Investigating the art of TSR era Dungeons & Dragons is a deep rabbit hole and I expect I'll be delving into it a great deal over the next few weeks. Apologies in advance to those of you who don't find this sort of thing nearly as interesting as I do. That's why I'm briefly going to return to the subject of kobolds.
Lore Suto reminded me that Jim Roslof did some illustrations of kobolds for AD&D module A4, In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords. Here they are:
The kobold above is actually dead, reanimated via myconid spores. Even so, its appearance differs from that of Roslof's kobolds earlier in the same module. Otus's depiction is closer to those in the MM, in spite of the fact that he had previously drawn a kobold for Basic D&D with different characteristics. It's fascinating and makes me wonder about the nature of art direction during the days of TSR. Were all these variants the result of a conscious policy or was there not much direction, leaving artists largely to their own devices?
This is again a good example of iconicity. Out of context, I wouldn't know what the creatures in Roslof's picture were, but Otus's kobold is clearly a kobold, even though it's also a fungus zombie. The horns and the muzzle are unmistakable.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteAnd those distinctive features came from David Sutherland. He really was a great designer. So many of the humanoids illustrated by other TSR artists were interchangeable.
DeleteGod, Errol Otus is a genius. That simple b&w ink drawing is TERRIFYING.
ReplyDeleteAgreed 100%. As a kid, I found most of Otus's art quite unsettling.
DeleteAs long as we're talking about pictures of kobolds again, there's the picture by Tramp of a green dragon fighting a group of kobolds on page 21 of the 1e DMG.
ReplyDeleteDamn it! How could I have forgotten that one? It's amazing.
DeleteI was just thinking that the Endless Quest books had some art of the humanoids by old school artists. Dungeon of Dread has a troll (and a gargoyle and fire beetles) by Jim Holloway. Mountain of Mirrors has some goblins and orcs and a unique-looking ogre, also by Jim Holloway. Pillars of Pentagarn has some goblins by Harry J. Quinn. Return to Brookmere has kobolds, orcs, and peculiar-looking gnolls, plus an intimidating wererat and a cool image of a gelatinous cube, by Timothy Truman. Revolt of the Dwarves and Revenge of the Rainbow Dragons don't have any humanoids, though the latter has some myconids and a rust monster.
ReplyDeleteMyconids (much like iRL fungi) are almost infinitely variable in appearance, which has made them surprisingly popular among creative types over the years. Minis sculptors in particular seem to love them - check out Mortal Arrow Miniatures for a wide variety of myconids and other fungal critters in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Also some nice tribal trolls, but that's whole other subject.
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