Monday, September 21, 2020

DOG GOD Vol. 1 is Live!

 

What

DOG GOD is a cut-up zine.

Why

Those old Dragon magazines weren't going to be of any other use and I was bored.

Who

It was me, I did it.

Where

Here

When

Now

In What Order

This is volume 1. Further volumes are dependent upon me bumming more old magazines off my friends.

***

In full seriousness though, this was a load of fun to make and I can't wait to make more of them. There is a certain therapeutic joy in cutting stuff up and breaking out the glue sticks. Collage does not get nearly enough play in this weird little rpg scene of ours, despite it being an art form with a barrier to entry so low that you have to dig to find it.

The magazines used for this zines were a pair of Dragon issues from the turn of the millennium (Nov '99 and Jan '00, I believe), which I had bought several years ago in a used bookstore.

They were pretty awful. Turn of the millennium D&D, right on the dying breaths of AD&D and the dawn of 3e, was awful. Modern D&D's milquetoast blandness is manna from heaven compared to the simmering stew of racism, sexism, mediocrity, and utter lack of humor that existed two decades ago. It is from an age before the development of self-awareness.

But at the same time, it is a fascinating archaeological look into the past of the hobby - ads for video games that no one has heard of by companies that no longer exist. Some actually really good art tucked away between pieces that can only can be described as "certainly an attempt". There is a certain personality here, even if it is an odious one.

I cannot believe that Knights of the Dinner Table was a comic that existed.

13 comments:

  1. Zinemaking just up and melts creative blocks. You should make some.

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  2. Still exists! KoDT still does a monthly release, as far as I know.

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  3. That's pretty good. Which part about Knights of the Dinner Table can you not believe? Isn't that still printing??

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    Replies
    1. That it exists and isn't a shitpost, honestly. It's like an anti-comic, a piece of media that is deliberately tossing aside any benefits there might be in its own medium with apparent complete sincerity and inexplicable popularity.

      With hardly any changes you'd have something on the level of Dinosaur Comics or Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff, and yet it is not.

      Likely this shock is because I have been spoiled by the post-social-media glut of constant good art and good webcomics that I have no reference base for the Before Times.

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  4. In retrospect, Knights of the Dinner Table was more-or-less an early '00s webcomic that was ahead of it's time. I don't think it ever really worked as a full-length comic, but as a short strip each month or so I enjoyed it.

    One of them, a space-filling single-panel comic, has somehow remained in my head ever since - along the lines of "the orc chieftain leads you down to floor 34 of the dungeon, strikes off your chains, hands you pickaxes, and orders you to construct floor 35." "I always wondered who built these things."
    Funny what sticks with you.

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  5. Adventure Hook: DON'T...
    internet WIZARDS married to Monsters
    DOG GOD

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    Replies
    1. Dude, this is so cool. It's like you're chiseling sculpture out of grey stone.

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  6. 'stupid monsters should create intelligent defenses' is my favourite bit.

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  7. The yeti in search of her home cloud sort of breaks my heart.

    I think I'd also like to know more about this "church of No"...

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  8. idk why but
    Turn Undead: yes
    Command Undead: yes
    somehow feels weirdly profound

    and then you hit me with more actual beautiful glorious fridge poetry is this allowed?

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  9. Excellent. Love the Litany of Meat-Market Horror and the Sapromeme Resurrection ("you cannot kill me in a way that matters.")

    WORM FROM THE SPINE and VOLCANO PENTAGRAM are campaign arcs in their own right.

    The redaction of irrelevance to reveal new, weirder messages is definitely part of dEr0 Media Studies.

    DOG GOD is good. DOG GOD can only ever be good.
    please do not forget DOG GOD

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