4 classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons coloring books plus one other mysterious missing coloring book of legend.
Join Warduke, Strongheart, and Rediscovered Realms this week as we start to settle-in for winter and enjoy some of the impressive illustrations from Marvel Books’ supercool 1983 TSR fantasy AD&D RPG coloring books!
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When was the last time you did a colo(u)ring book?
In recent years there’s been a huge resurgence of these pre-tinctured tomes designed for adults. They tout benefits such as:
mindfulness
disconnecting & de-stressing
reconnecting with some of the joy of childhood
boosting creativity
Coloring book intervention improved 54% of college students’ depression & anxiety in a recent study
I’ve been meaning to jump on that trending bandwagon, but never made the commitment.
But there’s just something creatively special that takes a hold of me during the waning part of the year where I yearn to draw, write, play music, craft, do puzzles, learn new boardgames . . . stuff that always gets crowded out during the dozens of weeks of the daily grind.
Not sure why it happens, but it’s probably an ingrained remnant of the excitement felt in childhood for the holidays, free time, play time, and of course, presents.
And of all the presents, Fantasy stuff would always inspire dreams of sugargoblins dancing through my head.
So, as the 2023 candle is burning low, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to write about some AD&D coloring books I had acquired this year and share a healthy sampling of their fun illustrations.
Published during the heyday of TSR’s D&D licensing, Marvel Books was the ideal choice for these books.
Take a look at some of the characters and scenes:
I would have LOVED to have these as a kid.
I wish there was another word for them, but have to default to just one word . . .
And they legitimately tried to teach kids some of the ropes of D&D.
By describing spells:
By describing class & race characteristics and abilities:
And alignment:
“This is Figgen. He’s about to be squashed by Warduke and re-named ‘Flattened’”
It’s also neat that they all had different story threads throughout (except for the Characters Activity Book, which was more of a gallery of the D&D heroes and villains with examples of their special abilities and items.)
Of course, these were designed to be children’s books and so there was bound to be a bit of goofiness - but still, I had to scratch my head on a couple pages!:
Not what I would have done or said if I was an evil Illusionist, but maybe it reveals her true calling should have been working as a performer at the Butterfly Pavilion . . .
There were even several non-coloring activities! (in The Rescue of Ringlerun). Here’s a couple:
I didn’t realize that there were SO MANY defined characters that TSR was playing with!
Strongheart and Warduke, of course. They shared the limelight in the LJN action figure commercials.
But most of the other characters never made it into the D&D cartoon show, though they had representations in some other books, the LJN toyline and some AD&D gaming modules and miniatures.
I’m still re-watching the D&D animated series, so may be off, but I only remember: Warduke, Strongheart & Kellek making appearances in that show.
“Ringlerun” the good wizard was given special epic treatment by Jeff Easley in a little-known book cover illustration by the name of the “Players Handbook”!
The covers of these coloring books are so fun! Done by Marie Severin, Earl Norem and Pablo Marcos, they evoke adventure, action & heroism.
The interior illustrations were done by: Pablo Marcos, Frank Giacoia, Alan Kupperberg, Brian Moore
Ooh, kinky!!!
The stories were written by: David Anthony Kraft, Suzanne Weyn, and Jane Stine (R.L. Stine’s talented wife!)
BTW: This isn’t the first time Rediscovered Realms has come across the combined works of Earl Norem, Marie Severin, David Anthony Kraft and Jane Stine . . .
They were all involved in the OTHER Marvel Books Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Storybooks!
Learn more about these creators and their books here:
Pablo Marcos is a comic book artist and commercial illustrator best known as one of his home country Peru's leading cartoonists, and for his work on such popular American comics characters as Batman and Conan the Barbarian, particularly during the 1970s. His signature character was Marvel Comics' the Zombie, for which Marcos drew all but one story in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Tales of the Zombie (1973–1975).
By the early 1980s, Marcos was at work at what would become one of his signature characters, inking penciler John Buscema on Conan the Barbarian comic books, the black-and-white magazine The Savage Sword of Conan, and the newspaper comic strip.
Frank Giacoia(aka Frank Ray, Phil Zupa, Espoia) became best known as a Marvel Comics inker, particularly on Captain America stories penciled by the character's co-creator Jack Kirby. One of the company's preeminent names, he worked on virtually every title at one time or another. Giacoia inked the first appearance of the Punisher in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974).
In its list of "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books", historians at the retailer Atlas Comics (no relation to the comics publishers) listed Giacoia at #5
Take a look at the back of each of these coloring books.
What do you notice?
Yup. On every
single
one of them, you can see:
“The Magical Coloring Book (Super-Size)”
You can search and search online and find only the scantest of clues and evidence of this elusive book.
Was it ever even created?
In fact, one of our honored Order of Rediscovered Realms Readers even made this comment a few months back:
Though my intention was good, months passed, and what was lost became forgotten . . .
until . . .
When researching this newsletter, I dug deeper than the Dwarves of Moria and believe I have found a legitimate picture of the cover of this Magical Coloring Book.
Do you want to see it?
. . .
Ok, then tune in next week . . .
. . .
Just kidding.
Feast your eyes:
22 inches of pure awesomeness. (Yeah, I know “that’s what she said”)
So, now we have a concrete starting point for our quest.
We can see that Pablo Marcos did the cover, and the main characters are indeed Charmay & Strongheart vs. Kelek & Warkduke - just like Kveto had heard tell of.
Seeing this cover makes this AD&D grail just a little more attainable and gives me hope that one day I may be able to find one in real life to share with you worthy Adventurers here on Rediscovered Realms.
(But something tells me I may have to take up a collection!)
Congratulations to Shira******* !!! You get your choice of either the “D&D 50th Anniversary” 2024 calendar or the 2024 “Fall of Númenor” Tolkien calendar! (I will email you with the details)
It struck me that I’ll still have the other calendar that Shira******* did not select, so why not roll that 10-sided dice one more time!
(of Adventure Snacks) - you have won 2nd prize - the other non-chosen, but non-diminished magnificent calendar. (I’ll reach out in email once Shira******* makes their choice)
TSR Artist Fantasy Artwork for Sale!
TSR Artists Unite!
No, this is not a 70s Rock Band album cover - it’s the 4 Horsemen of the Art-pocalypse: Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, and Clyde Caldwell (left-right). Each of their respective art websites has something to offer any fantasy fan.
Clyde Caldwell is running a sale of up to 25% off of his fantastic signed artwork through December 31st.
Jeff Easley is offering 20% off his incredible signed artwork until December 5th.
The late great Keith Parkinson has a website dedicated to him with many of his prints & remaining signed items that are worth coveting.
Larry Elmore’s sale ended a few days ago (sorry I didn’t get it listed on here in time, Larry!), but I guarantee you’ll still want to visit and will probably buy at least one of his phenomenal signed pieces anyway!
“One Rep To Rule Them All” - LOTR bodybuilder AI art by manmeetsmachine on Instagram. You’ll never have to yell out, “Spot!” more than once when you work out with these guys & gal.
The Wheel of Time Books to get an Immersive Storytelling Adaptation that will “bring the wonders of The Wheel of Time to life by harnessing the power of cutting-edge immersive and AI-enabled technologies, including 360-degree visuals and sound, holographic projections, and spatial storytelling, to create a riveting entertainment experience.”
On no! Believe it or not, Hasbro Selfie action figures are already discontinued . . . but you can still get a “Funko Pop Yourself!” version of you.
Luke Gygax (a son of D&D co-creator, Gary Gygax) just launched a fantasy shoe line! Man, those Otis kicks are REALLY tempting!
Says Luke: “Before my dad made it big with D&D, he was a shoe repairman, basically a cobbler like a character in a fairy tale. My father was a rebel who blazed his own path throughout his life,” Gygax said in a press release. “I honour his memory, and the impact he made on the world by launching the G20 lifestyle brand today. The fantasy shoe line honours him as a cobbler as well as his love of gaming and our community.”
Our friends over at Sound Realms just announced they are resurrecting the first ever interactive telephone game - Steve Jackson’s Fighting Fantasy F.I.S.T. (Fantasy Interactive Scenarios by Telephone).
BTW - did you miss Rediscovered Realms’ exclusive interview with Sound Realms about their Lone Wolf audio gamebook?
Finally, since we’ve been discussing the AD&D coloring books from 1983, I think it’s cool (man, I need to get another word!) to share the 1983 commercial for D&D (courtesy of CRPG Dungeons & Dragons Night). I LOVE the animation! Oh, and do you recognize the actors?
btw: Jamie Gertz is worth around $3 billion right now. Goes to show you that playing D&D can pay you in more than just imaginary gems and gold pieces!
Hey you cool displacer beast cats & kittens - that’s a wrap. See you next week!
Hey JQ, I'm not sure if you are still questing for the "Magical colouring book" (super size), but on this site I found a further list of characters who appear in it. In addition to the cover characters:
Caruso, Filaree, Garn, Ringlerun, Merrygold, Elkhorn, Zarak, and Helayne.
Well done, pal. I'm glad you scored that lot. You've already outdone my efforts as I never managed Rescue of Ringlerun. Thanks for the scans.
And yeah, as you say, they put a good bit of effort into these, despite their cheeziness. The stories help the scant worldbuilding along with the records, storybooks and modules to give a bit of background to the LJN characters.
And there's still the Magical colouring book (super size) to keep you questing. Tally-ho!
Hey JQ, I'm not sure if you are still questing for the "Magical colouring book" (super size), but on this site I found a further list of characters who appear in it. In addition to the cover characters:
Caruso, Filaree, Garn, Ringlerun, Merrygold, Elkhorn, Zarak, and Helayne.
https://dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/Marvel_Books_-_Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons_-_Magical_Coloring_Book
Well done, pal. I'm glad you scored that lot. You've already outdone my efforts as I never managed Rescue of Ringlerun. Thanks for the scans.
And yeah, as you say, they put a good bit of effort into these, despite their cheeziness. The stories help the scant worldbuilding along with the records, storybooks and modules to give a bit of background to the LJN characters.
And there's still the Magical colouring book (super size) to keep you questing. Tally-ho!