News — Dragon Magazine

It is said the cover artist Michael Weaver began this painting at the start of the initial Gulf War [I remember watching CNN at midnight on my little TV in the dorm at I.U. when this went down] and completed it the day the war was over.  So, roughly the 17th of January 1991 to the 28th of February 1991.  Not bad for a months worth of work, and although I could never fully figure out what the deal was with floating two-handed sword, I did love it.  The magazine itself is are rather dull issue with a short story,...

October 1982 saw the release of Dragon Vol. VII, No. 5, Issue #66 with Editor-in-Chief Kim Mohan at the helm. It’s another strong issue from the ‘Below 100’ club, with great content for D&D [like Gary saying gun powder doesn’t work in AD&D], a counterargument piece by authors John Sapienza & Bruce Murphy where they debate the use of weapon restrictions by class, a look at Elfquest if the characters were from D&D, Gary’s take on the Jann, Dao, and Marid. New illusionist spells [later put into Unearthed Arcana], useful ways to employ Phantasmal Force, Speaking Thieves’ Cant, and a...

In November 1984, Dragon Magazine #91 hit the shelves. To me, it never really seemed to jump out, probably because Dean Morrissey never really captured my attention like many of his contemporaries, probably because my mind is geared toward fantasy looking more unreal.Looking back on the issue now, I find that incredibly sad as Issue #91 is a masterpiece. It is absolutely filled with incredible content from Gygax showing us a new demon [the goristro], to Ed Greenwood’s ‘Nine Hells revisited’, which is an astounding look at devils and where they live.Ares gives us an incredible Star Frontiers Knight Hawks...

Dragon Magazine #112 shows some great promise with an incredible Daniel Horne cover, but there is an absence inside that the editors were not really ready to fill. Now remember, this issue is from August 1986, a full year after Gygax was ousted from TSR, and I think the magazine is feeling those ‘growing pains’, or more correctly, the evidence of shrinking sales and budget cuts looming overhead like storm clouds.As stated, Daniel Horne [‘saving the best for last’ October #126] is a paragon of Dragon artwork, and it would be hard to compose a Top 10 list of...

Dragon Magazine #92 has one of those covers I just can’t get enough of. In fact, artist Den Beauvais can’t get enough either as he’s asked me on a couple occasions if he can paint a similar cover for Gygax Magazine. Now as much as I’d like that, I just got Den to paint the cover for Issue #4, so he might have to wait to few issues before I can have him back again! Anyway, Den’s work on this piece is superb, from the crumbling bridge and wizard [Tolkien], to the half-naked damsel getting wyvern snatched [Frazetta], to...