July 28, 2026
AGAIN, Or, MORE FANTASY COMICS
While the titles seem endless to most readers, to the fans of fantasy genre comics there instead appears to be that it is a good start, but in general there are too few comics of a fantasy genre. I am not intending to insult anyone's taste. I am not suggesting that the people saying we need more are blind to the many that have been published. I do know that of my readers here who are comic fans, most like superheroes, or, have been vocal about that suggestion. I enjoy the genre, in comics, books, games, and film. As such, this is even less of a passive aggressively aimed insult than it might seem. This list includes magic, barbarism, game related stories, book adaptations, and some wonderful stories.
I point to the previous fantasy article for a comic series that I didn't enjoy. The first issue is listed here, not to say it is good, as I didn't like it, but others might well like it. As such it is a symbol, not a specific work.
For me, and I hope many others, Fantasy comics supplement the RPGs. That suggests to me, the goal of, and vital practice of story telling is the ultimate reason to play RPGs. The best comics might well be works that tell stories in the manner of creative and excellent games.
(Click image to make it grow.)
RPG MAGAZINE Resources
In general, it would be true to say that RPG gamers need to go beyond the four corners of the creative works of RPG games. Adventurers, White Dwarf, White Wolf, Shadis, Arcane, Pyramid, D8, Last Province, Challenge, Warlock, Different Worlds, Kobold Quarterly, and Dragon are the periodicals. These works helped many gamers in their desire to expand, deepen, and make more rich the settings and game play found in their gaming. I have copies of each of them, and enjoyed them, even if I didn't altogether enjoy the games they served. I tended to enjoy the magazines from the UK, not because I am unAmerican or a Anglophile. The magazines were able to delve more interest, clever letter pages, and fantastic art. But, that is a matter of taste.
BOOKS TO FILL YOUR FANTASY LOVING BRAIN
Brian Jacques writing and a beautiful book cover made the enclosed image and book it represents very new, interesting, and a work of value. It is fantasy, seen through the eyes of many anthropomorphic characters. But it almost never, throughout the many books of Redwall, displays the use of magic. As such, the world and characters are the reason to read, not the action, not the great magic, it is a mysterious world, with great characters.
The King of Ys by Poul Anderson and Karen Anderson was as brilliant as other works by Poul Anderson, but it also had a soft feel to much of it. The genre was fantasy, but it is constructed to take place at the collapse of Rome. The Ys happens in history, as a country, similar to Carthage, a sea faring nation, led by 9 powerful sorcerers, and they then master the map we now would not recognize. For the magic and power plus curiosity, made the people of Ys the most powerful actors on our earth.
The book Hainish Novels and Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin is brilliant. I have found all of her books that I've read to be nothing short of excellent. This work views existence if instead of found on earth it was found elsewhere. And the development of genetic engineering and on one planet, the idea about, and experience with gender, is incredibly important, and perceived as exceptionally different that all other planets. That is, she recreates existence as being ordered, perceived as predictable or they follow a path that is understood. The removal of religion from the beginnings of the human form, lends to a different set of concerns, interests, and trust in the leaders of the greater society.
Gods in Darkness by Karl Edward Wagner is a collection of the stories that feature Kane, his anti hero character. The difference with Kane from Conan, would be that Conan often would end up making a moral choice, rather than to act in pure selfishness and violence. Robert E. Howard understood the lasting echoes of evil actions... you find it harder and harder to appreciate anything about the character. Kane acted with wisdom and intellect, but made choices that are immoral. A great warrior and accomplished sorcerer Kane could achieve most all of his goals.
Evangeline Walton wrote fantasy, and did so in ways that enriched the reading world. Her work, the Mabinogion tetralogy embraced the beauty of a world that was magical. Faeries and heroes, epic treks and beautiful vistas lead the reader to wish to embrace the life someone might live in this world. Evangeline Watson did not meet great sales with her books, but she was a cornerstone in ways, telling great stories, with a loving and flexible hand.
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