It is widely known that much of the art that graced games of the 1960s and 1970s derived from prior sources. The original cover of
Dungeons & Dragons came from a panel of the comic book
Strange Tales #167 (which I reproduce in
Playing at the World). Don Lowry, who published the Guidon Games line of rules and frequently provided cover illustrations for the
International Wargamer, also drew on pre-existing pictures: as we see here in perhaps his single most famous drawing, the cover of
Chainmail. The original appeared on page 114 of Jack Coggins's self-illustrated
The Fighting Man (1966), at the start of the chapter "Crescent and Cross" about the Crusades. Gygax mentions this volume in
Domesday Book #7.
Zenopus in his post on the subject noted that a version of this image drawn by Gygax appears in the
Panzerfaust for Novemebr of 1970, along with his
"Crusadomancy" variant. That variant had earlier appeared in
Domesday Book #5, and with it a fuller version of this illustration than we see in
Panzerfaust: and in this one, we can clearly see "After Coggins" written in the corner.
Awesome. Thanks for posting. I'd been wondering about this since the summer when I saw Gygax's version of the same art with his Crusadomacy article in Panzerfaust.
ReplyDeleteChainmail art by Gygax
So, is Coggins' "Fighting Man" the likely source for the use of that term in OD&D?
I do note this as a potential source for "fighting-man" in PatW already (p.159), though of course the term was used by E.R. Burrough, C.W.C. Oman, Howard, Leiber and many others whom Gygax drew upon.
DeleteThough I have looked at the Nov. 1970 Panzerfaust many times, I never noticed before that the illo on the side was another version of this picture, nor that it was signed Gygax. Well spotted, sir! Now that you mention it, of course I notice there is another one in DB #5. Squinting closely at it, I can see that this one isn't signed "Gygax," but actually reads "After Coggins." Kind of a give-away.
I will edit this article to include a scan of that too!
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DeleteCredit for spotting the artwork should go to Lurker Below at the Acaeum, who originally posted it here
ReplyDelete(Re-posted to fix the link)
In the art you posted from DB#5, It looks like it might be signed "JP" (in cursive) - Jeff Perren?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it's a different tracing of the original from the Gygax one, based on slight differences in the lines and shading. If so that's five different versions of this art - the original, close versions by Perren, Gygax and Lowry, and a more altered version on C&S's Destrier.
It is a different tracing, yes, and I agree the glyph there is probably a JP. Domesday Book #4 has a different tracing from Coggins that is more clearly signed "JP." Given the very small membership of the Society at the time, that can only be Jeff Perren - there are no other JP's in the DB #5 membership list, for example.
DeleteNice find! I often wondered about the illustration, as it seemed familiar to me.
ReplyDeleteI recall selling the early RPG rule sets at Mr. Gameways, a game store in Toronto in the mid-70s. Several friends spent many evenings working through the rules to create our own scenarios. Wish I still had my old rules...
ReplyDelete