Yamara™

First published: July, 1988. Posted Online: May 26, 2005.

See this episode in the original b&w.

After our first submission was accepted by Roger Raupp, we pitched him on a regular four-panel strip. And after some phone calls and roughs, we got the gig at Dragon. We may or may not have done the “Antler Dance”–the scribes are vague on that point–but we did celebrate our good fortune.

Then we got to work. The roughs for the first six or seven strips were sent in early on, and had no continuity associated with them. We just thought up the best G(ish)-rated satires of 1st Edition AD&D we could, and sent them to Lake Geneva. The earliest strips were drawn two to a sheet of Bristol board, and were sent in that way.

Bar points out that we had set ourselves an unofficial duty to reinforce gamer culture to Dragon readers, as the comics in the New Yorker reinforce the culture of its readership. Chris points out that while that did come up in conversation at the time, it sounds super-duper-pretentious when typed out today.

I mean, the early strips have pretty tame FRPG humor. They were meant to please everybody, not the least of which, the nice people sending us money every month.

Chris met R. Stevens recently at I-Con. The Diesel Sweeties auteur mentioned that webcomics are great because there are no editors, a stance we can only half agree with, as our recounting of the Yamara saga in subsequent strips will make clear. But he also said something of a credo for him, “Women are the future.” Regarding this, we’ve always been on board. Here in our first 4-panel, there’s not a man in sight. This was entirely intentional. The boys were already overrepresented in fantasy game literature; time to balance that business out.

R. Stevens also mentioned how much he hates elves. We say: Like editors, it depends on the elf. In the case of Fea, she’s there to hate. She’s like the traditional image of the “most popular girl in school”, who is actually despised on one level or another by the majority of students.

Chris recommended he consider the concept of fat elves.

FAQ:

Oh, hey, and who is this “Ward” person, whose name is on all the early art? Where is this Pete Best of Yamara? What have you DONE with him!?

Well, Bar changed her name in the late eighties. Sorry, no bodies in the backyard. Send CSI: Wyhtl home. End of mystery.