I read comics a lot when I was a kid, but the only subscription I’ve kept into adulthood is for Knights of the Dinner Table.
Knights of the Dinner Table is abbreviated as KODT. Why does “Of” make it into the abbreviation if “The” doesn’t? Because the authors don’t have copy editors and make a few mistakes every issue.
The mistakes in the magazine have become charming over time, some even seem to me to be done on purpose at this point.
The image above shows the typical art style for the comic, a bunch of talking heads.
The heads are literally just rotated using an image editing software and new expressions put on. The exact sort of thing that I’ve heard people dislike about comics in the newspaper.
So about now the comic seems like its done by unprofessionals, right? It kind of is.
None of the people who are involved in the comic’s creation have any sort of training or experience in the comic industry outside of KODT.
But the comic has been in circulation for over twenty years now. That’s gotta count for something!
KODT’s shining point is the content. While the art is minimal, that’s all that’s needed.
The comic is about a large gaming community in Muncie, Indiana. The Knights of the Dinner Table, shown above, are just one of many gaming groups within that community.
The comic follows the gaming sessions of the community as well as the random events of life.
The most recent issues cover B.A., the DM for the Knights, starting to date someone for the first time in his adult life.
I started reading KODT at issue 50 about the same time I started playing D&D. Over ten years later and they’re up to issue 207 now.
The comic and the game seem like almost the same thing to me at this point.
I look forward to getting my issue every month, even though they are technically two months behind schedule.
I still get one comic a month with the two months behind thing, but the holiday themed issues end up being a little strange. Everyone is wearing costumes in December and celebrating the new year in February.
The company that makes KODT has also put out an amazing roleplaying system called Hackmaster. I’ve bought it and look forward to playing it sometime.
But Hackmaster is something for a different blog post! That’s all for now.
-Mister Ed
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