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albertomdh's review
2.0
Una breve historia del Dungeons & Dragons. Tiene buenas ideas (como la narración en segunda persona) pero se queda muy corta y es un tanto confusa.
mrben's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this as a love story from a fan of D&D. Not deep but brought back happy memories of my childhood. A fun light history in graphic novel form.
harlando's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad. This is much more about the game than the man. It gives a brief sketch of Gygax childhood and early life and then focuses on D&D.
There were lots of things I didn't know. I thought his childhood exploring tunnels under the local sanitarium was interesting and I didn't know that GENCON pre-dated D&D. There is a sketchy anecdote about a kid who tricks Arneson and the brags about 'beating,' him at D&D. It seems like it could be true, but maybe wasn't well told. There is also a page about how Gygax's partners mismanage the business and wind up deep in debt and owning 70 company cars. That was something worth exploring, but it gets only a passing mention on the path to Gygax selling to WoTC.
The book makes the Gygax-Arneson dispute seem pretty tame, though in other places it has seemed bitter. Both are represented, but comment on the conflict as slightly buddha like old men rather than as younger men with money and pride at stake.
I wanted a bot more about Gygax as an adult. He seems like a dreamer who found some wealth and happiness, and some pain and loss, in the games he loved. His wife and children are only marginally included, and I think he married a second time late in life (his divorce gets a mention, but not the second marriage). He also seems to have been doing a lot of stuff, gaming, conventioning, even writing a few awful novels I read as a kid, during his estrangement from TSR and WoTC after selling his company.
I liked the art and the story telling style reminded me a bit of choose your own adventure books.
There were lots of things I didn't know. I thought his childhood exploring tunnels under the local sanitarium was interesting and I didn't know that GENCON pre-dated D&D. There is a sketchy anecdote about a kid who tricks Arneson and the brags about 'beating,' him at D&D. It seems like it could be true, but maybe wasn't well told. There is also a page about how Gygax's partners mismanage the business and wind up deep in debt and owning 70 company cars. That was something worth exploring, but it gets only a passing mention on the path to Gygax selling to WoTC.
The book makes the Gygax-Arneson dispute seem pretty tame, though in other places it has seemed bitter. Both are represented, but comment on the conflict as slightly buddha like old men rather than as younger men with money and pride at stake.
I wanted a bot more about Gygax as an adult. He seems like a dreamer who found some wealth and happiness, and some pain and loss, in the games he loved. His wife and children are only marginally included, and I think he married a second time late in life (his divorce gets a mention, but not the second marriage). He also seems to have been doing a lot of stuff, gaming, conventioning, even writing a few awful novels I read as a kid, during his estrangement from TSR and WoTC after selling his company.
I liked the art and the story telling style reminded me a bit of choose your own adventure books.
jonmcreads's review against another edition
4.0
So many good tidbits in here, great illustrations, very inspiring.
breakfastgrey's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not really sure who this one's for. It's a very basic primer of what DnD is and how it came to be. It's a little too basic for most fans, but insular enough that I'm not sure it's going to grab readers outside of people already familiar with the game. While the 2nd person storytelling was cute, the overall plot reads exactly like a graphic novel adaptation of an article (which it is). The art does the job, but has a very "indie comics" feel to it and rarely feels particularly dynamic (which, admittedly, is tough considering the style of the book).
samrushingbooks's review
5.0
This is one of the few books in 2nd person that I feel can actually pull it off. It made me feel like I was jumping into one of the D&D campaign guides in preparation for the next session I would run with my group. I enjoyed reading about the creation of not just D&D but also GenCon, since I'll be going to GenCon in a couple months. I suppose the only sad part I had with this book is when it spoke of the success of D&D now it mentioned shows like Stranger Things or the rise of fantasy shows like Game of Thrones, but failed to even reference Critical Role or any of the other wonderful live-streamed D&D shows that can be found online. Still, I liked this graphic novel formatted story, and it was a nice quick read.
skyelerbear's review
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.0
An interesting biography of the men who created D&D! I definitely learned a lot about the history of RPGs. Not the most compelling or fun book in the world, but cool. The art was amazing - I wish more of it was in color.
wrentheblurry's review against another edition
4.0
If you're not into D&D, or gaming, or anything like that, I figure this won't have much appeal. I played a bit of D&D as a kid, however, and now my teenage son is a dungeon master, so I got sucked into the history (and apparent mass fighting and unhappiness) of the game. I don't know how much of it is true, though either way it makes for an engaging story.
I don't encounter the 2nd-person perspective very often, though here it worked with good effect to make me feel like reading the book was my own D&D adventure.
The artwork to me was solid and serviceable, though certainly not exciting. The whole thing reminded me of [b: Tetris Games People Play|27414415|Tetris The Games People Play|Box Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1456093370s/27414415.jpg|47463569], which I also enjoyed.
I don't encounter the 2nd-person perspective very often, though here it worked with good effect to make me feel like reading the book was my own D&D adventure.
The artwork to me was solid and serviceable, though certainly not exciting. The whole thing reminded me of [b: Tetris Games People Play|27414415|Tetris The Games People Play|Box Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1456093370s/27414415.jpg|47463569], which I also enjoyed.