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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

D&D Omni-Style

A couple years back I remember seeing on some forum or the other an entirely weird (and there for wonderful) collage-like ad for our favorite fantasy game from OMNI magazine. 

With a vaguely New Wave aesthetic backed by the liquid surrealism that seemed to be the bread and butter of the art of that magazine (a look and tone that seeped way down into the space opera reaches of my soul) the ad really stood out from the cartoony ones that TSR pumped out at the time in its quest for a young market share.

Until lunch hour--in which I happened to be (virtually) flipping through two more issues from the late part of 1981—I was unaware that that ad had some companions. All three posted here for your non-ironic/ironically-detached viewing pleasure.



(By the way, you can find the entire run of OMNI here legally and free.)
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5 comments:

  1. Timmy CrabcakesSeptember 11, 2013 at 5:16 PM

    I always liked those ads.
    They're remind me a bit of Dos Equis 'The Most Interesting Man In The World' campaign.. if, in some alternate universe, playing RPGs was somehow similar to collecting third world art and hobnobbing with the jet set.

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  2. Zenopus ArchivesSeptember 11, 2013 at 5:59 PM

    Thanks for posting these, Chris. I came across the first one years ago as a "vintage" e-card, and posted it on the Acaeum but never knew exactly where it had ran. I've seen the third one, also, but not the second. Interesting how the second ad is the only one that actually shows the product. Check out the tiny "Znutar" ship in the background (from Awful Green Things in Outer Space for the uninitiated).

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  3. Don MSeptember 11, 2013 at 9:05 PM

    it reminds me of this for some reason:
    http://web.mit.edu/cthulhu/www/MITCCCth-Welcome.html

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  4. Don MSeptember 11, 2013 at 9:15 PM

    The far better link....take care tentacles will sprout out of your screen...)
    http://www.featherlessbiped.com/cthulhu/cthulhu/index2.htm

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  5. TonySeptember 11, 2013 at 9:38 PM

    Frank Mentzer ID'd a lot of the restaurant-goers in the third ad a few years ago. You may recognize Gary's daughter Mary Elise on the far left from some other D&D and Gamma World ads.

    "Left group: Elise Gygax, Sharon Blume (Doug's wife, i.e. one of the 'good' Blumes), Nancy Peacock (also cover girl for the Top Secret game), Barney Brugger (married Nancy P later). Right: Maitre d' is Mike Carr; knight & lady, very hard to say. Might be Mary Gygax and Gary in the helm, but I may be totally wrong here.

    "Seated distant: Very hard to say. Right couple might be Dan & Marilyn Matheson (tho the lady might be somebody else entirely, and Dan didn't have a bald spot as shown). Guy with shades is prolly Dave Sutherland; again unsure about the lady (but looks familiar).

    "Young guy left midrange, beyond Barney: might be Luke Gygax; again hard to say.

    "Note that the Menu (held by Maitre d') says "The Chef's Corner" (<-- link), a popular fine dining place in Williams Bay on Lake Geneva. The only RealGood German food in the area, been there many times."

    Source: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48401

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