Showing posts with label Roy Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roy Thomas. Show all posts

2010/05/19

D&D comics history part 2 - The Dragonlance Saga

In november 1987, TSR started to publish the adaptation of the novel "Dragons of Autumn Twilight", from the well-known (at least for any D&D contaminated nerd...) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, as a graphic novels serie entitled :

"The Dragonlance Saga".


I believe that people make a difference between a comic book & a graphic novel, maybe based on the book dimensions or even graphic style. (I believe this is specific to US comic books culture...thousands of miles away from my world...)
Anyway, the books are tpb, wider & taller than usual comics and the graphic style makes me think of early 70's... dun ask me why... (am born in '78 btw...o_O)

The complete serie will end up with 5 books and will definitively make D&D enter the comics community, last issues being published by DC.

The whole serie will be written by Roy Thomas.
The 2 first issues will be illustrated by Thomas Yeates, the 2 next ones, adaptation of the sequel "Dragons of Winter Night", by Tony DeZuniga and the last one by Ron Randall.

Honestly, considering the whole history of D&D comics, until recently, these are to be considered, imo, as masterpieces, mainly for their graphics quality.
It s also interesting that TSR got DC to publish them after 1988, at the same time the serie Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (TSR / DC) begins.
I can t stop asking myself if the first 3 books of the serie convinced DC to publish D&D comics... considering the awful graphics quality of the upcoming ones in early 90's...

      Book I - Xak Tsaroth                Book V - The death of Sturm

More details for comics hunters :

The 3 first issues are pre-titled "TSR graphic novel" when the last 2 ones "a DC/TSR graphic novel".
...heh...

And DC ones are slightly taller than TSR ones...
o___O;

All are issued as 'The Dragonlance Saga" - "book one", "book two", etc. (full alpha)

More infos :
Book 1 : nov.87 / TSR 8445 / ISBN 0-88038-528-6 (9.95$)
Book 2 : jun.88 / TSR 8430 / ISBN 0-88038-571-5 (9.95$)
Book 3 : nov.88 / TSR 8432 / ISBN 0-88038-611-8 (9.95$)
Book 4 : apr.90 / TSR 8434 / ISBN 0-88038-973-7 (9.95$)
Book 5 : feb.91 / TSR ???? / ISBN 0-930289-93-5 (12.95$)

30% inflation in 1991 !!!
May explain why the last one is the hardest to find now...XD