Ah... Memories...

So, I've been having fun working on more of my "Legend of Bill" comics strips, (more sketches coming soon! Watch this space!) and as such, have been inspired to thumb through my many fantasy "art" books, for inspiration and well, just 'cause I like to. And I came across something I hadn't seen in a LONG time ... my actual, original Dungeons and Dragons Players manual from the 80's. Yep, I still have it. But that's not all! Next to it was my original Star Frontiers Starter book as well, put out around the same time as this particular D&D starter kit (well, 1982 to be exact), as a sci-fi alternative role-playing game for sci-fi fans. Naturally, I was a hardcore fan of both. I remember getting the little thin box the books (and maps, character info and such) came in for Christmas one year (yes, while most kids were asking for stuff like Red Ryder BB guns, I wanted toy robots, Star Wars action figures and D&D!!!). I remember pulling out all the components, and immediately, I knew what I enjoyed the MoSt about the games... creating new characters. I LOVED to sit there and create all their abilities, their personality, and I'd ALWAYS draw them up of course. And I always loved the interior illustrations too. I immediately put up a radar for anything by Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley (and the radar is still up today for their work!)... and then Frank Frazetta, and Boris Vallejo, and Frank Kelly Freas, and well ... you get the picture. I remember sitting in bed at night with yep, the ol' flashlight, reading my game books and imagining my characters living out their lives. And I sought out other kids in school who did the same, and spent many a recess lost in imagination. And these games, their art, their imagination-sparking wonder, had a profound effect on me as a kid of 11 from Indiana... and my universe expanded, I started hunting out sci-fi and fantasy novels (mainly for the covers, haha), and I was naturally already a voracious reader of comic books and comic strips, and my love of fantasy and science fiction, and the endless stories and wonder they provided was solidified. Ahh ... memories.