What do you want to see in the final issue of Dragon?

[Raven Crowking]

D00d, you must have the patience of a saint

I frequently fall short of what I believe I should be. As, honestly, we all do.

As much as I like message boards, however, this is a crap medium for communicating any sort of nuance.

 

[HellHound]

However, 99% of the D&D fans that played before the year 2000 grew up with Larry Elmore defining the face of fantasy and D&D and you can't take that away from him.

True. Too bad his style is so dated that it immediately turns me off of book covers that he does.

He single handedly set the tone and style for the Dragonlance world

Maybe that's why I don't like his work, because I was so burned by the Dragonlance Railroad.

and shaped how we look at D&D from his Dragon covers.

I disagree with this, his covers (once again) were not the ones that sold me on Dragon. Actually, I just checked, and he did exactly ONE cover during the classic Dragon era that I loved so much (issues 40 through 100)...

 

[Vargo]

For what it's worth (and this is going to be tossing a hand grenade in the storm, I just KNOW it...) I'm actually a big fan of Erol Otus's work, and never really liked either the anime D&D style or the "airbrushed perfection" of Larry Elmore either. Of all of them, Mr. Otus really I think captured the flavor - adventurers challenging the strange and unknown, which was often hideous and threatening.

 

[Raven Crowking]

For what it's worth (and this is going to be tossing a hand grenade in the storm, I just KNOW it...) I'm actually a big fan of Erol Otus's work, and never really liked either the anime D&D style or the "airbrushed perfection" of Larry Elmore either. Of all of them, Mr. Otus really I think captured the flavor - adventurers challenging the strange and unknown, which was often hideous and threatening.

Me, too.

Especially for Lovecraftian stuff.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

For what it's worth (and this is going to be tossing a hand grenade in the storm, I just KNOW it...) I'm actually a big fan of Erol Otus's work, and never really liked either the anime D&D style or the "airbrushed perfection" of Larry Elmore either. Of all of them, Mr. Otus really I think captured the flavor - adventurers challenging the strange and unknown, which was often hideous and threatening.

Erol Otis did the covers of the 3 hole punched red basic book, right? If so then yeah, I gotta agree. After I got rid of the majority of my 1st and 2nd ed stuff I kept the 3 hole punch basic red and blue books mostly because it's where I started but also because of Jeff Dee's and Erol Otis art.

 

[Pielorinho]

Moderator's Notes

The snark in this thread needs to end, guys. If you have any doubt as to whether you're being too snarky, please be less snarky . If you're not, you'll be booted from the thread

 

[Erik Mona]

Erik Mona got it wrong when he said you have to write all over the cover to sell it.

No, he didn't.

I've tested covers with no coverlines and they don't work.

Fortunately, since this is the last issue of the magazine it will likely have a _much_ longer shelf-life, since the shelf-stockers won't have a new issue to stock, reminding them to trash the old issue.

Consequently, we're going to try to go light on the coverlines.

If given enough time, we probably would have looked into doing subscriber copies without coverlines, but this would have been a nightmare as far as coordination is concerned.

I don't like coverlines either, but to compete on the newsstand and to sell magazines in the mass market (where new D&D fans are made), they are a necessity.

I wish it wasn't so, but it is.

Sorry.

--Erik

 

[Zaukrie]

Erik, I know you are right, but I only "requested" it here because I know it is the last one and therefore words aren't as important due to its shelflife and collectability.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

I see all different types of art being influential in d&d and fantasy. I remember movies like the last unicorn and labrynth and princess bride as a kid. I remember playing a old rpg game with a friend with a wizard on the gm screen and miniature weapon racks in the second session that you had to search in order to get your weapon back after being captured and thrown in the dungeon.

I remember games like zelda and dragonquest. I shale never forget the spritual sense of adventure they bestowed on me. I remember the re awakening record of lodoss war gave me. I remember crying at the ending of the ova. hell just the song in the credits can make me shed a tear. Its just that beautiful. Its an anime and yet it infuses me with love of d&d.

I see images by Boris and I can almost imagine the 70s and i feel nostalgic for them, even though i was born in 81.

It is the end of an era my friends. an era i have not been really apart of and yet i feel its passing.

some of you may not remember the scene in the little mermaid at the end where everyone was waving goodbye to aerial, well as it turns out that was the last hand painted scene Disney did, and they were really waving goodby to hand painted cells. After that they moved on to digital paint. I wonder if this magazine will do something like that. sort of a goodby wink

 

[rgard]

Yes, that's what I'd like to see - a final issue that simply ignores that it is the final issue, like the final episode of Farscape (prior to the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries) that ended with the "To Be Continued" tag.

Hi Storm...you give me too much credit for being clever! When I wrote that I was thinking it would be best if 359 wasn't the last issue and there there would be an issue 360 and beyond.

I like your take better.

Thanks,
Rich