Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History

The game of Dungeons & Dragons has a long and storied history, one with as many twists and turns and as much drama as any decent campaign a Dungeon Master might dream up. Starting off as a few pamphlets of arcane rules made by wargamers for wargamers, the game leveled up through the years until it became the monolith it is today. At this point, even your grandmother knows what D&D is, although she probably still thinks it’s Satan’s game. (Oh, 1980s Satanic Panic, I do so dearly miss you!)D&D’s success was far from a given. The fact that it has survived (and thrived) for well over forty years is a miracle in itself. The game’s popularity has waxed and waned over the years, but somehow it always comes back. Its history is the stuff of legend, and a big part of that history is the evolution of its artwork. Each edition of D&D has its own look and feel, and every D&D book since the beginning has its share of iconic art. And now, at long last, we have a collection of this art, along with the chronicle of its evolution, in one hefty, beautiful tome.Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History is an oversized book, solid and well put together, weighing in at just over five pounds. It’s printed on heavy, glossy paper that showcases the artwork in fine detail. The table of contents reveals nine chapters, each cleverly named after a D&D spell and focusing on the different editions of the game and significant events in the game’s history. Flipping past the TOC, we find a vintage advertisement opposite a forward by True Blood and Magic Mike actor Joe Manganiello, a D&D aficionado and YouTuber. Then, after another introduction, we finally get into the meat of the book.Although the focus of the book is art, we get a little insight into the genesis of D&D. It started with a game called Chainmail, created by Gary Gygax, a gamer whose enthusiasm for wargames in general and the medieval period in particular moved him to create his own games. When he added a fantasy supplement to Chainmail (so that one’s medieval foot soldiers, knights, and lancers could be backed up by wizards, elves, and dragons), fellow wargamer David Arneson adapted those rules for his Blackmoore campaign. Blackmoore, in addition to staging massive battles, took individual heroes into the dungeons below the titular castle, where they could battle monsters and find treasure to fund their ongoing wars.It was an ingenious departure from the standard wargame, and it set Gygax’s imagination on fire. The two men worked together on a new set of rules, which soon became the original version of Dungeons & Dragons.As we move through chapter one, we are treated to some primitive, but charming, early D&D artwork. TSR, the company Gygax formed to publish D&D, didn’t have money to pay artists, so they relied on any friends or family who displayed a modicum of artistic talent. These artists often copied earlier works, even comic book panels.From there, we move on to the next chapter, which features art from “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” first edition. The game had become more sophisticated, and TSR made the unprecedented step of releasing high-quality, hardcover game manuals. The art was still primitive, but it was definitely a step up from the amateur sketches on display in the original pamphlets.In addition to a chronological journey through the various editions of D&D, we are invited to bear witness to the evolution of various monsters and characters through recurring features such as “Evilution” and “Many Faces of…,” These two-page spreads contain different versions of creatures spanning each edition. It’s fascinating to see how the characters changed through the years as the art become more and more sophisticated.Another feature throughout the book, “Deadliest Dungeons” highlights some of the classic Dungeons TSR (and later Wizards of the Coast) published over the years. For those that owned or played through iconic adventures like “Tomb of Horrors” or “Keep on the Borderlands,” the nostalgia is palpable.For more than four hundred pages, we are walked through every edition of D&D, from the five numbered editions, to the various boxed “Basic” and “Expert” sets that catered to a younger, less sophisticated audience. The artwork tells the story of changing direction of the game: the characters shift from the scruffy mercenaries and treasure hunters of first edition, to the more heroic warriors and wizards of second and third, to the over-the-top action superheroes of fourth, and finally back to the more down-to-earth adventure-seekers of fifth edition.We are treated to advertising, spin-offs and licensed products, dice and miniatures, maps, video game screenshots, beautiful scenery from classic D&D settings, and more. It’s truly a feast for the eyes and a lightning bolt to the imagination.I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. I’ve taken it in page by page, reading all the text and gazing lovingly at the artwork. It brings me back to my youth, and my geeky days playing first and second edition D&D in my friends’ parents (and sometimes grandparents’) basements. And now I’m playing fifth edition with some of the same friends, groups of new friends, and even (sometimes) my college-age daughter and my young nieces. D&D is here to stay, and it’s inspiring the imagination and creativity of a new generation, just as it did for mine. And truly, what could be better than that?

nice book

This has been a great, fun book to peruse. Very nostalgia as well. Great marked down price too for this 50th Anniversary Edition!Arrived in good shape and brand new.

Lets try this again, apparently my first attempt, although 100% clean was not acceptable, so I'll revise a bit....I'm giving this 5 stars because the book is absolutely worth it and poor shipping (see below) should not effect the review of the actual book. Flipping through the books pages brings back so many memories and it was really nice seeing clean images of classic art. I've mostly only skimmed though cover to cover focusing on the art, but I definitely did stop to read some of the entries as well. Next I'll go through reading everything... except maybe the 4e abomination section lol.Bottom line, if you are a long time player or even a short timer who likes current and prior edition art, along with some info about it, then this is a book for you!Now about the issues... I just received my second book. First one arrive two days ago and I was excited to look it over that evening. That is until I opened the shipping box and found it sitting face down on the bare cardboard with 4 bubble packs, two of which were completely flat, protecting it. The book, assuming that it was like new when packaged was allowed to slide around inside the box. As a result both covers were scratched up and all the corners were smashed in. To be honest, it looked more like someone kicked it around on the floor before chucking it into the box.I called Amazon the next morning and the seemingly annoyed service rep (passing judgement on the product line perhaps?) excepted my return request and issued a replacement shipped next day. Big plus, and I was once again excited to get a great new book full of D&D art!The replacement arrived today, and upon opening I found that it was packaged the same way, except this time all four bubble packs had air in them. But since it was still shipped in a (slightly) oversized box without proper padding taking up the space, it was allowed to slide around on the cardboard. I have bought books elsewhere and the packaging far better than this.Over all the second one is in better shape but the face of the cover is scratched up more than should reasonably be expectable for a new book. There is also a crease across the entire binding passing through the U and N and a gouge on the front cover below "Newman."Simply placing the book in a plastic bag or wrapping it in a soft foam will prevent the scratching. Not to mentioned that this is a very heavy book, 4 little plastic air bubbles do not take up the dead space in the box, nor are they sufficient to make it through shipping companies with something this heavy constantly pounding against them. I've always had great experiences with Amazon so I wrote the first one off as a fluke, but twice, in a row, on the same product??Lessons learned I guess, this book is worth the asking price IMO, next time I decide to buy a book full of pretty pictures, that also has a really nice cover, I'll do so in a walk in, where I can physically see it before handing over my money.