YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance

Single Dad, D&D, Dragonlance & Art Historian, Caldwell Approved. Chief Dragonlanceologist. Buy me a coffee 👉

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Mail Call!

This one is a real gem.

Nightshade #5 (1979), a tiny fantasy fanzine published out of Kentucky, featuring what may be Larry Elmore’s earliest published cover illustration.

Before TSR. Before Dragonlance. Before the Red Box.

Even better, there’s a short autobiographical sketch inside where Elmore talks about his years freelancing, his work for Heavy Metal and National Lampoon, and trying to break into fantasy illustration.

I couldn’t find another image of this cover online, so this might be a genuine YoDanno exclusive.

Sometimes the most exciting pieces of fantasy history aren’t the famous ones, they’re the ones almost nobody knew existed.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@BloodElf231 @GaryCon Me too!!!!!!!

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Hah! So true. I go to @GaryCon and play all day and night still!

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@DungeonNoir

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

This is such a treat! Larry Elmore’s “autobiography” at a young 31 years old in 1979!

Larry Elmore

I attended Western Kentucky University, majoring in art. In 1970, I was chosen as one of Western’s top ten artists. I finished college and was drafted—in that order.

I served two years in the Army as an illustrator. After my discharge in 1973, I was employed as an illustrator for the government. I have received several awards as an artist and illustrator.

My interest in fantasy art began while I was in college, around 1967. You were a real minority then; fantasy wasn’t as popular as it is now. For the past five years, I have worked very hard cultivating my painting techniques and basically maturing as an artist. In 1978, I decided to try my luck at freelance work.

Although my art has appeared in many government publications, my desire was to get published in well-known magazines, especially in magazines that were fantasy-oriented. When Heavy Metal magazine hit the newsstand, I decided to give them my first shot.

While trying to contact those guys, I got involved with National Lampoon. They have kept me extremely busy this past year. Lampoon is not a fantasy-oriented magazine, but their assignments are very challenging. I don’t know what to expect next.

I finally got my shot at Heavy Metal and was very pleased when I found that they had accepted one of my paintings for the back cover of the April 1979 issue.

Things are looking up for me now and I keep very busy—there’s just not enough time in a day.

— Larry Elmore

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Mail Call!

This one is a real gem.

Nightshade #5 (1979), a tiny fantasy fanzine published out of Kentucky, featuring what may be Larry Elmore’s earliest published cover illustration.

Before TSR. Before Dragonlance. Before the Red Box.

Even better, there’s a short autobiographical sketch inside where Elmore talks about his years freelancing, his work for Heavy Metal and National Lampoon, and trying to break into fantasy illustration.

I couldn’t find another image of this cover online, so this might be a genuine YoDanno exclusive.

Sometimes the most exciting pieces of fantasy history aren’t the famous ones, they’re the ones almost nobody knew existed.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Jason Thompson’s cartoon map of Tomb of Horrors is equal parts brilliant, hilarious, and painfully accurate.

A cheerful little guided tour through false doors, poisoned traps, instant death, shattered friendships, and one smug demilich waiting at the end.

In other words, Tomb of Horrors.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@SandyofCthulhu I agree 💯, I loved it

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Oh you sweet summer child, always on the wrong side.

#ScrewYouCrownguard

[LeroyD20 @YorelD20]

Another truth @YoDanno will refuse to acknowledge. Just like a fake knight he mistakenly defends.

#justice4crownguard.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@CsbWorlds 🤣

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

This is where I’m posting from today…

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@ARRGETSTUFFED It was this piece

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Readers flipping toward the back of Dragon #55 in November 1981 had no idea what they were witnessing.

Tucked away on pages 74–76 was “Da Letter,” a goofy little comic introducing TSR’s newest staff artist: Larry Elmore.

It looked like a joke. In hindsight, it was a harbinger of awesomeness.

Elmore would soon help define how an entire generation imagined D&D, its heroes, its dragons, its worlds, and especially Dragonlance. For countless players, fantasy would never look quite the same again.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Mail Call!

This one is a real gem.

Nightshade #5 (1979), a tiny fantasy fanzine published out of Kentucky, featuring what may be Larry Elmore’s earliest published cover illustration.

Before TSR. Before Dragonlance. Before the Red Box.

Even better, there’s a short autobiographical sketch inside where Elmore talks about his years freelancing, his work for Heavy Metal and National Lampoon, and trying to break into fantasy illustration.

I couldn’t find another image of this cover online, so this might be a genuine YoDanno exclusive.

Sometimes the most exciting pieces of fantasy history aren’t the famous ones, they’re the ones almost nobody knew existed.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@KevinLamb74 Pretty neat to see, isn’t it? I couldnt find it online, so I had to track down a copy!

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Mail Call!

This one is a real gem.

Nightshade #5 (1979), a tiny fantasy fanzine published out of Kentucky, featuring what may be Larry Elmore’s earliest published cover illustration.

Before TSR. Before Dragonlance. Before the Red Box.

Even better, there’s a short autobiographical sketch inside where Elmore talks about his years freelancing, his work for Heavy Metal and National Lampoon, and trying to break into fantasy illustration.

I couldn’t find another image of this cover online, so this might be a genuine YoDanno exclusive.

Sometimes the most exciting pieces of fantasy history aren’t the famous ones, they’re the ones almost nobody knew existed.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Daniel Horne delivers the full fantasy package… blazing red hair, a monster slain beneath her, and a chain mail bikini worn with absolute confidence.

Practical armor? Not remotely.

Classic fantasy? Every glorious inch of it

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

This is where I’m posting from today…

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Daniel Horne at his whimsical best…grand, dangerous, richly detailed, and wonderfully playful, all in the same painting.

🖼️ Daniel Horne for the cover of Christopher Stasheff’s My Son…The Wizard (1997)

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

I saw that Margaret Weis, Tracey Hickman, RA Salvatore, Joe Manganiello, and Luke Gygax were there together.

I know some of these folks personally, so I choose to be hopeful and optimistic. This has so much potential.

But instead of ICONS, I first read that as 200215 and now I can’t unsee it 😂

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@Pack_Rat_EWaste Come to Gary Con or Gamehole Con. Always a few EotPT tables running!

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

Gary Gygax called Empire of the Petal Throne “the most beautifully done fantasy game ever created.”

He wasn’t exaggerating.

M.A.R. Barker’s Tékumel is a world of alien gods, ancient empires, decadent temples, invented languages, lost technology, impossible creatures, and vast cities built atop the buried ruins of forgotten civilizations.

Nearly fifty years later, I still haven’t encountered another TTRPG setting with this much flavor, mystery, and sheer wonder.

And the artwork remains absolutely magnificent. Anyone else play this one?

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@VayaConDonos @YorelD20 is a Crownguard sympathizer. Boo him appropriately.

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@TravisB20876602

[YoDanno #DragonlanceDragonlance @YoDanno]

@YorelD20 The koolaid has affected your vision

#screwyoucrownguard