D&D comics history part 11 - Hellbound : The Bargain (TSR)

   What we have here is some real treasure, and not that much for its rarity, but mainly for the fact that it's pretty well hidden to the D&D comics collectors. And if I didn't received a message a few ago from Purgossu, who spent some time to visit this blog, I tend to think I wouldn't have been aware of its existence for ages ! Great thanks to him for the precious info ! :)

   In 1996, TSR released a Planescape box named Hellbound : The Blood War. Inside, along with manuals & guides you usually find in such box, was released a short comic strip entitled :

Hellbound - The Bargain

 

   In parallel with the release of the box, The Bargain was also published in Dragon Magazine, issues 230 to 233, running from June to September 1996. Though, this release lacks the front & back covers as well as the credits page, which is somehow sad for the comics hunters as actually the box can be found at very expensive rates on the different selling sites when Dragon Magazine issues are still easily buyable at very cheap price. At the time I am writing these lines, I am actually waiting for the four D.M. to reach my letterbox... not really wanting to spend hundred(s) of bucks in an accessory box just to get a 16 pages comic ! o_O But well, knowing me... knowing you... [oops I abbaed XD...] I may acquire the original one someday... 

Time will tell........ :P

Front & back covers of the Hellbound : The Blood War box

   Speaking of the comic itself, story has been written by famous novelist Jeff Grubb, with art by Robh Ruppel & Tony DiTerlizzi when Dawn Murin was in charge of C.G. & design. And the result is pretty nice, totally in adequacy with the Planescape products line visuals. (Though, the front cover seems to have been quicky done by some photoshop trainee... honestly, they could have done something far better, especially considering the nice design of the back cover... or even compared to the front cover of Visions of War, the art & maps booklet found in the box...)

Yeah... size matters... :P

   The plot is very Shakespearian ; a song of love & war. And somehow the moral of the story echoes the one in the other existing Planescape comic, The Unity of Rings. For sure, Planescape is a mischievous and crual universe at all levels...And this short graphic novel just do the job, putting the reader in the middle of the desperation he'll have to face as a player in such a setting. A must-to-have treasure in my opinion !

   Here's some pdf of my own based on the Dragon Magazines' pages with the adding of front & back covers (missing the credits page tho...) for an insight. Enjoy !

O_oV

Dungeons & Dragons vintage treasures - part 5

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen... tududududu (drums beats... XD)... back from the 90's (or before... well in the end of the XXth century ! :P), here it is... tududududu (...XD²)... the legendary, the unique...

...Al Qadim Campaign cloth patch !!

Ouch... isn t it.

I am missing words to describe this sooo unique item...

    As for the baseball cap... I d never had the idea to get this "masterpiece" into my collection if I hadn t been mesmerised by this damn ebay XD... But you know the drill... it s always the same... you were looking for something in particular and... tadaaaam... the thing was there in the search list, just in front of your exhausted eyes... and curiosity is a powerful vice... so (?!) you click on details... and the thing is getting huge on your screen... shiny... attractive... almost whispering :
"just a few bucks dude... so few... I ll be your precious... hurry ! they re all after me !" o____O

   And you clicked that damn "BUY NOW" button before ya even had the idea to resist the call...  T____T

...and some days after...a bubble-wrapped letter arrives at yours... you open it... Et voila... a cloth patch in your hand, 2 in fact, I got a TSR logo one too... O_oV
Totally useless, not so shiny... and of course quickly dumped on some shelf...

*sigh*

   After some searches on the net it appears other D&D licensed logos have been adapted into cloth patches. Also exist the TSR, D&D, AD&D 2nd, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, DarkSun and Dragonlance ones. (cf Tome of Treasures database)

And within all these, imo, for sure Al Qadim logo is the worst... I mean why did they add this "CAMPAIGN" under the logo ?!?

Young collector, of your own compulsive click, distrust you have to... :P

EDIT (Nov.2018) : Of course (gah! XD), in the past decade, I did found some other ones to add to my collection. I then managed to get the Forgotten Realms, SpellJammer, AD&D 2nd Ed. and Dragonlance ones (this last one remaining unlisted at Tome of Treasure btw).

D&D comics history part 5 - Forgotten Realms (DC)

Dungeons & Dragons vintage treasures - part 3

   This one for sure is a treasure. 

I mean when I first saw it... I was like : "WTF...ya kiddin me o' what ?"

But there was no kidding... it was an :

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition TRIVIA GAME

   Really like any trivial pursuit, without the board tho. It uses a system of coins representing your character's (wizard, rogue, warrior, priest or monster) amount of HP. I always liked trivia games but mixed with a bit of a system of battle board-game (you can hit but also heal your wounds), that's just huge.

ok, ok, am a bit too euphoric here...(>.<)

   Anyway, imo, it's a great item, really fun to play. I wish it would have been be updated by the addition of extensions, but sadly none exists (to my knowledge).

It's dated 1991, product by TSR under ref. 1069.

ISBN 1-56076-058-3

Contains 600 questions divided into 5 levels of difficulty.

10 character cards. 60 markers.

Question lvl 3 : There are two mains categories of golems. what are those categories, and which golems belong to each one ?

Answer : Greater and lesser. Greater : stone and iron. Lesser : flesh and clay. MC

Question lvl 5 : What are the properties of a dull gray ioun stone ?

Answer : None. It is a burned out, dead stone. DMG, page 173

:P