DragonLords

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This article is about the British role-playing game fanzine published in the 1980s. For other uses, see Dragonlord.
Cover of Issue 13 featuring artwork by Peter Martin

DragonLords, subtitled "Yet Another Fantasy & Sci-Fi Roleplaying Magazine", is a British role-playing game fanzine that was self-published by Marc Gascoigne, Mike Lewis, and Ian Marsh.

Getting started[]

School friends Marc Gascoigne, Mike Lewis and Ian Marsh played the newly published role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons in the mid-1970s.[1] The three friends started started writing, editing and self-publishing the role-playing game fanzine titled DragonLords.[1][2] The relatively popular fanzine[3] also included reviews, articles about computer games, and a regular column about Diplomacy. At the "Games Day '81" convention in London, DragonLords was voted second place as "Best Games Fanzine".[4]

Marsh, Lewis and Gascoigne continued to publish DragonLords after they entered university in 1978. Marsh even produced an issue in the midst of final exams, saying later, "The magazine seemed more important."[1] Gascoigne withdrew from the fanzine in 1983, leaving Marsh and Lewis to continue publication.[5]

An article titled "The Ecology of the Piercer" by Chris Elliot and Richard Edwards appeared in the pages of DragonLords, explaining the habits of the piercer, a D&D monster, as if being told in a lecture given by a wizard. The article was picked up in whole and reprinted by industry giant Dragon in Issue 72. The article proved so popular that more than 150 "The Ecology of..." articles appeared in subsequent issues of Dragon.[6]

Redfox[]

The Redfox comic originated in the pages of DragonLords,[7] first as a three-panel strip featuring a barmaid turned warrior that was inked by an artist working under the pseudonym "Fox". The first strip was created as readers debated whether the fanzine should show scantily-clad women on its cover. Redfox proved popular enough that it continued as a regular feature. After Dragonlords folded, Fox self-published Redfox with writing from former DragonLords editor Mike Lewis.[8] The comic went on to win an Eagle Award for "Favourite New Comic (UK)" in 1987,[9] and led to the creation of Valkyrie Press.[10]

Demise[]

Once Marsh graduated and joined the editorial staff of White Dwarf, he found he had less time to work on the fanzine, and decided to bring it to a close with Issue 22.[2] As White Dwarf editor Ian Livingstone noted, "Since joining the White Dwarf team, Ian Marsh no longer has time to publish his zine Dragonlords. So it's Dragonlords RIP after issue 22."[11]

Reviews[]

In the August 1982 edition of Dragon (Issue #63), Gary Gygax found that "The digest-size magazine is filled with material of a fairly high value, and is surprisingly even, too." Gygax lauded DragonLords for "its obvious attempt to make meaningful contributions to adventure gaming." He concluded that "DragonLords is a well done amateur effort which seems bent on improving itself and the hobby."[12]

In the inaugural issue of Imagine, Don Turnbull reviewed Issue 14 of DragonLords and asked "where would we be without it?" Alhough he noted the recent departure of Marc Gascoigne, Turnbull thought the issue "looks good, has fine artwork in places and always does well in convention polls."[13]

Paul Mason considered DragonLords a "well-regarded fanzine" that helped two of the three editors attain editorial positions within Games Workshop.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Fawcett, Neil (2006). "The Wargames Journal Interview". Wargames Journal. No. 4. Rebel Publishing. pp. 70–75.
  2. ^ a b "DragonLords Scrap Book". The Grognard Files. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  3. ^ a b Paul, Mason (2017), "A Case Study of the Influence of Fandom: How Role-players Helped Develop Computer Games in Britain", 人間文化: 愛知学院大学人間文化研究所紀要 (Human Culture: Bulletin of the Institute for Human Culture), Nagoya, Japan: Aichi Gakuin University: 7, retrieved 2022-01-26
  4. ^ Livingstone, Ian (December 1981). "Game Day '81". White Dwarf. No. 28. Games Workshop.
  5. ^ Tamlyn, Pete (May 1983). "British Hobby News". Imagine. No. 2.
  6. ^ Hartlage, David (2013-12-08). "3 reasons science and ecology make a bad mix for some monsters". DMN David. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  7. ^ Turner, Greg (2012-08-02). "Retro Review: Redfox #1". Retro Reviews. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
  8. ^ Fox (w). "Editorial" Redfox 1: 2 (1984), self-published
  9. ^ "Previous Winners: 1987". Eagle Awards. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2018-09-22.[ ] at the Eagle Awards website, archived at The Wayback Machine. (Retrieved 22 September 2018.)
  10. ^ Wagner, Hank (2008). Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 286. ISBN 9781429961783.
  11. ^ Livingstone, Ian (April 1985). "News". White Dwarf. No. 52. Games Workshop. p. 39.
  12. ^ Gygax, Gary (August 1982). "Two UK magazines are jolly good gaming journals". Dragon. TSR, Inc. (63): 58.
  13. ^ Turnbull, Don (April 1983). "Fanzines". Imagine. No. 1. p. 44.
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