Jack Thomas Chick vs Dungeons & Dragons

In 1984 with the Dungeons & Dragons gaming phenomenon at the height of it's popularity, a reclusive WWII veteran turned comic artist named Jack Thomas Chick created an important piece of gaming media: "Dark Dungeons".

It's the tale of the players of Black Dougal, Morgan Ironwolf and Frederick the Dwarf from the example of play from the Moldvay Basic D&D book.  We get to find out how Marcie feels when her character  Black Dougal gets poisoned by the needle trap on page B59. The players of Morgan Ironwolf, Frederick the Dwarf, and Silverleaf are also there - but they don't really say very much. There's also someone else at the table who I can only guess is a representative of TSR. Possibly keeping track of magic items for the RPGA.

Anyway, we learn that Sister Rebecca has memorized "Light" for her only spell instead of the more common "Cure Light Wounds".  She gains enough XP to level up during the adventure - although the DM seems to have a hard time with the numbers (confuses 8 with 3), classes (confuses Wizard and Cleric) and Spell Names (confuses Hold Person with 'Mind Bondage'). In fairness there's a lot to remember when you're running a game!

Through the magic of the internet you can read Dark Dungeons online without trying to find your own copy in church confessionals or pool halls. In case you think it's some sort of joke you can also get some more Straight Talk on Dungeons and Dragons, find out if D&D is Just a Game?, or get William Schnoebelen to break it down on whether a Christian should play Dungeons & Dragons.

Schnoebelen claims to be a real-life Cleric Fighter Magic-User with levels in Witch, Druid, Cleric, Anti-Cleric, and Knight. I swear I didn't make that up. Bill has also said he had a Succubus ex-girlfriend, and was visited by TSR representative to verify he was casting his D&D spells properly. Again, not making that up.

After finding these little comic books in public toilets and bus shelters across North America many parents took the message to heart and banned D&D from their homes lest little Timmy and Sally gain too many levels and begin casting spells from their bedrooms. Possibly Monster Summoning III.

What I find most ironic about the content of Jack Chick's frightening comic about D&D, Satanism and Teen suicide… is that it's a horror comic, and wouldn't have received the Comics Code Authority seal for both it's subject matter and intent. In fact it's very similar in format to the stories you'd find in EC Comic's Tales from the Crypt. So even though it's anti-D&D, in some weird way Jack Chick, Dark Dungeons, Horror Comics and D&D all feel like they have a lot in common.