spirit. Legendary sci-fi/fantasy author Michael Moorcock would dabble in comics from time to time, whether on his own characters or dabbling in other worlds with DC’s Tom Strong. While other writers such as Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft never wrote any comics themselves, their stories and characters live on in comics to this day.

Appendix N Authors

The article concludes with a discussion of how D&D and other TTRPGs have appeared in comics, concluding with Die:

More recently, Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ Die from Image Comics portrayed a group of teenagers who vanished into a fantasy world after playing an RPG created by one of their friends. The story then catches up with them as adults, as they find themselves drawn back to the fantasy world.

Mystic Punks

Mystic Punks is a tabletop RPG that is currently crowdfunding and appears to embrace the ethos of punk music. This Paste magazine profile of the game describes the punk connection:

If you’re wondering what role-playing has to do with punk, well, punk’s always been more of a mindset than a musical style—a personally-defined set of ethics and beliefs about creating art without bending to commercial or corporate influence. And even a cursory glance at Mystic Punks makes it clear that [authors] Meloro and Domingo are operating on their own unique wavelength, one that never strays into the airspace of any of the big names in the TTRPG scene. 

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Axe Wielding Deathbringer

I got a big kick out of the latest video from Professor DungeonMaster’s Dungeon Craft Youtube channel. The video has a short sponsored clip from TaleSpire that features Deathbringer, the Dungeon Craft channel mascot, wielding what appears to be a 3-string bass:

Such a cool look to represent the intersection of rock music and TTRPGs! I’m a fan of Professor DungeonMaster, and his Patreon provides high value exclusive content. If you enjoy the Dungeon Craft channel and can afford it, I strongly recommend joining the DungeonCraft Patreon.