Oh, nothing, just a bunch of 30+ year old role playing fanzines from the U.K.

§ May 9th, 2012 § Filed under I cast magic missile § 16 Comments

Here are some recently-acquired goodies destined for the eBay that I thought I’d share with you first. It’s a bunch of digest-sized Dungeons & Dragons ‘zines, all hailing from England and thereabouts, and all featuring monsters, magic items, adventures, and of course, fantastic covers.

That’s definitely the editor’s signature at the bottom of the front cover of this ‘zine (dating from 1980):


…but I haven’t the foggiest what this word is:


Maybe one of you folks out there can decipher it.

From 1979 comes The Palantir #1:


…and there’s no way the cover for that first issue could have prepared you for the cover of #3 (1981):


Holy cow, just look at it.

This collection has a run of, like, eighteen issues of this series, but the cover of #1 (circa 1979/80) is absolutely my favorite:


The only way this could have been better is if the ‘zine had been called The Gelatinous Cube and had a pic of said cube on the cover. But this cover is admirable in its simplicity. Sadly, it’s not a ‘zine focused solely on the Beholder, with Beholder fan fiction, Beholder-themed interviews (“so what’s your favorite Beholder magical ability, Ms. Susan Anton?”), Beholder fan art, etc. So, you know, that particular niche is still wide open, friends.

16 Responses to “Oh, nothing, just a bunch of 30+ year old role playing fanzines from the U.K.”