News — Roger Raupp

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 #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...

Everyone has a ‘First Dragon’, and for me it was Dragon #88. Sure, I didn’t actually own it, as it was in the possession of a boy I didn’t get along with overly well, but he did sit across from me in art class and laid this issue on his desk one afternoon in middle-school. I was both amazed and intrigued by it, and when I actually got to flip through the pages I was blow away by the artwork I found [because of course at this time I had no idea how to actually play D&D] For that reason,...

Dragon Magazine 108 truly fails to impress me on almost every level.  To me, this is an almost throw away issue, but nonetheless I’ll review it today for what little content inspires and also the lackluster artwork inside. Produced in April 1986, and unabashedly claiming to be an ‘April Fools’ on all those who don’t like April Fools this issue is truly a joke.  I mean nothing against Len Lakofka and his ‘Lemond’s Tiny Hut’ articles, but if you’ve got to lead with one, then you know the issue is in trouble.  Really, other than the Gamma World 3rd Edition...

Again, I bring you my weekly Dragon review, this time with number 101.  The issue in question is one of those magazines I actually owned first-hand as a teen, and so I know it rather well, even if it doesn’t resonate with me.First, let me go a bit into content, but it came out in September 1985 and had an editorial note from Gary Gygax that has some incredibly interesting things in it.  Gary speaks first about a D&D movie that would come from DDEC, the entertainment arm of TSR that he’d been spearheading in Hollywood for a couple of...