ART & ARCANA

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

When I first took a look at Art & Arcana: A Visual History, I expected it to be a reworking of some of TSR’s previous art books such as The Art of Dungeons & Dragons (1989) or The Worlds of TSR (1994) although more comprehensive and with higher production values. As soon as I opened the book by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer, it was apparent that while the art and reproduction were important, hence the word “Visual” in the subtitle. However the final word of the subtitle, “History” is just as important to the book.

If you read the text, instead of just looking at the amazingly reproduced images, some of which are sure to bring waves of nostalgia for anyone who has played one of the Dungeons & Dragons variants, you’ll find that the authors have written a thorough history of the game, occasionally including a history of the companies which produced the game (more TSR than Wizards of the Coast), and occasionally touched on some of their other products, although those are definitely in passing.

The history of the game is also one of the perception of the game, and so there is a discussion of the way it was viewed in the media, especially in the early days when there were stories of the game being a gateway to Satanism. The media perception also impacted the game itself. While the 2nd Edition change of “Demons” to “Tanar’ri” is a well-known result of caving to public opinion, the change in the cover art on the 1st Edition books was also a way to distance the game from those claims.

The game’s early art was often done for a pittance by students, friends, and families, frequently being barely more than images plagiarized and reworked by earlier artists. As the history progresses and the artwork becomes more detailed, the authors also point out similarities between the new artwork and the earlier artwork which inspired it, sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes less so.

Even with the history of the company and the versioning of the games, the focus is on the artwork and how it integrates with everything else, which sometimes means the history not related to the artwork is only seen through reading between the lines. The book discusses the introduction of various worlds in which Dungeons & Dragons can be played and focuses on their signature look, from Dark Sun to PlaneScape to Spelljammer. Even as the text notes that the sheer quantity of settings was cannibalizing some sales, it doesn’t discuss the reasons behind the decision to stop production on some realms, like Greyhawk, or why new worlds were introduced even after management realized the weakness of having too many lines.

Although the book talks about the waxing and waning of interest in Dungeons & Dragons, it only looks at the reasons for the change based on the game itself, addressing missteps by the companies that own the game and not looking for many other reasons. The advent of video games is mentioned as a reason for tabletop games losing some market share, as are collectible card games, but while noting Dungeons & Dragons becoming a pop cultural phenomenon, they never really explore why after forty years, it should become so big that people can monetize playing the game.

The weakness of the book are minor, however, providing a reasonably full insight into the game and the company alongside the beautifully rendered artwork ranging from the block pen-and-ink work that the all-but-forgotten Greg Bell created for the original game to the complex and colorful works of art Todd Lockwood painted for more recent editions. Even if you ignore the text (and don’t ignore the text), the artwork is well worth the cost of the book for anyone who has lost themselves on the Sword Coast or in the wilds of Krynn.

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