I think it was around 1983 that Dungeons & Dragons really hit its stride in the US. Obviously, the game itself was selling well, but, beyond that, the whole environment during those days seemed steeped in D&D culture.
At the arcade there was the popular Dragon's Lair game, at the movies there was Krull, on Saturday mornings there was the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, and at the newsstand there were Dragon magazine and White Dwarf
I must admit, during this period I lapped it up and begged for more. Looking back on these advertisements really brings back some memories.
The advert above was on the back of seemingly every comic book churned out in 82/83.
Legend has it that this is the daughter of Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons. I assume the girl in the second ad (the one after the jump) is also her. Could be wrong.
I never really got into the whole D&D miniature aspect.
What's weird is that it's been about 27 years since I've played a game of D&D; yet, I still recognize the artwork. I can tell the ads above and below are by the same artist who illustrated numerous D&D modules.
I had every one of these books. I believe the last book I purchased was the Monster Manual II (it had an orc or something on the cover); then suddenly I became "too cool" for D&D. Late nights in parents basements were now spent doing other things (cheesy wink). My trusty +3 battle axe was cast aside like yesterdays onion rings; however, it obviously left quite an impression on me that two and a half decades later I'm writing about it...
