Gamemasters : The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games

Roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, in which players take the roles of heroes in their own story, have solidly moved from the geek fringes to the mainstream, beloved by celebrities and inspiring hit podcasts and massively successful sales in games, comics, and hobby shops.

The story of the tabletop’s triumph even in our digital age begins in the day of actual sword-wielding warriors, leading right up to the fireball-casting avatars of today. In Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games, New York Times-bestselling and award-winning comics creators Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler take you on an incredible journey from the mists of the past to the screen-lit present, showing not just how these games work and why we love them, but what they can tell us about ourselves.

Fred Van Lente's first published work was a GURPS article for Steve Jackson Games' Pyramid magazine and his first book was a Call of Cthulhu supplement for Chaosium (The New Orleans Guidebook). He went on to become a six-time New York Times bestselling writer of comics and graphic novels, notably The Comic Book History of Comics ("Done with wit, energy, a healthy dose of insolence and a dedication to getting it right."—NPR), The Comic Book History of Animation ("A must-read comic that will both entertain and educate"--ComicBook.com), and the American Library Association award-winning Action Philosophers ("Intensely goofy but intellectually rigorous"--The New York Times), all with artist Ryan Dunlavey. His fiction comics include The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Zombies, Archer & Armstrong (Harvey Award Nominee, Best Series) and the latest volume of Paizo's Pathfinder comics series. His past comics with Tom Fowler include Hulk: Incredible Origins (Marvel) and Howtoons: (Re)Ignition (Image).


Writer, cartoonist, and illustrator Tom Fowler started his career drawing and painting for RPGs and card games such as Shadowrun, Werewolf Wild West, Deadlands, Doomtown, Hell on Earth, Star Wars, and Men in Black, as well as Dragon and Dungeon magazines. He went on to work for a variety of publishers including DC, Marvel, Simon & Schuster, Hasbro, Oni, Valiant, and Mad Magazine. His comics include Rick and Morty, Mysterius, Venom, Books of Magic, and Refrigerator Full of Heads. He lives in Ottawa, Canada with his family and occasionally goes by the name Skrrrrrrlok Gnollmes, World’s Greatest Meat Detective.

Bill Crabtree has been working in comics since 2003. His color art has helped shape the look and feel of the many titles he's worked on, including Invincible, The Damned, BRZRKR, The Sixth Gun (also now a tabletop RPG using the Savage Worlds system) and the RPG themed webcomic, Table Titans. His work has been nominated for Harvey and Eisner Awards. He is an avid videogamer, with a particular affection for the RPG's of From Software. He lives in Portland Oregon with his wife and many children, cats, and dogs.

Writer, cartoonist, and illustrator Tom Fowler started his career drawing and painting for RPGs and card games such as Shadowrun, Werewolf Wild West, Deadlands, Doomtown, Hell on Earth, Star Wars, and Men in Black, as well as Dragon and Dungeon magazines. He went on to work for a variety of publishers including DC, Marvel, Simon & Schuster, Hasbro, Oni, Valiant, and Mad Magazine. His comics include Rick and Morty, Mysterius, Venom, Books of Magic, and Refrigerator Full of Heads. He lives in Ottawa, Canada with his family and occasionally goes by the name Skrrrrrrlok Gnollmes, World’s Greatest Meat Detective.